Ultra Torque bearings

ugo.santalucia

I stripped off the Ultra Torque crankset yesterday and discovered that the bearing on the crank arm (left) is not as smooth as it should be. I see they sell replacement bearings, but the process of getting them out seems a bit tedious. In particular, there seems to be the need for a bearing puller, which I found for 49.99.
Honestly I don't want to spend that money for a tool which has only one function on one particular groupset... anyone has come out with an ingenious and alternative way to do the job?

flasher

Yep take it to your LBS

ugo.santalucia

That's morally a defeat...

I'd rather try to remove the bearing seal and service them... or attempt to remove the all bearing with an improvised tool before going to the LBS

davelakers

Lock the crank arm in a vice, shaft up (make sure to protect the crank arm from the vice jaws, use a rag). Get 2 fairly hefty flat bladed screwdrives behind the bearing and pry them off. The bearings are not too tight, at least the Mirage ones on my winter bike were not.

ugo.santalucia

davelakers wrote:

Lock the crank arm in a vice, shaft up (make sure to protect the crank arm from the vice jaws, use a rag). Get 2 fairly hefty flat bladed screwdrives behind the bearing and pry them off. The bearings are not too tight, at least the Mirage ones on my winter bike were not.

I thought it would have come to brute force... no scratching of the arm?

ride_whenever

Or old headset spanners and a hammer...

davelakers

ugo.santalucia wrote:

davelakers wrote:

Lock the crank arm in a vice, shaft up (make sure to protect the crank arm from the vice jaws, use a rag). Get 2 fairly hefty flat bladed screwdrives behind the bearing and pry them off. The bearings are not too tight, at least the Mirage ones on my winter bike were not.

I thought it would have come to brute force... no scratching of the arm?

Not if you protect it correctly and pry carefully in the right places.

davelakers

ugo.santalucia wrote:

davelakers wrote:

Lock the crank arm in a vice, shaft up (make sure to protect the crank arm from the vice jaws, use a rag). Get 2 fairly hefty flat bladed screwdrives behind the bearing and pry them off. The bearings are not too tight, at least the Mirage ones on my winter bike were not.

I thought it would have come to brute force... no scratching of the arm?

Not if you protect it correctly and pry carefully in the right places.

ugo.santalucia

ride_whenever wrote:

Or old headset spanners and a hammer...

Good idea...

Monty Dog

Dave, for someone who works on aircraft, it's the last I'd expect! If you Google ultratorque bearing removal, there's plenty of photos/videos online, including some nice attempts at bearing pullers. You'll also need to craft some sort of tube in order to press the new bearings onto the spindle.

ugo.santalucia

Monty Dog wrote:

Dave, for someone who works on aircraft, it's the last I'd expect! If you Google ultratorque bearing removal, there's plenty of photos/videos online, including some nice attempts at bearing pullers. You'll also need to craft some sort of tube in order to press the new bearings onto the spindle.

The operation per se is pretty simple, not dissimilar to the installation of a crown on the fork... I just wanted to know if someone had come out with an inexpensive solution which didn't involve too much bashing...

Also interesting that Campagnolo uses a bearing size impossible to find 25x37x6... just one mm thinner than the norm... their original and expensive replacement seems the only solution

Bxxxxxds!

proto

This is what I did first time I had to change Ultratorque bearings.

1) Crush the outer race in a vice until it breaks (the race, not the vice). Remove outer race.

2) use a Dremel and grind into the inner race until almost through to the crank axle. Take your time and a great deal of care. Support axle and use a cold chisel to fracture the inner race. Remove inner race.

davelakers

proto wrote:

This is what I did first time I had to change Ultratorque bearings.

1) Crush the outer race in a vice until it breaks (the race, not the vice). Remove outer race.

2) use a Dremel and grind into the inner race until almost through to the crank axle. Take your time and a great deal of care. Support axle and use a cold chisel to fracture the inner race. Remove inner race.

Now that is brutal!!

a_n_t

I bought this http://www.screwfix.com/prods/48634/Van ... ear-Puller

£15 but you need to grind down the end of the legs abit to fit under the bearings. Works a treat though!

a_n_t

read this

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showth ... p?t=176833

ugo.santalucia

a_n_t wrote:

I bought this http://www.screwfix.com/prods/48634/Van ... ear-Puller

£15 but you need to grind down the end of the legs abit to fit under the bearings. Works a treat though!

Brilliant, thanks