I’m trying to remove my new odyssey black widow 170mm cranks using my CCP-2 crank puller that has worked fine on other unis, but I can’t get the tool’s bolt to thread into the crank’s arm. The thread in the crank arm is just slightly too tight, and when i forced the crank puller for a quarter turn (using a wrench) it bored out a sliver of the crank arm’s thread, just like a drill-tap would.
I took it to my local bike shop, but neither of their standard sized pullers fit either. Several mechanics looked at it, so hopefully it’s not just my newbie-ness!
Does anyone know if the black widow’s crank threads are non-standard sized?
Or, does anyone know if boring a slightly larger hole with the crank puller will still allow enough thread tension to pull the sucker off? My guess is that it depends on the material, but I’ve never played with aluminum alloys before.
The heck withit, go to an auto parts store and get yerself a bearing puller and use it to pull the crank. I borrowed one once from a bulldozer driver and it worked fine after i turned the screw around backwards. If your self esteem can take a few hits take the uni with you and let the counter guys have a bit of fun at your expense…carjug@yahoo.com
The Black Widow cranks have a standard size crank extractor threads. I have been able to use my crank puller with them.
Make sure the threads are clean (no dirt and grit). Put a little grease on the threads. And be very careful about cross-threading when you thread in the crank puller. If the extraction threads on the crank have gotten banged up due to drops or hits on rocks, etc. then it may be difficult to get the crank puller threaded in the crank.
If the threads on the crank puller are acting like a tap then you are most likely getting the threads cross-threaded and will strip the threads on the crank. Be very careful about that. If the crank extractor threads do get stripped you may be able to fix them with a helicoil. I’m not sure if there is a standard helicoil for the crank extractor threads (I think those threads are 22mm). Another option would be to get the threads tapped to 23mm. Some of the crank extractors have both 22mm and 23mm threads on the crank extractor for just such a predicament.
Ah, that brings up another idea. Make sure you are useing a crank extractor with 22mm threads and not 23mm threads. The 23mm threads will surely not fit well in a 22mm threaded hole.
Greasing the threads did the trick. It was still a very tight fit, and I needed a wrench to drive the crank puller into the extraction threads. After taking the crank off I backed out the puller (again using a wrench) and found the threads covered with a fine mixture of grease and aluminum shavings. Aluminum dust, really. Just enough to discolor the grease.
Now the crank puller can be threaded in by hand and still has enough tension to pull the cranks off. Thanks for the tips!
