devinfan

A shot in the dark. Does anyone have a Zeus Socket wrench out there? If so, I have a kidney I don't need anymore. My non drive side crank has developed an irritiating clicking noise which is the result of it being a little stripped where the pedal goes in. It has to be a thin walled socket wrench made for Zeus 16mm crank bolts (the Park tool is for Stronglight cranks and doesn't work).

Click... click.. click... I will do anything!!!!!

unworthy1

I just bought a cheap 16mm socket and ground it down on the outside until it fit. Might also work with a 5/8" socket, if you're lucky. If you're really jammed up, I can loan you mine by mail (time consuming, tho).

banjo_mole 

I'm not sure if I understand the problem, but it sounds to me like if anything is clicking and you need a special part (the stronglight special part is a crank puller, I think), it's probably because the crank is loose.

I don't see how the pedals give a clicking sound, it's probably the crank loosening itself to death on the square spindle.

It's happened to me twice. "Creak, creak, creak."

prettyshady

I have a stuck pair of zeus cranks too,



'Zeus 16mm crank arm bolt wrench - Rare!' $27,99 - cafe de velo (our of stock)

after I saw that I have been planning to make one out of an old 16mm socket

LWaB

When you get the bolts out, you can fit any 14 or 15 mm headed crank bolts, the threads are standard (both crank bolts and extractor).

Sorry, I don't loan tools, particularly halfway round the world.

miamijim

+1. Sometimes a thin walled socket will work as well.

grifone37

Check with Bicycle Classics https://stores.ebay.com/bicycleclassi...e-bicyclestore.

He seems to have some Zeus tools now and again.

But I agree with other posters. How will removing the crank arm bolt fix a click in the pedal threads?

devinfan

Thanks Unworthy1, I tried a 5/8, thinking the same thing, but I am not lucky. I will try grinding down a 16mm, and see if I don't screw it up. If it doesn't work I will pm you and make the trouble worth your while.

As to how removing the crank will fix the problem - that's easy I'm going to replace the whole goddamn thing with a campy record crank. Also just in case the makers of my 1967 Zeus crankset are looking on, beautiful bike, but obscure bolts that require obscure special tools are a stupid idea, and may the ghost of Tullio Campagnolo piss on your grave. Or failling that if you're still alive may you hear click-click-click every time you try to go to sleep.

unworthy1

yeah, that "exclusive part/tool" idea was a bad thing, but while you're p*ssing on graves, save a big one for both Shimano (especially) and Campy, they did this too. I still love the thrill of having to find (or make) a 7mm Allen wrench when I come across that one, or the weird fractional size Campy used (3.5mm?).
As LWaB points out, you can swap in a standard 15 or 14mm crank bolt, as the threading is standard, and AFAIK you use the standard extractor tool.

cyclotoine

I know doing this on the net is impossible but in my experience a real "Click" is more likely to be pedals or chainring bolts, and if it's more of a "Creak" then it could be loose crank bolts.

brooklyn_bike

the tool prettyshady posted is the right one. i recently got a 70s zeus on CL and the tool came included with the bike. i've successfully used it to pull the cranks and service the BB. i've seen that tool on ebay a couple times recently...

nlerner

+1 to that. Click = pedals, creak = loose crank-arm bolt. Of course, if you're going to swap in a different crankset, you need the tool regardless. And the Park 16mm peanut-butter wrench won't work?

Neal

devinfan

There! Crank bolts off and replaced with 15's. Prettyshady if you're interested, PM me with your address and I will send you my very ugly but very functional ground-down 16mm tool for free, since I have absolutely no interest in ever putting those bolts back in again.

brooklyn_bike

there's one on ebay right now...

devinfan

Forget ebay! You just need a 16mm head and a sander mixed with equal parts anger and patience for about 10 minutes.

JohnDThompson 

The Park CCW-16 will work, but it's been out of production for many years now. The more common 14-15-16mm Park combination wrench does not fit the Zeus arm, unfortunately.

hamachi

Keep your kidney and buy a thin walled socket. That is what I did to remove some Zeus crank bolts. Someone was using them as anti-theft devices on a Nuovo Record crankset.

If I am not mistaken, I mail ordered a Sealy AK6557 socket from Amazon that worked. More clever folks will be able to find one that costs less.

merziac

No worries but 13 year old zombie thread here so likely OP has solved his dilemma.

Also many here including myself just spin one down on the bench grinder, use an extension to hold it and spin evenly and lightly against the spinning wheel until it is thin enough to use.

No need to order and wait if you can get the job done in house with tools on hand.

hamachi

I understand that a thin walled socket is likely to be tempered and stronger than one that you shave down with a grinder. If you grind one down it may lose any temper that it had. This will make it more brittle and prone to cracking than it would otherwise be.

Besides, why would you want to miss a chance to buy a new tool?

merziac

I wouldn't, never have if I need or want it.

Only if you don't have the experience and expertise to tell the socket won't work. I've been a mech/tech all my life, if for some reason I don't have a tool that I need and can modify one I do have to get the job done at the time, then I do.

Never had a failure and even if it did this would be an expendable example if need be. As long as it gets the job at hand done, you're golden. If I deemed it necessary to grind on a Snap-on socket then that's what would happen.

I do have about 75K worth of tools and still don't always have what I need so as already stated, if I have to grind on one to get the job done, I will.

esasjl

Laser tools thin wall plug socket set
https://www.lasertools.co.uk/Product...inch-drive-3pc
the 16mm (O.D 20.82mm) fits my Stronglight 106/7 with a 16mm Zeus bolt.

Mc2

the park wrench doesn’t fit, will try the grinding or switch to 15mm. It’s a 1979 Zeus Supercronos

Schweinhund

Get 'r done. I have a couple of breaker bars you'd love. It's what was needed, so it's what I did.
They're pretzel breaker bars now.

JohnDThompson 

The Park CCW-16 will fit. The Park 14-15-16 wrench does not.

sloar 

Sounds crazy but a T-45 torx bit will fit a 7mm Allen bolt. I’ve done this several times.