got myself a crank extractor, bb extractor, popped the dustcaps off, took the holding bolt out and lined up my crank tool.

"hmm, whats that?" i said to myself as bent over for a closer look.

the threads are torn to pieces, some big ass groves running down some of them. No idea when this happened, i had a full service some time ago and nothing that would be remotely BB related since, i didnt even know they touched the BB during the service.

now, how the hell do i get these cranks off now? taps with the hammer did feck all, whacks with the hammer did equal amounts of feck all. I need to replace them ofc but im wondering how the hell to get em off in the first place.

clues?

btw it is an octalink, crank extractor is the CCP-44 and the BB tool is the BBT-22

You can ride around for a while with the fixing bolts removed. That should loosen them up.

^^^ That will do it, but it will likely deform the internal taper in the crank arm, but its already dumpster food anyway. You can also use an automotive gear/pulley puller, or tap a couple tapered wedges in between the crank arm and the BB until the arm lifts off cleanly.


BTW: If you take the first option, just loosen the bolt and don't remove it completely. This will prevent injury when the crank arm suddenly pops off while under load.

You may be able to rent/borrow a pair of dril chuck removal wedges from a local machine shop or pay them a few dollars to remove the arm for you.

"" the threads are torn to pieces, some big ass groves running down some of them. No idea when this happened, i had a full service some time ago and nothing that would be remotely BB related since, i didnt even know they touched the BB during the service. ""

What kind of full service? Just a tune up or a complete overhaul where they took the drivetrain off and cleaned? Did you buy this new? How old is it? have the cranks been off before? If the cranks were buggered up by the shop they should ahve fessed up and made an effort to repair replace.

As noted above your options are limited. A gear puller is your best bet but you can't really put the crank back on. There is a an expensive tool (I should look into buying one and offering a service) to rethread cranks and put an oversized self extractor device in the crank. If you live in a big city with some older shops you can call around and see if anyone has one. I believe it was made by Stien and uses the 23mm TA size extractors.




This is what that tool looks like if I could find one, I am pretty sure I would buy it.

How familiar are you with Octalink bottom brackets and cranks? The grooves are intentional as they are what align an Octalink spindle and the crank arms.

Also, what model is your crank? You mentioned "popping off the dust caps". Octalink cranks don't have separate dust caps. The 105 model cranks have 8 mm hex fixing bolts that come out as one piece. After the bolt is out and you remove the washer, you then do need a crank puller (like the Park CCP-44) to remove the arms.

The Ultegra and Dura Ace models have self-extractors that consist of a dust-cap appearing ring (a ring with two pin holes in the face) and a central 8 mm hex fixing bolt. You leave the ring in place and loosen the fixing bolt a turn or so and it then gets tight again. Keep turning and it pulls the crank arms off without needing a separate puller.

It was a complete service, re-true wheels, clean and grease the whole works. On second thought they could have cleaned up the BB, would make sense considering the situation.

It was bought new in 2010, the cranks haven't been removed by myself or anyone else (unless they did it in the full service, this was back in late 2010 otherwise i'd ask em )

Its defo a octalink and i think Tiagra. Maybe they were for aesthetics but i assumed dustcaps as they formed a pretty tight seal and had to be prised off. They were plastic with no thread, they covered the 10mm hex fixing bolt.

I noted the grooves from the shimano website, these are probably better described as gouges, there are around 3 or 4 and they look pretty random.

3 choices I can think of.

1) but a bottom tap and try to retap it. It has to be a bottom tap, not a regular tap.

2) cut some wooded wedges and put them behind the crank and bang them in from behind.

3) try a gear puller and pull the crank off.

"" It was a complete service, re-true wheels, clean and grease the whole works. On second thought they could have cleaned up the BB, would make sense considering the situation. ""

There is nothing to grease in a Octapuss BB but they may have removed the cranks to put the drive train in the parts cleaner. Again if they buggered them up they should come clean about it.


