Wanted to take my cranks off to clean them.
Ended up really making a mess of one and stripped the threads with the crank puller.
Now wondering if it’s safe to just put the nut back on and ride around? As those threads are still fine.
Sorry for my stupidity.
by OpticMelonHead
8 Comments
Yeah. Those outer threads are only for the crank puller. If you but back the nut the cranks won’t move.
Those are not even the worst cranks I’ve seen today. And don’t worry, we’ve all stripped a thread before 😉
As Milch said, no worries. It’s next time that you want to take them off that’s the problem, but that’s future you’s problem.
You can use a gear pulling tool to remove the cranks, or use a saw to cut a slot to the axle that you can expand by inserting a large screwdriver and twisting.
For now put the bolt back, tighten, and ride.
Taper cranks are not designed to be removed regularly.
Ride with the bolt loose and the arm will ‘self extract’. I have a special thread tap for these special occasions, looks like there’s salvageable threads.
tbf if you left the bolt off and rode them they’d prob come off eventually
Put the crank bolt back in and tighten it. I can’t imagine removing cranks to clean them. You’ve ruined the drive-side one.
Replace the bolt. Tighten. Ride. When you need to change the crank arm, remove bolt. Ride until crank arm starts to wiggle, but not too long, or you’ll damage the bottom bracket. Crank arm will come off easily. Take the opportunity to maybe replace the bottom bracket. Not expensive.
Replace the bolt. Tighten. Ride. When you need to change the crank arm, remove bolt. Ride until crank arm starts to wiggle, but not too long, or you’ll damage the bottom bracket. Crank arm will come off easily. Take the opportunity to maybe replace the bottom bracket. Not expensive.
They only need to come off when you replace the bottom bracket, so as long as that’s in good shape and you don’t ford any rivers it will be years, maybe you can justify some new ones then. My favoured removal method is to flip the bike upside down and heat the crank with a blowtorch or heat gun then wack it with a mallet, but I haven’t had to do it in years after buying a quality extractor (park tool).