# need help removing these cranks



## markmarkmark

need help removing these cranks. am not sure if these are a 1 piece or a 2 piece crank.  thanks!


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## Old-Bikes

they are one piece. as it's well rusted you need some penetrating oil as WD-40 but the best is PL-100. a little heat can't hurt either.

good luck!


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## fordsnake

I'm not familiar with the chainring, but I believe you have a Pope (Columbia) frame with a three piece crank set up. The crank arms are independent with wedge tips that screw into a center coupler. See attached pics. To remove the crank arms, you must lock the coupler (the center piece) and the arms unscrew See attachment.


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## fordsnake

Here're pics of my Tribune, the bottom hanger looks very close to yours.


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## Old-Bikes

it's split in the middle?!?!? WHAT? won't it come off like normal one piece cranks or you really need to split?  
the art of making simple things complicated...


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## fordsnake

Unlike the traditional crank arms...the dust covers cannot be removed until the crank arms are removed. This was a Pope "turn of the century" proprietary design, used on many of their top end models and featured "not to break" or bind. It offered easy access without the use of multiple spanner wrenches. Each bike was issued a small "key" to fit in the BB hole and into the slot in the coupler. With a couple of twists on the crank arms it would disengage. Unfortunately, without the key it's extremely difficult to unlock the arms, but possible with a little ingenuity


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## markmarkmark

thanks! i managed to remove the cranks. btw, can you guys help me id my frame. 

(picture of the bicycle before i stripped it down).  i have been searching the net for makers of truss bridge bicycles other thank Iver johnson. serial number is located below the crank hanger. no decals were included.  thanks again!


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## fordsnake

Since you were able to pull the crank, what did you find...a one, two or a three piece crank? We can't assist you unless you share your discoveries! Your bottom bracket was proprietary to Pope/Columbia/Westfield, plus they manufactured truss frames. Google Columbia truss frame


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## rustyspoke66

*Got it.*

Anybody have a picture of the release mechanism? Looks like I need to take one apart. Never mind, got it.


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## catfish

markmarkmark said:


> thanks! i managed to remove the cranks. btw, can you guys help me id my frame. View attachment 35841(picture of the bicycle before i stripped it down).  i have been searching the net for makers of truss bridge bicycles other thank Iver johnson. serial number is located below the crank hanger. no decals were included.  thanks again!




That is a Columbia built frame. They made just as many arch bars as Iver Johnson did. Maybe even more. Since they made them up into the 40s. I think the chain ring was added on thought. It's not one I've seen before.


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## rustyspoke66

So I removed my cranks successively. I ended up using the end of a file as a key to hold the center piece while I un-threaded the crank arms. Worked great and if I might say that is quit the design. One other thing I ran into is I had a pedal broken off in the crank arm, I drilled it and tried a easy out but no go. So I had to drill and grind very carefully until I could see threads then tap it out. Sounded fairly straight forward up to the point where it just seemed to take for ever to clean out and tap. The tap kept binding up and the issue seemed to be that the crank material was as hard or harder than the tap. So use caution when taping these cranks if you do.


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## Old-Bikes

rustyspoke66 said:


> So I removed my cranks successively. I ended up using the end of a file as a key to hold the center piece while I un-threaded the crank arms. Worked great and if I might say that is quit the design. One other thing I ran into is I had a pedal broken off in the crank arm, I drilled it and tried a easy out but no go. So I had to drill and grind very carefully until I could see threads then tap it out. Sounded fairly straight forward up to the point where it just seemed to take for ever to clean out and tap. The tap kept binding up and the issue seemed to be that the crank material was as hard or harder than the tap. So use caution when taping these cranks if you do.



cranks aren't that hard, but the pedal spindle is hardened steel. I think this is why it was binding.


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## rustyspoke66

Interesting, I didn't think the crank would be that hard either. I did clean the threads out on the other side and even though there was no pedal broken off it acted the same as the other side. That's how I came up with the idea that they might be much harder than your typical crank. The other thing I was thinking is that maybe the steal is higher grade because of the way the cranks fit together in the bottom bracket? Of course I'm not a metal guy, I twist wire nuts for a living. Any way just use caution, they turned out great and I'll post some pics at some point.


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## markmarkmark

thanks! . it has a 3 piece crank set like fordsnake mentioned. i managed to remove both pedal brackets. i am just having a hard time removing the cup bearings because of the middle part of the crank set. 


. any ideas? should i just force poke them out? or is there a safer method to remove these? (not sure if the cup bearings are still being sold/cheap). thanks!


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## Old-Bikes

markmarkmark said:


> thanks! . it has a 3 piece crank set like fordsnake mentioned. i managed to remove both pedal brackets. i am just having a hard time removing the cup bearings because of the middle part of the crank set. View attachment 39372. any ideas? should i just force poke them out? or is there a safer method to remove these? (not sure if the cup bearings are still being sold/cheap). thanks!




why do you want to remove them? if it's to repaint the bike, just mask them with tape.


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## fordsnake

The center spindle slides out from the bearing cups (its probably held in with old packing grease) Turn the bottom bracket on its side and it should fall out! If not use a wooden down and lightly tap the spindle. Once its out, use the same dowel and tap out the bearing cups.


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## Euphman06

Bumping an old thread... Can anyone tell me which way to turn the cranks to unscrew them? I can use a small screw driver to lock up the coupler, but I'm still not getting the crank arms to budge.


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