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I was changing the spindle for a longer one in three Crankbrothers pedals (Candy 1, Eggbeater 1 and 2). Two were wery simple, the plastic cap, the spindle nut and take down the pedal body with all the bearings. No noticable force required, one just takes the body down smoothly.

In one case, however, I am not able to remove it even with the maximum force of my hands and with some rubber mallet hits. I think the inner part of the enduro bearing is stuck to the spindle. Is there some reasonable way to solve this problem without destroying the bearing? Or could it be claimed as a warranty defect?

Although I may still quite well use the pedal in its current shape, I will definitely need to get the bearing out when the time for new bearings comes.

enter image description here

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  • Picture? I'm imagining resting the bearing on vice jaws and tapping the spindle through the bearing, but could be imagining the problem wrong
    – Swifty
    Commented Feb 15, 2020 at 19:59
  • @Swifty Hard to picture it. But there is access to the bearing from one side only. Basically it is this step youtu.be/xGos02m2FKA?t=50 after unscrewing the nut. One only sees the bearing from the outer side so that one does not have a good access to the bearing from the inner side. One could theortically rest the pedal body and hit the spindle, but the opposite is easier (rest the spindle in some tool or crank and hit the pedal body).
    – Vladimir F Героям слава
    Commented Feb 15, 2020 at 23:17
  • have you tried lightly tapping the axle to try and get it loose? if so how much force was used? Be cautious when hitting the body of the pedal as suggested in your previous comment, if it's aluminum you risk damaging the pedal body, so use some wood in between hammer and body or something similar (or a rubber hammer).
    – Maarten -Monica for president
    Commented Feb 16, 2020 at 8:41
  • As I said, I used a plastic (in fact rubber) mallet. Much softer than wood. The axle cannot be hit, it is hidden inside. If you click on the video, you will see that no axle end is visible on the outer end. In fact, the pedal wings look much more sturdy than the tiny axle end.
    – Vladimir F Героям слава
    Commented Feb 16, 2020 at 8:44
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    @VladimirF you could perhaps consider using something like this (flat punch iir the name correctly) cdn.shoplightspeed.com/shops/610004/files/2628851/300x250x2/… Or a sawed off screwdriver of the correct diameter and use it as a tool to be able to hit the axle. But perhaps as you say hitting the body is a better option. Have you tried some WD-40 or similar product (spraying it in between the axle and inner bearing race? It might help
    – Maarten -Monica for president
    Commented Feb 16, 2020 at 8:54

2 Answers 2

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I've had this happen on a few Egg Beater and Candy pedals in the past and I've been able to free them by using a very long screw driver as my lever and the crank arm as the fulcrum. Of course I protected the crank arm from damage.

With this method I haven't observed any damage to the bearing.

Two other methods which seem reasonable are:

  1. Clamp the pedal body in a vice and tap the axle out using a punch & hammer.
  2. If one had a bolt with the same thread of the pedal body, the bolt could be screwed into the threads of the pedal and would eventually contact the end of the axle and push it out. My primary concern in this method is having enough threads in the soft aluminum body to put sufficient force on the axle.
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  • I think methods of both answers would work. I accepted this one, because point 1 was what I finally used. I was prepared to try more comppliceted methods, but they were not necessary. I remark to the last sentence, that the body is actually steel. But if it happened for Candy 1 - that one is just plastic...
    – Vladimir F Героям слава
    Commented May 31, 2020 at 12:37
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If you have a relatively big bench vice (or some other big clamps like woodworking clamps) you could consider making a DIY axle extractor to get the job done:

enter image description here

1)

Take a wooden beam (approx 4x4cm or larger size also good as long as it's manageable) and saw off a bit of approx 20cm. drill a hole in the middle which will fit the threaded end of the pedal axle through.

2)

Buy a flat punch (link in previous comment) or make a DIY flat punch with sawed off screwdriver of the correct size and use it to press against the pedal's axle. The difficult thing would be to get the screwdriver or punch to stay perpendicular with the jaw of the bench vice whilst clamping down. a punch will make this easier since it has a bigger base but still it might be difficult. If you are ok with it you could consider drilling a small hole in the vice jaw to stick the screwdriver in or a better option: take a block of aluminum or steel (or an old crank for example, and drill a hole in it such that you can use the block for a base for the screwdriver/punch to keep it parallel with the jaw of the vice.

3)

Place the pedal in between (with the pedal's axle (the side that screws into the crank) in the hole in the wooden beam) and the sawed off screwdriver or punch pressing against the other side of the axle.

then tighten the vice and the pedal's axle should be pushed out of the pedal.

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