Profile maintenance

[m_extreme_uni]

Hi,
I just received my first set of profiles (hub and crankset) with 170mm cranks, I was wondering what you need to do to them for periodical maintenance and to keep them working well. thanks for your help,
Ryan

[john_childs]

Grease them up with lots of anti-seize. The anti-seize will help keep them from creaking (although it will not completely stop or prevent the creaking). Anti-seize will also protect the axle from rusting. Rust is probably your main enemy with the Profile hub. Cover every part of the axle that might rust with anti-seize. A little anti-seize on the crank bolts will allow you to get the crank bolts on tighter, which holds the bearings tighter, which holds the whole unicycle together tighter.

Here are some threads from the Google archive about Profile hub maintenance.
<http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&q=profile+anti+seize&meta=group%3Drec.sport.unicycling>

To get the cranks off you can use the Evercraft bearing puller from unicycle.com
<http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=419>
Put the arms on the skinny way and they will pull off the crank.

john_childs

[U-Turn]

John –

I’ve been investigating various Profile setups on new and old unis and have a question.

For setups that have the appropriate spacers to position the bearings properly in the frame’s bearing housing and keep them from wandering on the axle, I find that the spacers make using a bearing puller on the crank arms alone impossible, since they make the surface too smooth for the arms to catch behind the crank arms. It is necessary in that case to pull on the bearings themselves, which can destroy them.

Do you use a different approach in order to pull the cranks without pulling on the bearings?

[andrew_carter]

For setups that have the appropriate spacers to position the bearings properly in the frame’s bearing housing and keep them from wandering on the axle, I find that the spacers make using a bearing puller on the crank arms alone impossible, since they make the surface too smooth for the arms to catch behind the crank arms. It is necessary in that case to pull on the bearings themselves, which can destroy them.

Could you please explain this to me again? Are these spacers specifically Profile spacers or will any ones work that fit reasonably well? Do you have any photos of what it looks like with these spacers in?

Thanks,
Andrew

[john_childs]

Originally posted by U-Turn
[B]John –

I’ve been investigating various Profile setups on new and old unis and have a question.

For setups that have the appropriate spacers to position the bearings properly in the frame’s bearing housing and keep them from wandering on the axle, I find that the spacers make using a bearing puller on the crank arms alone impossible, since they make the surface too smooth for the arms to catch behind the crank arms. It is necessary in that case to pull on the bearings themselves, which can destroy them.

Do you use a different approach in order to pull the cranks without pulling on the bearings? [/B]

I pull on the bulge of the crankarm. It’s not much to grab on to, but it’s enough to be able to pull the crank off.

Put the grab arms of the Evercraft bearing puller on the skinny way. Grab the little bulge in the Profile crank right over the axle, and pull. I put duct tape on the Evercraft arms to keep them from scratching up the crank arm too much.

The very first time I tried to pull the Profile crank off (when the cranks were still brand new) it was VERY difficult to pull the cranks off. I actually had to put the crank arm in a bench vise and pound the axle out with a mallet. After the cranks have been used for a while they get looser and will be easier to remove. I can almost remove one of my cranks now just using my hands.

Keep the splines well lubed with anti-seize and the cranks will be easier to pull off.

I also have a little U-bolt that I can put behind the crank to give the bearing puller something to grab on to. I’ll post a picture of the U-bolt setup when I get home tonight and post it. A picture is worth 1000 words.

[U-Turn]

Originally posted by andrew_carter
[B]
Could you please explain this to me again? Are these spacers specifically Profile spacers or will any ones work that fit reasonably well? Do you have any photos of what it looks like with these spacers in?

Thanks,
Andrew [/B]

Here is someone else’s photo: http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albun41/aaa and another: http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/Wilder6160C/aaj and another!
http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/album54/aaf

Andrew, there are four spacers that come with the Profile and I used them inside the bearing holders (2 on each side). I also bought some extras at a local NAPA (auto parts / hardware store) to put 2 more (slightly thinner ones) on the outside of each bearing holder to keep the bearings from drifting around on the axle. You can see the little grey washer thingies in the photos between the crank arm (black) and the bearing holder. Because the washers are about the same diameter as the crank arm there on the axle, it almost looks like one solid piece.

There were two fancy spaceship-shaped washers that also came with the Profile, but I couldn’t figure out how to use them in a meaningful way, especially with the Yuni frame I’m using.

Ignore everything the manual says about how to remove the crank arms. These instructions, although included with the uni hardware, are actually for the BMX bottom bracket version and are erroneous when applied to the uni hardware. I intend to follow John’s instructions.

Thanks, John for the reply. Your posts are worth a thousand words!

[john_childs]

Here is a picture using the Evercraft bearing puller to pull off a Profile crank. The arms of the Evercraft tool are grabbing on to the bluge in the Profile crank. It’s not much to grab on to, but it’s enough. The duct tape on the bearing puller arms is to keep from scratching up the cranks too much when pulling them off.

Note that the arms of the Evercraft bearing puller are on the “skinny” way.

[john_childs]

Here is a picture using the Evercraft bearing puller to pull off a Profile crank with the help of a U-bolt. The U-bolt give the bearing puller something more to grab on to than just the slight bulge in the crank arm. I can’t remember what size U-bolt I am using. A little trial and error at the hardware store will help you choose the right size.

Note that the arms of the Evercraft bearing puller are on the “fat” way.

There is no need to pull on the bearing to pull off the crank. Pulling on the bearing could damage the bearing. If the crank is really tight, pulling on the bearing could end up pulling the outer race completely off the bearing.

[U-Turn]

This is super, John. Thanks for the extra effort! This is a big help to more than one of us here on the East Coast.

Is that a stabilizing plate on the U-bolt?

[john_childs]

Originally posted by U-Turn
Is that a stabilizing plate on the U-bolt?

The plate comes with the u-bolt. It’s a package deal.
I also put some tape around the U-bolt to keep it from scratching up the crank.

[teachndad]

Thread resurrected -

Will all this work with the KH cranks?

I need to remove a bearing on my new KH setup and re-seat it.

Once the crank is removed and assuming I can get the tweaked bearing off, do I use the locktite blue or red on the axle to seat the bearing? It’s been a few years since I seated a bearing.

Thanks

[flyer]

KH cranks are dead simple to take off, the 2005 ones at least. just put a hex key into the axle bolt and turn. They self-extract.

[teachndad]

@flyer

KH cranks are dead simple to take off, the 2005 ones at least. just put a hex key into the axle bolt and turn. They self-extract.

Cool.

I didn’t know that.

Thanks. That should take care of it.

[pdc]

@flyer

KH cranks are dead simple to take off, the 2005 ones at least. just put a hex key into the axle bolt and turn. They self-extract.

Until the self extractors fall out. Make sure to tighten them in occasionally.

[entropy]

@pdc

Until the self extractors fall out. Make sure to tighten them in occasionally.

With a pin spanner.