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Need to remove my Race Face aeffect crank to replace chainring. However can’t get the damn thing off. Took it to LBS who tried with no joy. Went up to 90nm before giving up. Worried now the crank bolt is rounded off. There is room to cut through the shaft using a hacksaw which LBS say maybe the only solution. Has anyone here done this and been successful.?
No, but then I guess it sort of depends on your definition of successful?
Nearly, then my mate remembered he had an angle grinder and it was off in under a minute
I hacksawed an old square taper crank off a friends bike a few years ago after he’d had a bizarre crash and jammed it beyond removal.
It took a lot longer than you might think. I was cursing my angle grinder being a hundred miles away. Don’t even consider a junior hacksaw and have fresh blades to hand is my advice.
If your LBS is advising cutting through the hollow axle tube of an HT2 type crank this will be much easier than actually sawing through a crank arm...
It’s assuming you can get an angle grinder blade in the gap - without harming the frame. A junior hacksaw doesn’t even bear thinking about!
I have been attempting this on a child’s Frog bike with a junior hacksaw. Ditto it takes a lot longer than you would think and to use a proper hacksaw. I’m struggling to get through the last all important bit as the angles don’t quite work.
Not sure if I can get an angle grinder in there so might have to do it all with a hacksaw or a combination of both. It’s a hollow shaft which helps.
Id cut two sides of the crank rather than the axle. That axle is half an inch of steel bar. The alloy crank is a bit softer. Two cuts will allow you to slip it off over the bolt. The bold may be stuck still.
I've cut through the end of a cream to get it off before. It's just fine with a hacksaw although it's worth protecting the frame in advance for the point in the process where you just want it over with and stop paying so much attention. Then hammer something into the gap to open it up a bit and it pops off. This was square taper but I can't see why this would be any worse
Edit :of course unless you were hoping to save the crank but I'm not sure how that woukd work if it was stuck
Before resorting to hacksaws etc, have you tried the old method of loosening all the relevant bits, spraying with WD-40 (leave overnight), and then taking it for a few round the block rides?
The first post suggests the problem is he can't loosen off the relevant bolt(s), though. Taking off cranks with an angle grinder is easy enough - easier than with a hacksaw...I did a set of square taper jobs last month.
More modern designs should be easier, in that you only have to get one end off, then the rest will slide through the BB.