OK, here’s my “other maintenance thread”. I’m sorry about posting three threads, but I don’t want to jam all the questions into one.
Here we go, when the cranks are on so tight you can’t get them off with your bare hands, what do you do? I’ll tell you what I did, that I probably shouldn’t have. First, I took off the bolts, so that the only thing holding the cranks on was their damn stubbornness. Then, I went for a ride. Sure enough, after a while, righty came off. That’s all fun and games, but lefty was still clinging on for dear life. So, I picked up the uni and dropped it on the sidewalk 5 or 6 times and eventually, it came off.
Clearly, this is not reccomended maintenence procedure. What do you guys do?!?
What you did was very naughty. It’s mean to smash your unicycle against the sidewalk. You need a crank puller to remove cranks from your axle. Unicycle.com sells crank pullers
but they are standard items available at any bicycle shop, too.
>Here we go, when the cranks are on so tight you can’t get them off with
>your bare hands, what do you do?
It would be strange if you would be able to get them off with bare
hands. You need a tool called a crank puller, to be bought from your
local friendly bicycle shop owner.
That explains some things. I, of course, have the crank wrench, which I used to remove the bolt holding the cranks on. I assumed “crank puller” was another name for this wrench. I can’t visualize in my mind how this thing works, but I imagine if I got a crank puller, I would figure it out pretty quick…
Crank puller: a big threaded bit screws into the middle of the crank when you’ve removed the little plastic cap. Then you tighten a bolt that passes through the centre of the big threaded bit. The end of this bolt pushes against the end of the axle. the axle ain’t going nowhere, so as you continue to tighten the bolt, the crank is pulled off the taper. Simple - a two minute procedure.
Get a good crank puller. The better ones have a pivoted end, so that the end isn’t spinning against the end of the axle. UK price about 10 quid, so US price probably 15 Dollars? You need about a 16 mm open ended spanner to turn the crank puller, but the good news is the crank puller has a built in 14 mm socket, so you can use it for removing/replacing the crank bolt.
Hoo-boy, I agree! The relationship between the unicycle and it’s human master is very delicate. The unicycle will perform as a workhorse for a hard unicycle-riding demon as long as the unicycle is given proper care and feeding. It also tends to have a tender ego so lots of compliments are in order. To smash it against the sidewalk with undo reason (in the unicycle’s eyes) places us all in jeopardy of a muntiny where unicycles attack in the dead of night and throw us from our second story bedroom windows to the pavement below.
Most bicycles have bolts holding the cranks on. Most Unicycles use nuts. This means that you need a crank puller that will allow the centre part to retract enough to fit over the threads on the axle. If you are unsure then take you uni to the cycle shop to make sure it fits properly. You will strip the threads in your cranks if it doesn’t fully screw into the cranks.
Another note. Sometimes there is a washer under the nut or bolt on the axle. Make sure you remove this washer before fitting the removal tool. If you forget then you will probably strip the thread in the crank. Been there, done that
I know my Pashley MUni has a nut holding the crank on and the United has a bolt that goes into the axle. It was the cheap United that I dropped on the sidewalk, certainly not the MUni.
Still, with what sound like a great explanation from Mikefule, I still don’t get it. I think I need to see this in action before I’ll get it.
Try this: You lay your unicycle on the side, remove the plastic dust cap and remove the nut that holds the crank on. Then you go for a cup of tea (US = root beer?).
While you’re away, this tiny tiny little man, about an inch tall, but very very strong, comes along and jumps into the hole where the crank is slotted onto the tapered end of the axle.
The little man grips hold of the crank by bracing his hands agaist the thread that normally holds the plastic cap on, then he pushes really really hard against the end of the axle using his feet. As long as his hands don’t slip, he will lift the crank off the end of the axle. OK?
So, instead of a little man’s hands, we have a threaded metal insert which screws in in place of the plastic cap. Screw it in good 'n tight. This threaded metal insert is pierced with a female thread. (Think of a metal doughnut (US donut) with a male thread on the outside and a female thread on the inside.)
The little man’s feet are made up of a bolt which screws into the female thread. As you tighten this bolt, it moves further and further in until ‘the little man’s feet’ push against the axle. Keep tightening, and he keeps pushing. As long as his hands don’t slip, he pulls the crank off. Dead simple, and a very satisfying tool to use.
> The little man’s feet are made up of a bolt which screws into the female
> thread. As you tighten this bolt, it moves further and further in until
> ‘the little man’s feet’ push against the axle. Keep tightening, and he
> keeps pushing. As long as his hands don’t slip, he pulls the crank off.
> Dead simple, and a very satisfying tool to use.
I’m sure, but have you thought about the little man’s feelings?
I didn’t think so. How does he feel, being crushed time after time into
those terrible female threads? How can he look his mother in the eye?
Do you really think you can shoulder the guilt?
Janne
“What did you do with the Pharaoh + shem@erasethis.iki.fi
Great Outhouse 8?” +
“We ate him. He was unspeakably +
toothsome.” +
