Is there a non destructive way to remove 3 piece crank without a puller?

[biker38109]

It really bugs me to have to buy tools just for one job that I will probably only use a couple of times ever.

Is there not an improvised way to do it?

Looking at some videos it doesn't seem like a complex process- you are just trying to remove a tightly stuck thingy on another protruding thingy.

Can't it be done, albeit perhaps taking longer. with common workshop tools? I have no problem with the process being longer since it wouldn't be something that is done often.

The videos I have seen involve hammering or one, pointlessly, using a tool much more expensive than the puller itself. Well the only valid reason they gave in that case was if the thread had gone in the crank making a puller unusable.

I did have a go with the hammer and screwdriver method tapping on the chainrings but it didn't budge with medium hits such that I would not want to go harder at risk of damaging the rings.

[rjb]

The appropriate tool is the way to go. available for a couple of quid from various online sources.
If you remove the crank bolts and continue to ride it the cranks often come loose on their own accord. Failing that try searching on this forum, there's lots of advice. Heres one for starters.
viewtopic.php?t=155971&hilit=crank+stripped+thread

[nirakaro]

You could try driving a hardwood wedge (maybe two, opposite each other) between the crank and the bottom bracket – if you happen to have hardwood wedges. If not, acquiring the right tool is probably easier and cheaper than acquiring hardwood wedges.

[Brucey]

if you read my 'rubbodraulics' post it may give you some ideas. if the BB spindle is the kind that uses bolts, you may be able to remove the crank without a puller. The procedure would be as follows; first, make a special grub screw for the BB spindle. This can have a single small screwdriver slot in it, and be fitted so that the end of the BB spindle presents as flush. Next, fill the space between the BB spindle and the extractor threads with squares of rubber cut from old inner tubes. Finally take a square-ended drift (which can be made easily using an old BB spindle) and hammer the drift into the rubber. This should result in a force which helps to loosen the crank.

[cycleruk]

The correct tool could be a lot cheaper than a new crank or bottom bracket.
However this video gives a few options :-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n1z2kwmL8o&t=258s

Also some heat on the crank to make it expand may help.

P.S. Or nip down to your LBS and ask nicely.

[Carlton green]

It really bugs me to have to buy tools just for one job that I will probably only use a couple of times ever.

Is there not an improvised way to do it?

Looking at some videos it doesn't seem like a complex process- you are just trying to remove a tightly stuck thingy on another protruding thingy.

Can't it be done, albeit perhaps taking longer. with common workshop tools? I have no problem with the process being longer since it wouldn't be something that is done often.

The videos I have seen involve hammering or one, pointlessly, using a tool much more expensive than the puller itself. Well the only valid reason they gave in that case was if the thread had gone in the crank making a puller unusable.

I did have a go with the hammer and screwdriver method tapping on the chainrings but it didn't budge with medium hits such that I would not want to go harder at risk of damaging the rings.

The simplest thing to do is to slacken the retaining nut off and then use the bike for some time, eventually the crank will work loose (hence why the retaining nut is needed).

Without a puller and with the use of force you’ll damage the bearing surfaces, you might even damage the cranks. To be honest your best bet is to buy a new or second hand tool off of eBay and sell it on again after use - well that or borrow one from a pal. Crank extractors aren’t expensive and particularly so compared to the time and other costs that they’ll save you - and I say that as a life long tightwad who now has a section of rarely used crank extractors.

These counterintuitive words don’t come easy to me, ‘but there's such a thing as being too tight-fisted’.

[hoogerbooger]

Get pally with some other cyclists and see if you can borrow.

[biker38109]

The simplest thing to do is to slacken the retaining nut off and then use the bike for some time, eventually the crank will work loose (hence why the retaining nut is needed).
...
These counterintuitive words don’t come easy to me, ‘but there's such a thing as being too tight-fisted’.

Yes, having been through the alternatives buying one seems best.

I watched a video that suggested that even riding it could damage the taper due to rocking around on the hinge. Seems not buying one and bodging would be a false economy.

[cycle tramp]

It really bugs me to have to buy tools just for one job that I will probably only use a couple of times ever.

Is there not an improvised way to do it?

Can't it be done, albeit perhaps taking longer. with common workshop tools? I have no problem with the process being longer since it wouldn't be something that is done often.

The videos I have seen involve hammering or one, pointlessly, using a tool much more expensive than the puller itself. Well the only valid reason they gave in that case was if the thread had gone in the crank making a puller unusable.

I did have a go with the hammer and screwdriver method tapping on the chainrings but it didn't budge with medium hits such that I would not want to go harder at risk of damaging the rings.

Not really - and to be honest, why would you?

Taking removing cranks using a crank puller, is safer for yourself than any improvised methods and its quicker (about a minute of so for each crank) and won't damage the parts...

..I'm not sure if this post is going to be one in a series 'can I take my tyres off the rim using a couple of sticks?', and 'can I fit a new headset using a big rock I found in my garden?'..

..but the answer is no to both of them, and I'd like to point out that A&E is already quite full...

[cycle tramp]

Post script... let's look at it another way... how much are you paid, by hour? Let's hope that is somewhere above 15 or 20 quid an hour... without using a crank puller it's properly going to take an hour to remove the cranks if you bodge it, and that's without damaging yourself in the process...

..the last time I bought a crank puller it was in the 8 to 12 squids price range... it took 2 minutes to remove the cranks, which allowed me to get on with the rest of the job and the weekend..

You get 52 weekends in a year - how much is a smooth, calm, unflustered weekend worth to you?

[simonineaston]

In the late ‘70s I had a BMW r90 and was a member of the owners club, which had set of the special tools needed to do certain jobs, so you just paid a deposit and the tool arrived the post.

[nirakaro]

Yebbut … out and back postage for a crank puller would probably cost more than buying it.

[freeflow]

A couple of cycles of heating and cooling using a hot air gun did the trick for me. This was in 2022. The Deore triple chain set had been in place since I bought the bike in 1992.

[rareposter]

Is there not an improvised way to do it?

Firstly, if you're trying anything on that British Eagle, stop now cos it's *really* not worth it, in fact you'll end up with a crank puller that's worth more than the bike.

Secondly - much as there are some folk on this forum who'll go to any lengths to avoid spending any money at all and would rather bodge their own tools and parts using all sorts of "ingenious" methods - there is also a thing called Doing It Properly. Using incorrect or cheap tools will result in you breaking or damaging things and taking way longer than either buying the correct (and reasonable quality) tool or taking it to a bike shop - this applies even more when you're fairly new to taking cranks off!

[Manc33]

A crank extraction device represents a specialized instrument, and although alternative methodologies may exist for accomplishing the task in the absence of such an apparatus, the procedure is rendered an expeditious endeavor, typically consummated within a mere five-minute interval, when one is in possession of the requisite implement.

Sorry I got a creative flow from reading a simonineaston post.