Wrenches....Help me remove an Ultegra Crank

Ok, I’ve got an older Ultegra Crank & I’m moving it over to a road bike and replacing it. I don’t know how to get it off. I’ve search the interwebs and I’m still confused. I need help in laymen’s terms.

There is an 8mm Hex screw & two small pin point indentions on each side of the screw. Same on both drive side & non drive side.

The screw will turn about a half turn each way then tighten back up. Something must be done before I unscrew this.

I have most the basic tools & a Crank extractor (Below). What do I need to do. I can post pics in a few hours if I’m not making sense.

http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10053_10052_124649_-1_200497_200278_200497

TIA

Had to go check to be sure. Keep turning the allen keep on that bolt and the crank arm should come right off. IF that little ring with the two pinholes starts to bend as that bolt keeps coming out STOP! There is a small tool that will allow you to remove said ring without further harm to it…it is the self extracting bolt washer. Remove this ring if you need to and then keep backing the crank bolt out. Now you should be able to safely use your crank extraction tool to remove the crank arm. Only do this is that ring starts to look like it’s bending…otherwise the cranks should just back right out without any further help.

I’m not familiar with all the evolutions of the Ultegra cranks and don’t know how old this one is.

The Ultegra became the current hollowtech design a few years ago.

There are 3 main types of cranks, square taper, ISIS, and integrated spindle. Do you know what this is?

The two pinholes on either side of the main allen bolt would indicate that this is the Octalink version I believe.

Ok, I’ve seen online there is a tool that pinches that cover and pulls it off.

I didn’t want to twist to hard on the bolt, but I’ll try it at lunch and see what I can make happen.

It is about 5 years old, so it isn’t really old. Pretty sure they were the cranks that came on my p2k & it is a 04 I believe

As was mentioned, just use the 8mm Allen wrench, counterclockwise (will bey very tight). It is a self extracting crank and will pull off as you turn the 8mm bolt. You shouldn’t need to mess with the outer cover.

http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-TL-FC20-Crank-Dustcap-Chainring/dp/B000R37JGI this is actually the tool you should need. That dustcap is threaded in the crank arm on both sides. If you need to remove it you’ll have to use that tool to back it out. You shouldn’t need to though…they’re a pretty good design and they work quite well.

There is a bolt on both sides, I assume I need to unscrew both sides, right? That seems pretty obvious as I type it.

To help me understand how this works, these bolts are screwed into the bottom bracket, right? Or do these tighten on to something else that is attached to the bottom bracket?

What you have is supposed to be self extracting octalink crank.

Just keep unscrewing the 8mm and it will press against the dustcover and remove the crankarm as you unscrew it. If the dustcover starts to turn, you’ll need to remove it, put some grease where the bolt contacts it and put it back in very tightly. There is Shimano dust cover tool that has correctly spaced pins for this. (Usually comes in the box with the crank)

A regular crank arm extractor usually won’t work because the octalink hole diameter is bigger than the pusher bit on the extractor. There might be a special extractor for these, but I don’t have one.

Bah - take out the stupid extractor bolt and put in a real crank removal tool. Far too often the extractor bolts strip. This is all in all a three minute job.

Is that extractor bolt the bolt with 8mm hex or are you talking about the dust cover that has the two small dents? I’m confused about what you’re talking about.

All this is new to me.

http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=120 Park usually explains things pretty well…I’ll let them do it.

When in doubt, refer to Park Tool’s instructional page.

For the Crank
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=120

For the BB
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=94

As far as the crank is concerned,

  1. You should only need to use the 8mm hex to get the bolt out. I just did this 3 weeks ago with a 105 octalink crankset. Remember… “lefty loosey, righty tighty”!
    Once the top cap is off…
  2. remember to remove any washers before inserting the crank puller tool. It will much more difficult to get the crank off if you forget to do this. I know from experience!

The bolt with the 8mm hex is the self extracting bolt, the one with the 2 pins is the cover. If you turn the 8m bolt anticlockwise it will typically remove the crankarm, it may take a good amount of force. If you do need to remove the cover and use a crank extractor you need a small bolt or piece that fits into the end of the octalink bottom bracket spindle as the bolts are larger diameter than the old classic ones in the square taper BB’s.
Its a lot harder to explain online than it is to do in person!

Kevin

Got it off at lunch today. I just wasn’t turning hard enough. I was unsure and didn’t want to break something.

I didn’t need to remove the dust cover nor did I need to use the crank extractor.

Thanks for the help all!!