I broke a spoke last night on my Surly hub and now have to remove the track gear to replace the spoke. It didn't come off with the chain whip, so I put it back in the drops and stood on the cranks, nothing, yes I did take the lock ring off. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated. This is the second hub I have that I can't get a track gear off, okay the third, the first I can't budge because in my haste to just pop out the sealed bearings, I didn't realize I would need to have the axle to remove the gears. I now have a hub with no axle, no bearings. Bearings can't be replaced cause the cups didn't come out, can't save the spokes cause I can't get the gear off, so I'm stuck salvaging the rim and doing all over again. This is getting expensive.

I have used a good soaking of WD40 to get 'frozen' parts loosened. I usually doused the affected area and then let it sit overnight, resprayed it lightly and then it typically would come off. In the future, you may want to add a little grease before threading the cog on (in case you didn't).

ditto about the grease.

if the cog you're using is steel, and the hub is aluminum, they can "bond" somehow and it REALLY REALLY sucks. it can happen with seatposts and stems too. it usually takes a looong time and a lot of neglect for it to happen though, so my guess is that you just need to give it a little time and some WD-40.

something else that might help in addition to the WD40 is to take a screwdriver, or other thin implement and run it around the "seam" where the cog is threaded onto the hub to maybe get any grime that may or may not have accumulated in there.

oh, you did recite the sacred incantation, right? because it won't work unless you recite the sacred incantation...

AS A LAST RESORT!.....When I picked up a set of 40 yr old Campy track hubs on Ebay, I had trouble removing the 1-inch pitch 7-tooth cog that was on it. Not even with a 24-inch pipe wrench did the cog budge. So I decided to torch it using a plumbers' torch.....after removing the axle and bearings. The cog spun off easily with the wrench.

George

Well, now that I have these ideas, do you think they would work on getting the old cups out of the two hubs I can't presently use? I've tried to force them out from the opposite side of the hub with a hammer and screwdriver, only my screwdrivers really aren't that long, and the lip of the cup is so slight that getting a good purchse to hit it is tough.

Any ideas?

If its any good news, I've never seen a cog in 14 years of professional wrenching that couldn't come off. I have howevcer, seen cogs come off with the hub's threads still intact within the threads of the cog. This has always worked for me.

Clean with yes of course WD40. Now, drop some Tri-Flow on bothe sides of the hubs threading, on the sides of the cog. Take both pedals off the cranks. Get a pair of 4 ft steel hollow bars. Get three of you buddies. Put your rear wheel up against a wall. Get your heavest buddy to sit on the bike. Slide both of the bars over the cranks horizantaly with the floor. Get your other buddy to lift the none drive side bar as you stand on the drive side. Dont' worry about breaking a crank.... the cog will strip out the hub before anything breaks.

If in the event your hub strips, cut out the spokes lace up a nes hub in your wheel. At this point, you might want to consider perhaps a Miche Track setup and some nice Phil Wood grease in the threads before you put on the cog and lock ring.

Have Fun !

Wait a tick...Surly's are dual-sided, no? Why not just flip the mutha to the other side and thread a new cog on the unused side? Or am I drunk?

The problem was that the gear kept me from lacing a new spoke on the wheel, since it blocked the hole for the spoke head.

What finally worked was a hammer and an old MTB handle bar. A couple good wacks and the gear came right off. This then allowed me to see what the problem was. My chain had come off a while ago and did the chain suck, well this damgaed all eight(8) of the pulling spokes. So I had to relace the spokes and true the whole thing all over again. At least it wasn't some mysterious spoke breaking thing. These spokes were really damaged. Fortunately, I didn't loose more than the one.

I also putzed around with the hubs that have the old bearing sleeves stuck in them, and managed to salvage them as well. Had a very productive day. I now have four Surly flip/flop hubs to work with. Just need another set of bearings and I'll be ready for summer riding.