The QUICK question thread.....

[The Duckmeister]

in desperate need of undo advice
see pics, can’t undo the allen key on the old octalink cranks..i presume the l-r threads are opposite in that they both undo the same way? have sprayed it already, have a 1/2” socket handle with a thomson seatpost on it, won’t budge
also when i get the other side crank off, start undoing the bottom bracket i undo it 6-6 turns then it becomes really tight? like it’s still connected to the other side..i thought they undid independently?
am losing it..swearing & abuse

View attachment 361476
View attachment 361477

Looks like you've lost the self-eaxtractor cap, which the bolt pulls against to remove the crank. Both bolts are normal R/H thread, therefore anti-clockwise to undo.

Further to the pipe-over-allen key-for more leverage idea suggested earlier, remove the pedal from the offending crank, wrap some rag over the crank to protect it fron gouges, and slip a large pipe over the crank and use the ground as a stopper against crank rotation. Then apply your enhanced leverage, with impact (shock loading can free over-tight threads where simple brute leverage won't) if required.

 

[pink poodle]

Looks like you've lost the self-eaxtractor cap, which the bolt pulls against to remove the crank. Both bolts are normal R/H thread, therefore anti-clockwise to undo.

Further to the pipe-over-allen key-for more leverage idea suggested earlier, remove the pedal from the offending crank, wrap some rag over the crank to protect it fron gouges, and slip a large pipe over the crank and use the ground as a stopper against crank rotation. Then apply your enhanced leverage, with impact (shock loading can free over-tight threads where simple brute leverage won't) if required.

Is this with the bike in an upright position and the bottom bracket shell + crank arm resting on the ground?

 

[The Duckmeister]

On its wheels, pipe on crank long enough to reach the ground & stop the crank from spinning..

 

[pink poodle]

On its wheels, pipe on crank long enough to reach the ground & stop the crank from spinning..

Ahhhh got ya.

 

[fatboyonabike]

Looks like you've lost the self-eaxtractor cap, which the bolt pulls against to remove the crank. Both bolts are normal R/H thread, therefore anti-clockwise to undo.

Yes, this
had to have a 2nd look, but you appear to be correct
Dan, does the bolt undo? (should be standard CCW)
if so, do you have another set of cranks with a self extracting bolt cap that you can pinch?

 

[pink poodle]

Yes, this
had to have a 2nd look, but you appear to be correct
Dan, does the bolt undo? (should be standard CCW)
if so, do you have another set of cranks with a self extracting bolt cap that you can pinch?

Or a crank puller ..? Or is this model crank immune to that?

 

[Flow-Rider]

I usually undo them with my 1/2 " rattle gun or a long breaker bar, some people go apeshit with the loctite on the threads.

 

[Daniel Hale]

Looks like you've lost the self-eaxtractor cap, which the bolt pulls against to remove the crank. Both bolts are normal R/H thread, therefore anti-clockwise to undo.

Further to the pipe-over-allen key-for more leverage idea suggested earlier, remove the pedal from the offending crank, wrap some rag over the crank to protect it fron gouges, and slip a large pipe over the crank and use the ground as a stopper against crank rotation. Then apply your enhanced leverage, with impact (shock loading can free over-tight threads where simple brute leverage won't) if required.

yep had wrapped an old tube around the crank, crank was in a pipe also..angle grinder tomorrow

 

[SummitFever]

Before resorting to the angle grinder I'd try some heat and then some sharp shocks with a hammer on the end of your allen socket drive.

 

[moorey]

I don’t recall my octalink being self extracting. Threads in crank are for the puller. I might have misread the problem though.

 

[Daniel Hale]

I don’t recall my octalink being self extracting. Threads in crank are for the puller.

you could throw orig boots away & buy self extracting ones for ease of removal

 

[Daniel Hale]

Before resorting to the angle grinder I'd try some heat and then some sharp shocks with a hammer on the end of your allen socket drive.

nope when i had both pipes on yesterday, turned the thread to butter

 

[Daniel Hale]

Success quick ride at gissy this morning, into Bunni GS Sunbury (place pakjed)
10nibs angle grinder, bloody satisfying, didn't knick or melt brake line either

 

[moorey]

Bloody single speeders.

 

[Daniel Hale]

Bloody single speeders.

one of the locals with a sworks stumpy retail 12K pulled out one day saw me using a large mallet for servicing, threatened me then & there never to approach his bike with a tool of any description

 

[moorey]

one of the locals with a sworks stumpy retail 12K pulled out one day saw me using a large mallet for servicing, threatened me then & there never to approach his bike with a tool of any description

I don’t normally like Spesh riders....but...

 

[The Duckmeister]

I don’t recall my octalink being self extracting. Threads in crank are for the puller. I might have misread the problem though.

Depended on model level and to an extent, model vintage, some were self-extracting, others were not. Bolts & caps are interchangeable.

 

[moorey]

Cool. Had a couple of sets of XT. None were.

 

[Scotty T]

Same, Scotty. They can be tight but just pull off. Protect the surface of the end cap if using plyers.

Jeebus, still not coming off, trying to avoid damaging, and just punched myself in the shin attempting. They aren't the 20mm @Flow-Rider

 

[Scotty T]

Ah and then I found the right tool for the job, gave it a bit of wiggle, and out it came.