Pics would help

Never ride with the fixing bolts removed. Just back them off about 1mm. That will allow the crank to pop free safely, rather than fall off with your full weight on the pedal. If the bolts seem to be a bit free-spinning and you don't think they'll stay put backed off slightly, paint the threads with a bit of rubber cement so they can't vibrate looser.

SO I got a line on that tool. I also reread the text and it rethreads the crank for a 24MM single key release.

Think there is a market for this? you send me the crank and I retap it and install the single key release for like $50? The beauty is the tool works on all spindles and can be used and TA and StrongLight too!

i think ill give the wedges a go tomorrow, to be honest i just want them off and ill replace them with an upgrade maybe an ultegra hollowtech II (nice excuse )

Might be better instead of using 2 wedges, use a wedge cut from one piece of wood with a slot in it that will just fit around the crank, then drill a hole sideways through the wood and put a bolt through it to help prevent the wood from splitting in half.

The only thing that that OP hasn't made clear is whether he tried to get the puller threaded into the mangled threads. If you haven't tried that, go for it, you won't hurt the tool and you might get enough bite to get the arm off one last time.

What's your frame made out of?

I've been using and recommending Jacobs Chuck wedges for 20+ years, and selling them to bike shops for most of that time, until I left that end of the industry. Very few dealers ever bought these, so odds are your local shop never heard of them. Just about any machine shop will have them because they're used to press off all kinds of taper mount tools and chucks.

If you decide to buy a set, I think you need #6, but I'm not sure, so ask for the set with a 5/8" slot (the next size down is 1/2" and too small). They should cost $7.00 or so, plus maybe $2.50 postage. You'll also need a few 15mm or bigger cone wrenches to take up space if the gap from the arm to the cup's face is more than 6mm or so.

These work so well that you'll be able to reuse the crank with confidence in the future.

gave it a go but it just pushes it self out with very minimal resistance. Its an ally frame.


Cheers lawrence, thanks for the idea.


I've not heard of that particular item but ive seen similar being used before, i live in the UK so some of these things are hard to come by. I might be able to make some up myself as they look pretty simple. Thanks

This comes up occasionally at the bike coop, so I finally
sent away for a pair of the #3 Jacobs Chuck wedges
that have shown up from time to time as the solution.

They worked well when most recently a guy brought in
his bike with the crank he'd stripped by accident in attempting
removal. My guess is they will work for you, too.

https://www.drillspot.com/products/94...68_3_wedge_set

Stein also makes a M24 x 1.5 crank puller to use on a re tapped crank. I have the complete tool and the puller, and a diminishing supply of the self extractors and it works great, but if I were to do it over, I think I would try going with the chuck removal wedges. Much more cost effective.
BTW, the tool can only be used to tap a crank that is mounted on a spindle as the pilot screws into the spindle to guide the tap in straight.

Only issue is that by the time someone gets their crank off, they've probably dinged it somehow and are already shopping for new cranksets. If you had a line on cheap and fast shipping, maybe, but this usually only rears its head with the crank still on the bike.

Is there an alternate version of that tool for BB spindles that take nuts instead of bolts? Nothing to guide the pilot.

RATS!! another get rich scheme ruined!! I thought for sure i would be able to start repairing everyones beloved old TAs and Stronglights and retire. Now I hav o come up with something else.

Pickle Fork!

Alloy frame. I wouldn't.

ok got my ultegra crankset, began removing the old octalink, got the other side off using the ride around method but the drive side will not budge. i have tried everything! hammer, ride around, wedge, all off except the spider and still nothing, no budging.

someone tell me there is a simple thing ive overlooked and i can just get this rubbish off!

If it's the drive side arm, you could try to get the fixed cup (of a cartridge, I know) out with the arm still on. Or you could try your hand at cutting the axle with a sawzall and a lot blades and patience.

got it off, noticed the driveside bb cup was slightly loose so used me finger nails to unscrew it. Thanks folks. ~Cheers IthaDan, that was the method i used...not the hacksaw!