canam73

A friend of mine is having trouble with his octalink crankset. No matter how much he tightens it within a couple of miles it still develops a slight amount play. I didn't have my tools along when I looked at it so I didn't get a look inside. But my guess is that the splines on one of the arms are damaged. If that is the case, is there anyway to salvage it?

ericm979

Probably not. But he should make sure that he has the crank arm aligned with the splines. If you don't remove the self-extracting bolt (use a pin spanner to unscrew the ring that holds it in) then it's hard to see the splines to make sure they are lined up. I always remove it so I can look through the hole and see the splines.

The Octalink crank is mostly held on by the taper of the axle, the splines serve to line up the crank. But if you line it up wrong the crank won't fully seat on the taper.