Stuck/very tight SRAM cranks (self extractor types)- my fix, your gift

I've seen Instagram where they use an old inner tube at 6 and 8 o'clock which they loop and loop around crank arm and tool. But I've never tried it.

I've nearly exploded my brain doing it before though like many on here

I've seen that too, but I'm yet to attempt it myself.

https://youtube.com/shorts/JZIQT5Y0MuM?si=xigOg59y8ZrP-Kpg

I had one last week which the 'retaining' screw in cover was too loose and so the extraction bolt spun it, so not allowing extraction.

I ended up taping it into place and punching a hole through it for the extractor bolt...

My go to is to put the bike upside down under my garage table (which has 4 vices and a tools chest weighing it down), which is at a convenient height it catches the pedal and stops the crank spinning, then getting a breaker bar on the bolt.

Stupid design though, shimano pinch bolts are 10x better.

I finally lost my rag with some SRAM GX cranks a few years ago - their stupid stepped axle, non-preload design with the wandering/shearing tophat spacer in the BB cups. Bloody things were stuck on solid.

Luckily the crank bolts are as crap as the cranks themselves - normal HSS drill bit reduced the bolt (and a fair bit of the surrounding crankarm) to swarf in around 5 minutes.

Then in the bin with the whole lot.

I just have the drive side pedal at 9 o clock (i.e backwards), and have a car jack under the pedal, and then use an 8mm Allen key and an old Brompton seatpost as a lever.

Easy solution in both the garage and on the trail….

DrP

🙂

I can see that removing paint or worse...although I knock myself out, I'll stick to the pedal and Allen key getting pushed down very hard - bloody hurts and I do seem to be out or stunned for 5-10 seconds, but it gets the crank off... thankfully only had to do it twice, but both times I've skelp my head off the top tube when it finally let go!

i use a 2 ft breaker bar with allen key heads, nothing is stuck

I tie the non drive side crank to it's chainstay and then slide an old handlebar over my Allen key. I used the strap of a ratchet strap but not the ratchet itself.

For DUB the method I've found is to use a socket on the DS bolt with about 1m length of alu tube as a long extension to the handle, then a length of rebar into the NDS axle (wrap it in a rag if you want) and a similar 1m ish length of appx 2x2 braced between the rebar and the NDS pedal. Set it up so both are pointing up, DS lever slightly forward NDS slightly back then just push the NDS lever and pull the DS and the bolt comes undone easily.

just strap the crank arm to the frame with a couple of soft nylon straps and use a breaker bar.

I always make sure when I put the crank bolt in that’s it’s got generous amounts of copper slip grease in the threads. Torque it with a torque wrench to the torque quoted it should be at.

Can’t say I’ve ever had an issue undoing the crank bolt - I use an old torque wrench that has a decent length handle (it’s a cheapie Lidl one that the torque function has died on but the ratchet still works) and just stand on the pedal whilst pushing on the torque wrench handle. It’s tight but usually undoes without issue.

We had to replace my son's Dub in his, not too-well-maintained bike and had him standing on the opposite pedal, while I tried with an allen key with a metre long barbell bar as an extender. All it felt like was going to happen was the allen key would snap... We happened to be going to BPW and gave it to the workshop. Got it back and they didn't even mention it! Pro workshop for the win 😀

Yup, been doing that for years!

Similarly, for getting tight pedals off, use a big workshop-style allen key and just rotate the cranks until the plastic body hits the seat tube. Easy!

Although on reflection, every set of SRAM cranks I've used this trick on, the self-extracting bolt (and hence the allen key) are on the drive side, so I'd have the reversed pedal up against the bottom of the down tube.

We had to replace my son’s Dub in his, not too-well-maintained bike and had him standing on the opposite pedal, while I tried with an allen key with a metre long barbell bar as an extender. All it felt like was going to happen was the allen key would snap… We happened to be going to BPW and gave it to the workshop. Got it back and they didn’t even mention it! Pro workshop for the win 😀

To be fair, this is the kind of thing the ugga-dugga gun was invented for, they probably didn't even have to hold the crank still whilst it rattled it loose.

Stupid design though, shimano pinch bolts are 10x better.

Yes it is. Every time I have to change the BB, I mentally price up a Shimano chainset.

I've also invested in a 3ft long breaker bar, still takes a bit of grunting sometimes.

Thanks Stevo, guess there's nothing new under the sun. I'll withdraw my patent request 🙂 and as you say, downtube could also be used.

I usually tie the other crank to the chainstay with 2 pedal straps to hold the cranks while I apply torque. Use a Wera allen key that is less likely to round the bolt, and use a long pipe to give extra leverage. If it seems to be very stuck, I will probably heat the bolt a little with either hot air blower or a gas torch.

I always have those pedal straps around, a few hanging from the work stand. They are really useful for many things - f.ex. taking off the fork, I will use a strap to hold the handlebars on the top tube, another to keep the headset and spacers in order while I service the fork and so on.

Yes @mraeur Someone else who has seen  the light. Couple of nylon straps round the chainstay, takes ten seconds to secure. Be away with your solution, backwards pedals against a seat tube??? and whatever that nonsense is with a car jack.

(insert smiley face)

Philistines 🙂

I use an old pair of handlebars as a breaker bar, slide it over the allen key.

I've found the factory fitted cranks feels well higher than the recommended 55Nm. Nice idea with the pedal, will try to remember that for the next time.

What haggis said, strap the NDS crank arm to the chain stay, no other hacks needed.

But the bigger question is this.

Why, when you can get a crankset (Shimano) with a far better solution, would/should anyone end up with a make where hacks, jacks, vices and breaker bars are the norm to simply remove them?

Is the Shimano system a better solution? The SRAM system is a pig to get off, for sure, but taking your cranks off is pretty rare and there are easy enough solutions (as illustrated by this thread!). Never failed to get one off, never damaged one.

On the other hand, I've seen quite a few Shimano cranks with snapped bolts and stripped threads. If it comes a little loose while you're riding and you don't catch it right away, you're very likely to trash the cranks.

Yay, just had to remove the dub cranks to fit a new preload ring… reversed pedal under the downtube, seatpost for leaverage on the allen key. Worked a treat! Amusing thing was, the allen key sockets and breaker bar I ordered arrived just as I finished and put the bike back together ?

Thats one of life's ironies. But I'm glad this helped, and that you got there in the end.

Is the Shimano system a better solution?

Yes, it is.

I always make sure not to own one of those stupid sets of cranks that require so much effort to undo them. It seems like such a dumb design.

I’m with Stevomcd on this. The SRAM system initially seems horrible to work on when you’re used to Shimano (simply because the force required is far higher than elsewhere on a bike) but it works very well.