Pedal Wrench for Raleigh Sports

[John Sharpe]

Hello All, new member with a 61' Raleigh Sports that I've started to work on. I want to remove the pedals but my Park wrench is too wide. Looks like a Wera 6003 15mm wrench should work since it's width is 4.5mm. Is that what people use? Or there a better option out there? 

Thank!

JohnS

[Jon Spangler]

John,

There are only three pedal wrench sizes in “modern” (post-WW2) bikes that I know of:

- 9/16”(your Park wrench)

- 15mm (French/metric)

- 1/2” (usually on kids’ bikes and department store “bike-like objects”).

One of the latter two should probably fit, although it’s been years since I dealt with a Raleigh pedal…

Jon

Jon Spangler
Vice-chair, BART Bicycle Advisory Task Force (BBATF)
League Cycling Instructor #3175
Linda Hudson Writing
CEL 510-846-5356
goldco...@gmail.com
www.LindaHudsonWriting.net 
www.linkedin.com/in/jonmspangler

"The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without shocking the entire community.” — Ann Strong (1895)

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[Paulos, Richard G]

There have been scores of commercially made pedal wrenches made in the past 50 years. Parks are about the thickest and won't fit the narrow slots on Raleigh 3 speed pedals. You can just buy a cheap 15 mm combo wrench at your local restore and grind it down to fit. Or try a pair of 15 mm cone wrenches. Or have a second person with a big flat blade screw driver add some extra twist in the slot in the end of the axle as seen on some Raleigh pedals. Generally the more slender pedal wrenches get rounded out too quickly. I have Campagnolo pedal/fixed cup wrench that fits but those are very expensive to buy now on the used market. VAR made a very long slender wrench. Pedros are thinner. I have one with an angled (to the side) handle that is quite annoying to use. Just might be easier to visit your local bike shop as they usually have several in their shop and can remove/install the pedals in a minute.


Rick

________________________________________
From: gentlema...@googlegroups.com <gentlema...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Jon Spangler <goldco...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 13, 2026 8:52 PM
To: 'Stephen T Brink' via Gentleman Cyclist
Cc: Jon M Spangler
Subject: [External] Re: [Gentleman Cyclist] Pedal Wrench for Raleigh Sports

John,

There are only three pedal wrench sizes in “modern” (post-WW2) bikes that I know of:

- 9/16”(your Park wrench)

- 15mm (French/metric)

- 1/2” (usually on kids’ bikes and department store “bike-like objects”).

One of the latter two should probably fit, although it’s been years since I dealt with a Raleigh pedal…


Jon


Jon Spangler
Vice-chair, BART Bicycle Advisory Task Force (BBATF)
League Cycling Instructor #3175
Linda Hudson Writing
CEL 510-846-5356
goldco...@gmail.com

http://www.lindahudsonwriting.net/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmspangler

"The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without shocking the entire community.” — Ann Strong (1895)








On Jun 13, 2026, at 1:00 PM, John Sharpe <shar...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello All, new member with a 61' Raleigh Sports that I've started to work on. I want to remove the pedals but my Park wrench is too wide. Looks like a Wera 6003 15mm wrench should work since it's width is 4.5mm. Is that what people use? Or there a better option out there?

Thank!
JohnS


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[Alan Lloyd]

I think the point is that the Park pedal wrench is too wide or fat? 9/16ths is the right size, but you’d have to grind the Park tool to make it thinner?

- Alan

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 13, 2026, at 9:10 PM, 'Paulos, Richard G' via Gentleman Cyclist <gentlema...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>
> There have been scores of commercially made pedal wrenches made in the past 50 years. Parks are about the thickest and won't fit the narrow slots on Raleigh 3 speed pedals. You can just buy a cheap 15 mm combo wrench at your local restore and grind it down to fit. Or try a pair of 15 mm cone wrenches. Or have a second person with a big flat blade screw driver add some extra twist in the slot in the end of the axle as seen on some Raleigh pedals. Generally the more slender pedal wrenches get rounded out too quickly. I have Campagnolo pedal/fixed cup wrench that fits but those are very expensive to buy now on the used market. VAR made a very long slender wrench. Pedros are thinner. I have one with an angled (to the side) handle that is quite annoying to use. Just might be easier to visit your local bike shop as they usually have several in their shop and can remove/install the pedals in a minute.

> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to gentlemancycli...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gentlemancyclist/PH0PR04MB719108DDD4B4E7FFD6B23F40EFE72%40PH0PR04MB7191.namprd04.prod.outlook.com.

[Ted Schefelbein]

Go to eBay, and search “Capri Ultra Thin Wrench” and find that a 14 and 15mm combination wrench pops up for less than $10.

If you have a spare 15mm, and a grinding wheel, you can thin it down to fit a Raleigh pedal, but, that is a wholly inelegant and brutish, if cheap, solution. I find I can get the Park tool on just enough to break the pedal free (usually) and always smear some synthetic grease on the threads before replacing the pedal, using the screwdriver slots on the back side to snug it down. The synthetic grease doesn’t harden and varnish up like Lubriplate or other non synthetic greases. The older I get, the less important that fact is, but, it is fact.

Ted

[John THOMPSON]

Curiously, my (thin) Zeus pedal wrench is marked 14mm and 15mm.
<https://velobase.com/Pages/ViewTool.aspx?ID=4f90d20e-b6e7-408e-a860-5835c3765f2c>

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John Thompson
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[John Johnston III]

Also give them a shot of Kroil before you put the wrench on them:

https://www.kroil.com/product/kroil-original-penetrant/

And they will be easier to undo.

- John

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[John Sharpe]

Thank you everyone for the excellent suggestions. I'm kind of torn between ordering the Capri for $10 or the old school looking, new Zeus for $30. I think both will work well, so I'm going with the Zeus, just because it speaks to me and the length. I was considering grinding down a 15mm wrench that I already have, but then I won't have a full width one for other applications. Same with the Park, I use it for all of my other bikes so need to alter it for the Raleigh. I have been spraying them with PB Blast to help loosen them. The cans almost empty, so I'll pick up a can of Kroil, which I've been meaning to do.

JohnS

[John Sharpe]

The Zeus wrench came yesterday. I removed the pedal platforms and put the crank arms with the pedal spindles in a pan, then added a 50/50 mix of Acetone and ATF to cover the ends of the crank arms. I let them soak for an hour or so, took them out, rinsed in water, put 'em in the bench vise and was able to get the spindles loose with the Zeus wrench. The length of the wrench helped with leverage, it is about as long as my Park pedal wrench. So all good in getting them off, but as I was turning them out of the arms I noticed they were bent. Better them than the crank arms. I'll start a new post asking if anyone has brake spindles to sell.

About the Acetone/ATF mix, I had heard of it a while ago and purchased them sometime last year. This was the first chance that I tried it. Not something I'll always do, but it was very effective in this case since there wasn't any paint to worry about. Acetone and paint don't mix well unless you're intentionally trying to remove it.

Thanks again,

Johh

[Ted Schefelbein]

Foundational ingredients in Ed’ Red.
https://www.hensleygibbs.com/edharris/articles/EdsRedRecipe.htm

Been around a long, long time.

Ted