While rolling off a curb last night my Coker fell sideways and hit the pedal with enough force to bend the crank arm slightly. I’ve ordered replacement crank arms from Unicycle.com, along with the Park CCP-2 removal tool and red Locktite.
Is there anything I need to be especially cautious with in replacing the bent arm?
-Jeff
The most important thing is to put the pedals and arms on the correct side and don’t forget to remove the crank arm retaining nut before trying to use the puller!!!
I know what you’re thinking and the answer is:
Yes, it really does happen
Also, if you have never removed pedals before, the left and right side are threaded in opposite directions
There’s really not much to replacing a crank. please see our FAQ’s at: http://londonunicyclingclub.ca/cranks.htm
Brian
make sure you put the left pedal on the left side, and so on, because I mixed up the pedals once, and destroyed the threads on my cranks in the process. 4 CRANKS! I can’t believe I made that mistake twice! I’m so dumb.
In addition to all the above, make sure the crank puller tool is completely threaded onto the axle before cranking down the “puller” part. This means the puller part has to be wound back far enough for the main part of the puller to get onto as many threads as possible.
Your old cranks are probably salvageable. I have a 45" big wheel I’ve had since 1982. It still has the original cranks, even after countless drops. Yes, the cranks do bend on a hard drop, especially my steel 6.5 inchers. These are cottered cranks, and they tend to bend down near the axle at the point just before the round part of the crank widens out and becomes the squared-off area where the axle and cotter pin go through.
To fix my old cranks, I take them off the unicycle, lay them on a hard surface (driveway) with the pedal facing up in the air, and beat on the bend spot with a sledge hammer. Very scientific. But as the bends are usually minor and the steel is forgiving, this puts it back into place. My cranks have probably never been perfectly straight since the first few months I owned the thing, but they’ve been close enough for lots of fun, including the 10k race at UNICON last summer, the first time I ever actually raced it.
If they are stuck, heat the cranks with a torch or a lighter until they are HOT, then wack the crank tool with a hammer. they should slide right off then. carjug
Thanks to everyone who responded with excellent advice! My crank arm is replaced. The Coker rides great. I am happy. God is in His heaven.
-Jeff