Damn you Pedals !

The first step (and possibly the most entertaining) involved disassembling the bike. Things were going well, I’d removed the bar tape, taken off the brakes, and the handles. As I disassembled everything, I separated them into labeled zip-lock bags so that I know what everything is when the time comes to reassemble everything. It may sound anal, but it really helps.

Things started to get a little more resistant from then on. The pedals were supposed to be next, but they’re still connected to the crank … I haven’t cracked that one yet. I did manage to get the crank off though. It took a few days for me to figure out how because I was looking at YouTube videos about how to do this and they’d always say

“start by popping off the plastic cap …“

and

“then take your crank-puller …”

Two problems:

1: My bike’s crank doesn’t have a plastic cap
2: I don’t have a crank puller

Solution? Turns out I don’t need a crank puller because my bike was made before this new style of crank was introduced (which is why I don’t have a plastic cap either). My crank uses cotter pins instead. This was good news, it meant I didn’t need a special tool just to take it off. All I needed were a couple convincing blows of a hammer to pop out the cotter pins, and the crank was free. With that I took off the shifter, the wheels, the seat and everything else that needed removing. I then deflated the tires, took them off their rims and called it a day. The next thing on the list is sanding down the frame.