Originally Posted by
HillRider
Excellent point. I have a couple of Ultegra Octalink cranks that do have the self-extractors but I always remove the outer collar before reinstalling them so I can look inside the crank hole and be certain the splines mesh properly and completely. It's remarkably easy to have the splines butt end-on together rather than intermesh and, if that isn't corrected, the cranks will be ruined the first time you ride.
With V2 Octalink, which covers all the mountain series cranks except XTR I believe, it's easier to get things started right than with V1. The splines are deeper on V2 and it's much easier to get the splines started correctly. In fact, once you get things lined up, you can shove the cranks most of the way onto the spindle by hand, which fully engages the splines and then some, before you even begin tightening the crank bolt. Still, removing the self extracting collar lets you see what you are doing in getting things lined up, as you said.
