jccaclimber

Title covers it. I've got a 1976 LeJeune Tandem and I've decided to pull the cranks, mostly to be sure I can, although I'm bound to end up pulling the BB as well to see what the threading is (I'm guessing French). That said, I have both a 22mm and 23mm cotterless crank extractor so that won't be an issue. What has been an issue is pulling out the bolt which holds the crank arm to the bb spindle. 15mm is too small to fit on the head (6 point, Craftsman) and 16mm does not fit into the hole in the crank arm. I've also tried the english equivalents (Kobalt) only to discover similar issues. I don't think its the specific crank arm because I'm having the same issue on the other three arms as well. Given that I suspect it's 16mm the Park tool for crank arm bolts won't work.
At this point I see two options:
1) Find a Snap-on 16mm because the socket walls will be slightly thinner and see if it fits (not a preferred option)
2) Buy a cheap (or maybe not) socket, throw it on a lathe, grab a carbide tool, and make the socket walls a bit thinner.
I want a long term tool solution (other than replacing the bolts when I get them out) but I don't really like the two options I've come up with so:
1) Does anybody have any other ideas?
2) Can anyone confirm that it is 16mm?

At moments like this I used to just e-mail Sheldon, but that isn't an option anymore. Hopefully he's in bicycle heaven now.

JohnDThompson 

TA cranks used 15mm bolts, so unless they were swapped out at some point your 15mm socket should work. If they are perhaps 16mm (Stronglight) bolts, you will need a thin-wall socket to remove them, or the official Stronglight wrench or a Zeus or Park CCW-16 peanut butter wrench.

Are all the bolts the same size (i.e. don't fit your tool)? If so, are you the original owner of this tandem? Something's been changed if your TA cranks don't have 15mm bolts.

danacf

I have a1980 TA road triple - definitely 15mm. My 6 point SK socket fits it, but there's not a lot of room.

jccaclimber

I found a pair of calipers and measured it finally. It's 16mm. Now it looks like I need to go thinning down the wall on a cheap 16mm socket. I might just weld it to a piece of plate while I'm at it and make a peanut butter wrench out of it. It is a bit odd that all 4 crank bolts would have been changed, although it should be noted that both seat posts were not quite the right size when I got the bike. I'm actually the third owner, although the first owner only had it for a year and a half (1976 to 1978). The couple that owned it second (1978 to 2008) changed the rear derailer (sometime post 2000), rebuilt the hubs and bb (well done) and the headset (not so well done, aka loose) regularly.
The other oddity is the stoker seat post binder bolt. It is 0.525" (13.34mm). I've found a really, really, beat up 13mm wrench that fits it, but I'm not really sure what size it is supposed to be.
0.525" or 13.4mm. At some point I'll just put a new one on as it's nothing special.
It's a bit odd, but for the $150 that I paid for it the frame, cranks, and derailers are in great shape, and it has made a great first tandem.

I've got more than that in it in parts at this point, but I've successfully converted it from a 650b touring bike (with racks) to a 700c road bike, and am pleased with how it handles.

jccaclimber

Solved!

It turns out my 6pt deep sockets are just a tad narrower than my 6pt standard sockets. With the 3/8 drive deep 16mm socket (Craftsman) I was able to get all 4 bolts out. Interestingly, I put them back in, and now the socket goes in smoothly, almost as if before they were off center or something.