Originally Posted by phoebeisis
I don't see anyway that an adult well enough cooridinated to ride a bike, will be injured if he is lucky enough to work the crankarm loose. He is going to be "looking" for loosening of the arm the whole time he is riding; it won't go from stuck tight to flopping off in one fell swoop.Surely he won't be dumb enough to be clipped into it(except with some loose toe clips or half clips.
Still, if he can fit a bearing puller on it, or better yet use a ball joint popper -that would be easier(if he has thses tools).Whenever someone suggest something with a little risk, he is assuming he is dealing with an adult that has managed to survive 20+ years-not a 12 yo kid.
Luck,
Charlie
Your suggestion is a good one. It is even recommended in the Barnett's repair manual. As long as you do it
right it will be safe. I'm sure there are people out there that would find a way to hurt themselves while trying the gear puller method as well.
I've seen a lot of riders come in to the shop with a crank arm flopping around because it was loose, they just kept riding, and riding, and riding...... I remember doing the same thing when I first got into riding, it took a long time for the arm to actually fall off.