Pedal spanners 15mm/17mm - what works, what doesn't?

[mrgumby]

so after two weeks and four spanners I have finally got through my backlog of stuck pedals.

I thought i would share my experience of broken spanners and see if anyone else has any recommendations.

before:



Plusgas:



During:



The Lyotard (vintage road) pedals were 17mm and I foolishly tried a cone spanner on them - don't do this: I nearly lost an eye.

The park Tool PW-5 started to mishape on some 15mm MTB pedals so I stopped using and will only use it for light work. (I have used the more expensive park tool one before and found that quite satisfying.)

The red one I bought of ebay and lasted for less than 10 seconds.

The one on the right I got off amazon, does 15mm and 17mm pedals and finally did the job. "Unior 1610"

After:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/boydsbikes?_dmd=1&_nkw=pedals


Anyone got any better options?

 

[hamster]

Grind down a quality spanner?

 

[arifmoseley]

Re:

I have used the Var and Pedros spanners and found both to do the job satisfactorily

 

[drcarlos]

Grind down a quality spanner?

I found that my Draper Expert and Halfords pro 15mm combination spanners are narrow enough to fit pedals, I have't had a pedal yet that they haven't removed, with the aid of a club hammer.

Carl.

 

[Woz]

Grind down a quality spanner?

+1

Even the Campag pedal spanner by all measure was pretty crap. I have also snapped two
cheaper chrome vanadium spanners where the "neck" part was too whimpy - the look
on the guys face on returning the 2nd broken spanner to the shop was priceless!

This is now my weapon of choice, where I can insert it into a long breaker bar and hopefully
refrain from using the lump hammer too.

 

[just jacques]

I would never use a spanner that was made for the cycling enthusiast or home mechanic as they are just not up to the task, unless the parts are newish or fitted & removed on a regular basis & were low torque. I always use good quality drop forged chrome vanadium spanners (Facom) where ever possible.

Remember buy once wisely & it will last a lifetime.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

Always used just an everyday spanner to get mine off. Always had plenty of room, only modern one are a trouble as they're Allen key only. What pedals are you using that require narrow cone spanner widths?

 

[Woz]

Re: Re:

Always used just an everyday spanner to get mine off. Always had plenty of room, only modern one are a trouble as they're Allen key only. What pedals are you using that require narrow cone spanner widths?

The M737 is bit narrow due to the dust seal - that's the reason why I modded the spanner above so I don't squash it.

Never had problems with allen key type as long as they are 8mm beefy ones and not a farting 5 or 6mm; I use a long
crank bolt allen key if they are stubborn.

 

[drystonepaul]

Re:

I've had a Cyclo pedal spanner for several years and it's been faultless:--> http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cycl ... p-prod7961
It's long enough to get plenty of leverage on really tough pedals. I've even managed to strip the thread out of a crank before the spanner showed even any sign of giving up.

Use plenty of Plus-Gas, and you can also use a long allen key in combination with a spanner for even more leverage.

 

[dayofsuffering]

Re:

I use an old Bahco 15/17 (old enough to be made in Sweden) with fairly narrow ends. It helped me with a stubborn XT pedal earlier today.