How to: Repair stripped puller threads on cranks

[dinozoiks]

Snow is good. great for doing snow angels. But impromptu ones like this are not the way to do it.
View attachment 840448

To avoid the puller tearing out you really need to make sure its tight when you start to do up the puller bit. Not just hand tight, it needs to be tight as tight can be(obviously without tearing the threads from overtightening) So as tight as you would tighten a pedal.

I'd a nice set of Cooks Bros cranks in purple. And i didnt tighten the puller properly, so that when i started to turn the center bit i felt it begin to tear out. Bloody Blind Panic ensued Stopped, and didnt try to undo it, but took the whole bike down to the bike mechanics who worked his magic on them.
Lesson learned. Tighter than hand tight.

If I ever start a band, my first album is going to be called “Tighter than hand tight”.

Damn fine advice btw. There’s nothing like that roller of emotions feeling something slowly moving, assuming it’s the crank coming off and then realising it’s threads being stripped.

 

[fguki]

Its an ok fix. If you really want to tinker around and spend 2 days

...but why not simply have a larger 3 arm ball bearing puller in the shop for stuff like that? Takes you no 2 minutes to remove busted cranks.

 

[bikeworkshop]

... why not simply have a larger 3 arm ball bearing puller in the shop for stuff like that? Takes you no 2 minutes to remove busted cranks.

We've got several pullers, but some cranks it's hard to find purchase.
Like the pickle fork, sometimes there's no room for it.

If you've got several tools, there's usually a way, but ultimately The Grinder is always there for you.

 

[fguki]

I cant imagine ANY crank set where a ball bearing puller can not be installed to.

 

[bikeworkshop]

The quality ones are ok because there's space within the rings.
It's the crappy ones with stamped welded rings and alloy arm.
And of course it seems to be the cheaper chainsets that come in with stripped extractor thread.
It's not totally clear whether that was due to low quality alloy, poorly cut threads or previous operator error.

As a rule of course quality stuff goes wrong less and is easier to fix.