When I was racing, about 50 years ago, we would take the dust caps off of the cranks. We changed chainrings and free wheels often to match the terrain we would be riding in. Taking the dust caps off just made it a little easier, it aslo helped when checking the torque on the crank bolt.
If it was good enough for the pros, it was good enough for us wannabes

Bernard Thevenet, about 1965 Tour de France


My PX10