Crank Puller; Recommendations?
 

Not sure if this is the right place to be posting this, but I was looking for a crank puller. I don't see myself using this often as I just want to switch out a set of cranks from one of my bikes and my only other bike has self extracting cranks. So, I was looking for a budget crank puller. I took a search on ebay and saw some cranks for under $5 but I was wondering how they compare to something from say park tool that goes for around $15? Is it cheaper mainly because it is of inferior quality or is there some user friendliness in the more expensive tools?

Cranks in question:

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAxMFgxMD...TUg~~60_57.JPG

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTAwWDUwMA...KE!~~60_12.JPG

I am a big fan of cheap, I bought that same crank puller from China. Lasted about a year. I loaned to my goodfriend who is HACK when it comes to mechanics, it was returned with booogered threads…

The primary problem with the cheap puller is that it is not hardened enough and the threads eventualy deformed till unusable I now own a park.

A problem with items such as crank pullers is that if they have poorly-machined and ill-fitting threads they may well damage an expensive component while you are trying to use them. If the cheap puller strips out your crank threads then you will either have to obtain another tool to remove the now-damaged component or resort to destructive removal methods. In either case you will have a cheap, useless tool and a ruined component. I have found that cheap tools are rarely a bargain; you generally end up replacing them with the tool you should have bought in the first place, like zebede did.

An alternative would be to take your bike to a shop and have them remove the cranks for you; this might be the best if you only plan to do this job once.

Good tools are empowering; if you have the tool you may make use of it more than you think, taking care of small jobs like BB maintenance yourself proactively instead of ignoring them or having to have someone else do it for you.

+1 on getting good tools. As noted a cheap tool can damage both itself and the part you are working on. The cliché, "buy good, buy once", has a lot of merit.

I use the park one. Managed to get the nut part stuck in a crank, but with a good fixin' pipe, I got it free. Guess it wasn't enough lube? Either case, no threads damaged, and I used it to remove the other crank soon after.

M.

Park.

Mine is made by Pedro's; I like it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYo8Ta8SBxE

Get the Park, you won't regret it. I cheaped out on a headset puller and press a few months ago. It did the job I needed done but not real well and I doubt it will last more than a couple more uses. I wish now I had spent the money for a good set.

I'm a cheapskate on everything in life. I only buy Park Tools after my many bad experiences with cheap tools. That should tell you something!

Hmm, I'd never seen the janky ones in the first post. Get the Park Tool -- good tools bring enjoyment to the task. ;)

I made a similar kind of thread a few months ago.

Since writing that, I had a chance to try the Park CWP-7 with a 15mm pedal wrench, and I now pull cranks like Hercules.

Personally, I would never go back to using a puller with a built-in handle again.

Park makes a good tool for this... we have also had good success at the co-op with the Filzer crank puller and I have one of these in my shop that has been going for years under rigorous use. The tools at the co-op see a lot more abuse and if a product survives here it should survive anywhere.

This is the newer Filzer multi-wrench that handles square taper / isis / octalink.

http://images.mec.ca/fluid/customers...w1_720x720.jpg

Perhaps a corollary for the phrase (at least as I heard it) would be
"Buy Cheap, Pay twice". Try to get a good deal on a known brand of puller, like Parks, Lifu, Pedro's, etc. You could also buy a "house branded" version from Nashbar or Performance. If you run into a problem with quality or longevity, you will have some recourse.
I enjoy buying Cheap tools when they aren't specialized extraction or specialty tools- too much risk! I especially like buying cheap tools when I must modify or customize a tool for a specific situation. I needed to thin out a 13 mm cone wrench to adjust the cones on Huret derailleur pulleys (they use loose ball bearings in them!). In a situation like that, buying cheap makes sense

Those Nashbar/Performance house brand tools are one exception to the "cheap tools" warning. The ones I have were made by Lifu. They really aren't that cheap but a bit lower cost than the name brand tools.

I got one in an Avenir tool kit a long time ago. Have no idea on the brand of puller (or any of the other tools), but I got a bunch of tools for less than $100 and the puller has worked very well. Like someone mentioned, I've used it more than I figured I ever would. And, I have more friends, now....hahaha!