help for creaky EZ-1 pedals

[Melinda Meahan]

I realize this is not a particular-to-recumbents question
but it's about a recumbent, so if the question doesn't
belong here, I would appreciate any tactful referrals to a
place that would be more appropriate.

I have inherited my teenaged son's EZ-1 and when you pedal
it the pedals creak. Does anybody know what would cause that
and if there is an *easy*, simple solution or if I need to
take it to the bike shop for them to do it? If it's not
something cut-and-dried I'm probably not going to be able to
do it myself, and my son is temporarily burned out on
vehicle repair and doesn't want to look at it (even though I
offered to give him some $$$ to do it).

TIA for any help you can give and hopefully someone can
spare me from having to haul it all the way to the recumbent-
friendly bike shop (as opposed to the one that keeps telling
us, "Let me know when you're ready to buy a "real" bike")
--
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just
wish that He didn't trust me so much. - Mother Teresa

 

[JEGARH]

posted by Melinda Meahan [/i]

I have inherited my teenaged son's EZ-1 and when you pedal
it the pedals creak.

Melinda,

This is a perfect place for this sort of question.

Often, when pedals get loose, they will creak or click or squeek when pressure is applied when pedaling. Get a good pedal wrench or proper sized open ended wrench and tighten them down. (The right one turns clockwise to tighten and the left one turns counter-clockwise to tighten)

If they still squeek, a shot of light oil on the pedal axle where it enters the pedal body might help.

If the bearings are dry inside the pedal then either disassemble them and grease them or just buy some new ones. Platform pedals (assuming this is what you have) are inexpensive unless you are going for some of the high dollar BMX pedals.

Jerry

 

[Bill]

Get new pedals. Then, take charge of your son before it is
too late! If he won't help his mother even for cash...you
may be too late.

"Melinda Meahan - remove TRASH to reply"
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I realize this is not a particular-to-recumbents question
> but it's about a recumbent, so if the question doesn't
> belong here, I would appreciate any tactful referrals to a
> place that would be more appropriate.
>
> I have inherited my teenaged son's EZ-1 and when you pedal
> it the pedals creak. Does anybody know what would cause
> that and if there is an *easy*, simple solution or if I
> need to take it to the bike shop for them to do it? If
> it's not something cut-and-dried I'm probably not going to
> be able to do it myself, and my son is temporarily burned
> out on vehicle repair and doesn't want to look at it (even
> though I offered to give him some $$$ to do it).
>
> TIA for any help you can give and hopefully someone can
> spare me from having to haul it all the way to the recumbent-
> friendly bike shop (as opposed to the one that keeps
> telling us, "Let me know when you're ready to buy a
> "real" bike")
> --
> I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I
> just wish that He didn't trust me so much. - Mother Teresa

 

[Dan Burkhart]

Originally posted by Melinda Meahan
I realize this is not a particular-to-recumbents question
but it's about a recumbent, so if the question doesn't
belong here, I would appreciate any tactful referrals to a
place that would be more appropriate.

I have inherited my teenaged son's EZ-1 and when you pedal
it the pedals creak. Does anybody know what would cause that
and if there is an *easy*, simple solution or if I need to
take it to the bike shop for them to do it? If it's not
something cut-and-dried I'm probably not going to be able to
do it myself, and my son is temporarily burned out on
vehicle repair and doesn't want to look at it (even though I
offered to give him some $$$ to do it).

TIA for any help you can give and hopefully someone can
spare me from having to haul it all the way to the recumbent-
friendly bike shop (as opposed to the one that keeps telling
us, "Let me know when you're ready to buy a "real" bike")
--
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just
wish that He didn't trust me so much. - Mother Teresa

Pedal creaks are often hard to pin down to the root cause. Sometimes you just have to keep trying things until it goes away.
Check first that it is not the seat. I have had it happen more than once that after trying everything else, it turned out to be a creaky seat. That is not as likely on a 'bent though I guess.
Other possibilities.
Remove bottom bracket and wrap the threads with teflon tape,or use loctite and re install. If that doesn't do it, try removing the crank arms and thoroughly clean and de grease the square taper mating surfaces both inside and out with solvent or alcohol. There must be no lube on these surfaces.
Good luck

 

[Melinda Meahan]

Bill wrote:

> Get new pedals. Then, take charge of your son before it
> is too late!
If he
> won't help his mother even for cash...you may be too
> late.

