I always ride with a dust cap - keeps the sun out of my eyes and keeps my hair neat. Oh, crank caps. Naw, forget em. I do like to paint them though, generally a light grey to go with the crank color. Nice detail vs the basic black steel. When pulling any crank I spend time with a wire brush and a tooth brush cleaning out the threads before screwing in the extractor. Always take your time getting the extractor just right before cranking the crank off.