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I'm really struggling to get the crank off my bike. I got a crank puller from ebay but haven't been able to get it to work.

Have I got the wrong crank puller or am I not using enough force? If it's the former, does anyone know what crank puller I should use?

Image of the crank: https://screencast.com/t/uemyYZb9i

Image of the crank puller and the crank: https://screencast.com/t/D5YONYxg

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Everything looks right. Whenever using a crank puller but especially when it's taking a lot of force, it's very important to have the tool installed into the crank arm with some real torque, not just finger tight and never loose. You can grease the threads if there's roughness. Here with the nutted spindle it's a good idea to start with the puller either in two pieces like you have it or at least threaded far out, so you know the tool is getting torqued into the extraction threads and not getting bottomed out against the spindle tip. Once it's in there tightly you can use a lot of torque on the business part of the tool.

Square taper cranks are a press fit and so by nature, penetrating oils and the like usually won't do much to help loosen them. That is to say, putting whatever amount of force through the tool that's needed to do the job is all anyone can really do to remove them. There are other methods when extraction threads fail, but they tend to damage cranks anyway.

If getting enough leverage off the other crank is the problem, you can either rest it so it's torquing against a stationary object or take the pedal off and put a piece of PVC over it for a non-marring cheater bar.

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    Yep, as you say, the outer part of the puller needs to be screwed all the way into the crank before the inside bolt is inserted. And sometimes it takes A LOT of torque on the bolt to pop the crank off. Using a socket wrench may be a good idea. Jun 1, 2020 at 22:22
  • Also, be sure that the puller is for square taper. An Octalink one looks very similar but ends up pressing on the inside of the crank too, writing off the crank by stripping the puller threads. Also make sure that you've actually removed the bolt/nut first (yeah I've done both)
    – Criggie
    Jun 2, 2020 at 1:13

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