He's okay -- he's just burned out right now and temporarily
having a hard time -- lots and lots of disappointments in
the last two weeks and he's almost situationally depressed,
so I don't really want to push him. I could wait another
week or two for him to feel better, but I'd rather take care
of it now because I am impatient, because the weather just
turned nice this week and I am ANTSY!

--
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just
wish that He didn't trust me so much. - Mother Teresa

 

[Tom Sherman]

Dan Burkhart wrote:

> ... Pedal creaks are often hard to pin down to the root
> cause....

And sometimes they are not pedal creaks at all, but
shoe creaks.

Tom Sherman - Quad Cities (Illinois Side)

 

[Melinda Meahan]

JEGARH wrote:

> This is a perfect place for this sort of question.

(lots of great advice snipped)

Thanks bunches. I think I can do this.

--
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just
wish that He didn't trust me so much. - Mother Teresa

 

[Melinda Meahan]

Dan Burkhart wrote:

> Pedal creaks are often hard to pin down to the root
> cause. Sometimes you just have to keep trying things
> until it goes away. Check first

Thankee kindly, sir.

--
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just
wish that He didn't trust me so much. - Mother Teresa

 

[Melinda Meahan]

Daniel Payne wrote:

>>opposed to the one that keeps telling us, "Let me know
>>when you're ready to buy a "real" bike")
>
> It IS a real bike. Sounds like a good shop to avoid.

Yeah. The reason we went there in the first place is
because the guy had a Vision R40 in the shop (inherited
from the shop his dad ran) but I guess he personally hates
bents. (shrug)

> P.S. sometimes the noise comes from the knees of the rider
> [ ouch ]

Thanks for the helpful hints. I may have a Rice Crispy knee,
but it only snaps, crackles and pops -- it doesn't creak
(yet...). They don't creak if you pedal with moderate force,
only when you try to accelerate.

--
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just
wish that He didn't trust me so much. - Mother Teresa

 

[Jack Davis]

"Dan Burkhart" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Melinda Meahan wrote:
> > I realize this is not a particular-to-recumbents
> > question but it's
about
> > a recumbent, so if the question doesn't belong here, I
> > would
appreciate
> > any tactful referrals to a place that would be more
> > appropriate. I have inherited my teenaged son's EZ-1
> > and when you pedal it the
pedals
> > creak. Does anybody know what would cause that and if
> > there is an *easy*, simple solution or if I need to
> > take it to the bike shop for them to do it? If it's
> > not something cut-and-dried I'm probably not going to
> > be able to do it myself, and my son is temporarily
> > burned out on vehicle repair and doesn't want to look
> > at it (even though I
offered
> > to give him some $$$ to do it). TIA for any help you
> > can give and hopefully someone can spare me from
> > having to haul it all the way to the recumbent-
> > friendly bike shop (as opposed to the one that keeps
> > telling us, "Let me know when you're
ready
> > to buy a "real" bike")
> > --
> > I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I
> > just wish that
He
> > didn't trust me so much. - Mother Teresa
>
>
>
> Pedal creaks are often hard to pin down to the root
> cause. Sometimes you just have to keep trying things
> until it goes away. Check first that it is not the seat.
> I have had it happen more than once that after trying
> everything else, it turned out to be a creaky seat. That
> is not as likely on a 'bent though I guess. Other
> possibilities. Remove bottom bracket and wrap the threads
> with teflon tape,or use loctite and re install. If that
> doesn't do it, try removing the crank arms and thoroughly
> clean and de grease the square taper mating surfaces both
> inside and out with solvent or alcohol. There must be no
> lube on these surfaces. Good luck
>

My wife's EZ1 developed a very annoying squeak/creak that
was "timed" with the pedaling but turned out to be the seat
reacting to the pedaling. I would like to tell you about the
fix but I have not yet found one....so if anyone......

Thanks/Good luck/etc.,

Jack

 

[Melinda Meahan]

Jack Davis wrote:

> My wife's EZ1 developed a very annoying squeak/creak that
> was "timed" with the pedaling but turned out to be the
> seat reacting to the pedaling. I would like to tell you
> about the fix but I have not yet found one....so if
> anyone......

I see. Well, we will make sure to investigate this. (sigh)

--
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just
wish that He didn't trust me so much. - Mother Teresa

 

[Melinda Meahan]

My 16YODS was feeling better today and I got him to look at
the bike after printing out various followups about what the
problem could be.

