Originally Posted by
jowilson
Over the past month or so, I have realized that I no longer use the third chainring on my 3x8 drivetrain. There are 4 screws located around the chain ring that appear to hold the third chain ring to the second chain ring. I tried to unscrew these but they have a very shallow hole and are very hard to unscrew. I'd like to convert my drivetrain from 3x8 to 2x8 but these screws are the only thing screwing it up. (pun intended). I assume that this, like many bike parts, need special tools to take apart. Is it possible to take off the third chainring on this drivetrain? Will I need a special tool? Or should I just replace the 3 chainring drivetrain with a 2 chainring one? Josh
OP: Get a chainring fastener bolt tool; "Park Tool CNW-2, Chainring Nut Wrench" or other brand as desired.
Easy to find on amazon or ebay for a few bucks. All the ones I have seen look the same, but be sure to eyeball you bolts and compare to what you find before spending. Note that the tool is normally used to keep the bolt half on the backside from spinning while you tighten the front side with a hex key. Without it the bolt will spin and you will not be able to fully tighten it to specs.
/K