Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Lost your widget?

The failure to get the crank arms off the bottom bracket, despite having two crank extraction tools has been preying on my mind. I couldn't work out why neither of them worked. So okay, the older coterless crank extractor that I have had since the year dot probably wouldn't work. But the newer one from a tool set? I couldn't quite believe it. Even looking on the internet didn't reveal any difference in the tools.

So out came the tool box and out came the bike frame again. Another try, and another failure. Then, as I returned the tool to the box, what do I spy? A widget, a magnetic widget none the less. A dim little memory of the end of the new crank extractor being tipped with this stirs in the back of my mind. Fitting the sliver of silver to the end widens the base of the crank extractor. This in turn means that the pin no longer slips through into the hollow bottom bracket, (not normal for taper and square bottom brackets). Bingo - all that was missing then was the widget! Better not lose it in the tool box again, or worse out of the box!

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