Crank Removal

Cool. It's a great wee tool to use. How can you not love the moment where the wrench turns easily and the crank starts to move?

Quick! Put the cranks back on and take them off again. :-)

After the horse has crank bolted, but a good technique is to use the wrench and crank together. Get them in position so that they're at 5 and 7 o' clock, and use your pecs or whatever they are to squeeze the 2 'levers' together.

You can do the same sort of thing to tighten with the crank and long-armed 8mm allen wrench.

Er, yeah.

crank removal is very pleasurable.

The cranks in question are Stronglight swaged directly onto the gears. The bike I'm stripping down is an old Claud Butler majestic, I would like them to come off intact if possible. I bought a standard 14mm extraction tool and tried it out earlier today. Wouldn't budge even with me leaning on a spanner gripping the tool. The whole thing just seemed to get tighter. Not sure if the smaller of the threaded pieces on the tool is possibly too large? Does it all just need more lube?

I'm sure i'll get shot down in flames by a more knowledgeable cove but I think y' need to crank it down TIGHT and give the tool a REAL sharp crack with a hammer (not the crank handle bit but the part which is on the centreline of the bottom bracket spindle)to "shock" the stuck scenario into showing a bit of common sense.If it does'nt loosen up instantly ,take up a bit more purchase with the plastic coated windy handly bit,belt the bastard with the hammer again-mega-hard sharp clout-Well aimed of course-and it will come off.(no guarantee from this party though!) Very best of luck,Blodnik

Just so we're clear, are you still tackling with the crank bolt or are you past that and now trying to remove crank from BB spindle?

Either way leverage is your friend.

Find a long pipe, or similar, to increase the length or your spanner.

If concerned about the threads you may need an older style crank remover which pulls from the back.

thanks for the help so far. I suppose it's not essential that I keep the threads but it would be nice. It would seem it's time for the trusty hammer approach. I just wasn't sure whether the tool I had was fitting properly. Just to clarify I am attempting to remove said cranks from bottom bracket spindle. You don't suppose these cranks pre-date the tool I'm using then?

Some older stronglights use a different crank extractor. Slightly larger OD.

I do happen to have one that is slightly larger than the standard, but no idea if it would fit, or where it actually came from.

From memory, i think Fruitbat might have one...

I have a TA extractor, which will work (with care) on Stronglight cranks.
Pm or phone if you want to borrow.

havent come across this before but the bolts holding the arms on seem to be bigger than 14mm and i find that i cant get a 15mm socket into the arm as there isnt enought room.

Anyone experienced anything like this or can help. Just picked up a lovely frame and i'd like to keep the cranks and bottom bracket in tact.

did some searches but nothing came up.

Please help.

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=103

just kept getting error i take it there is a tool to get in there then. I;ll head down to LBS tmrw.

Thanks hippy.... and thank you park tools.

this all looks like standard crank puller stuff to me and i've got that sucker.

the crank bolt removers do have a slightly thinner wall to the socket so they can fit in the crank and onto the bolt
park tool tool should do it
thin walled yet strong

Numpty question alert, boys and girls:
I am unsure what kind of square spindle crank removal tool I need to buy to get off my Sugino Messenger (uno) 130mm P.CD crankset (or if indeed there is more than one type!!!). Any advice gratefully recieved- may buy Park tool if feeling flush, or scour ebay for a credit-crunch version...ta!

This is what you need: http://parktool.com/products/detail.asp?cat=26&item=CWP-7

Best to shell out for the Park or similar top quality tool if you can afford it.

It will last longer and there's much less risk of it damaging your cranks.

Condor had them in and they weren't that expensive got mine for £7.99 at the beginning of summer.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/park/cp2c-crank-puller-ec005487

http://www.cyclesurgery.com/1025919/Park-CCW5C---Crank-Bolt-wrench,-14-mm-socket---8-mm-Hex-wrench.html

or cheap option

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/ice-toolz/crank-removal-tool-with-handle-ec006782

thanks guys- much appreciated!

I wanted to take off my drive-side crank in order to move the chainring to the other side of the spider in an attempt to improve my wayward chainline.
Unfortunately, upon removing the dust cap/allen key crank bolt thing (sorry not sure WHAT the outer cap is actually called) I discovered the inner threads are stripped.
There is a little remaining thread internally, but I imagine not enough to get a proper purchase in order to remove the crank.
I have googled this problem, and found several ways to remove the crank: my question is can I still use the crank after carefully removing and replacing it? I have just lost my job, have very litle money to spare and am unwilling to fork out on a new crankset if I can avoid it, but will the crank bolt alone hold the crank securely enough onto the square spindle?
Should I just leave it on, make do with a slighlty askew chainline and make sure the crank bolt is securely tightened. As its a fixed gear I do not want the crank to work loose and fall off with my foot attached, so am I being stupid, tight and downright dangerous? Please excuse long-winded thread!

You can move the chainring from one side of the drive side crank tabs to the other without removing it from the BB on most types of cranks. Undo the bolts completely, rotate it and slide it up the crank arm (having taken the pedal off first) I have done it on 144 and 130 bcd cranks several times. If you can take it off, you can put it back on again. I have the same problem with threaded drive side cranks, and when I had to service my BB, I used a hammer and punch to carefully hammer it off the BB axle. Good luck!

Thanks so much mobidog, managed to do exactly as you suggested.
Just to confirm from someone with more experience than me (i.e. nearly everyone else on this forum) will the crank 'work loose' due to the threads being stripped, or will the crank bolt hold it nice and secure? Sorry to be an idiot...!!

If it is the crank extraction threads that are stripped, The crank will not work loose, these threads play no part in holding the crank on.

I think the threads you're talking about are for the dust cap and to attach a crank puller. The crank bolt should hold the cranks onto the BB. (doing my first conversion and just found this out myself!)
cheers