Turns out that the nuts to the crank arms just needed to be
tightened. Quite a bit, too.

Now it pedals ve-e-e-wy quietwy (LOL).

Thanks bunches to everybody for their ideas and support.

--
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just
wish that He didn't trust me so much. - Mother Teresa

 

[Jerry]

"Jack Davis" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Dan Burkhart" <[email protected]> wrote in
> message news:[email protected]...
> > Melinda Meahan wrote:
> > > I realize this is not a particular-to-recumbents
> > > question but
it's
> about
> > > a recumbent, so if the question doesn't belong here,
> > > I would
> appreciate
> > > any tactful referrals to a place that would be more
appropriate.
> > > I have inherited my teenaged son's EZ-1 and when you
> > > pedal it
the
> pedals
> > > creak. Does anybody know what would cause that and
> > > if there is
an
> > > *easy*, simple solution or if I need to take it to
> > > the bike
shop for
> > > them to do it? If it's not something cut-and-dried
> > > I'm
probably not
> > > going to be able to do it myself, and my son is
> > > temporarily
burned out
> > > on vehicle repair and doesn't want to look at it
> > > (even though
I
> offered
> > > to give him some $$$ to do it). TIA for any help you
> > > can give and hopefully someone can spare
me from
> > > having to haul it all the way to the recumbent-
> > > friendly bike
shop (as
> > > opposed to the one that keeps telling us, "Let me
> > > know when
you're
> ready
> > > to buy a "real" bike")
> > > --
> > > I know God will not give me anything I can't handle.
> > > I just
wish that
> He
> > > didn't trust me so much. - Mother Teresa
> >
> >
> >
> > Pedal creaks are often hard to pin down to the root
> > cause.
Sometimes
> > you just have to keep trying things until it goes away.
> > Check
first
> > that it is not the seat. I have had it happen more than
> > once that
after
> > trying everything else, it turned out to be a creaky
> > seat. That
is not
> > as likely on a 'bent though I guess. Other
> > possibilities. Remove
bottom
> > bracket and wrap the threads with teflon tape,or use
> > loctite and
re
> > install. If that doesn't do it, try removing the crank
> > arms and thoroughly clean and de grease the square
> > taper mating surfaces
both
> > inside and out with solvent or alcohol. There must be
> > no lube on
these
> > surfaces. Good luck
> >
>
> My wife's EZ1 developed a very annoying squeak/creak
> that was
"timed" with
> the pedaling but turned out to be the seat reacting to the
> pedaling.
I
> would like to tell you about the fix but I have not
> yet found
one....so if
> anyone......
>
> Thanks/Good luck/etc.,
>
> Jack
>
>

My wife's EZ-3 (same seat setup as the EZ-1 seat, I
think) had a creak that turned out to come from the
seat. Tightening the quick releases for the seat half a
turn fixed it.

Jerry

 

[Sticker Jim]

3 things that I have found to cause pedal creak, clicks and
squeaks (in no order)

- dry pedal bearings. Simply oil them
- pedals were not screwed tightly into the cranks
- cranks were not completely tightened onto the bottom
bracket shaft

> >
> > I have inherited my teenaged son's EZ-1 and when you
> > pedal it the pedals creak. Does anybody know what would
> > cause that and if there is an *easy*, simple solution or
> > if I need to take it to the bike shop for them to do it?
> > If it's not something cut-and-dried I'm probably not
> > going to be able to do it myself, and my son is
> > temporarily burned out on vehicle repair and doesn't
> > want to look at it (even though I offered to give him
> > some $$$ to do it).
> >
> > TIA for any help you can give and hopefully someone can
> > spare me from having to haul it all the way to the recumbent-
> > friendly bike shop (as opposed to the one that keeps
> > telling us, "Let me know when you're ready to buy a
> > "real" bike")

 

[Torben Scheel]

"Melinda Meahan - remove TRASH to reply" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news[email protected]...
> My 16YODS was feeling better today and I got him to look
> at the bike after printing out various followups about
> what the problem could be.
>
> Turns out that the nuts to the crank arms just needed to
> be tightened. Quite a bit, too.
>
> Now it pedals ve-e-e-wy quietwy (LOL).
>
> Thanks bunches to everybody for their ideas and support.

Congrats with the healing of both. Maybe you should convince
your son to check the rest of the Nuts&Bolts while he's at
it. Very "boring" to loose a wheel..

Regards, Torben