Why is it so difficult to buy an HTII crank.

ive rounded a pinch bolt on a set of Hone cranks, ive recently changed the BB and the two rings 9spd (22/34)and a bash ring are in good condition and are a nice ratio on my NP Mega.

to replace the cranks, im going to end up with BB, 2 or 3, probably 10spd rings in sizes that i dont want and out of pocket by £50 for Deore(ok, i can get a set with a 22t granny which i could use if i ever wear out the one im on)
#firstworldproblem

Why can’t you just replace the bolt?

Why can’t you just replace the bolt?

This. It’s the same size as a disc brake bolt from memory.

will give it a try, think i can drill the head off, but no idea how im going to remove all of it without damaging the thread (the cranks have to come off to do the bearings)

meanwhile, im now looking at a full xt 10spd groupset….. if im not careful it will soon make more sense to just buy a whole new bike!

pick a drill bit that’s smaller than the shaft of the bolt, drill out the centre of the bolt, it might come out on its own then.

Or you can try knocking in a torx head to get some purchase.

Or cut slots for a flat screwdriver.

Or epoxy or JB Weld a smaller bolt inside and use that to bring the whole 2 bolts out. Careful not to spread the glue too far, obviously!

Even if you buy a new chainset, you’ve still got to get this one off. It’s not going to be a lot harder to do it so it’s still usable rather than ruin it in the process, so take your time and you should win.

Do up the non rounded one a bit more to give the rounded one some slack then use an impact drive/torx key or somesuch on the rounded one and it should come out or failing that LBS. It’ll take any replacement bolt the same size so why buy new ones.

thats a good tip joolsburger, will try that one

its out!

drilled a 4.2mm hole in from the head of the bolt into the shaft, whacked a torx bit in, tightened up the other bolt, covered the whole shebang in wd40 and with a huge adjustable spanner the torx held and the bolt backed out.

cleaned it up and found a pair of suitable disc brake mount bolts to put it back together.

now just waiting for the new bearings to turn up.

thanks for the advice all.

Plenty of other cranks sell arms only. Just normally a bit further up the price scale.
Raceface fit 104bcd and a HTII BB for instance. They also do away with the pinch bolts.

If you are going to try drilling the shaft of the bolt out and the cranks are of similar construction to my SLX one then drill from the non head end of the bolt. If your drill bit binds in the shaft section of bolt then it will auto unwind the bolt for you.

Good work, well done!

Rusty mac – good tip, I’ll remember that.

something to consider, is why the bolt head becaime rounded off in the first place. Too much force? Poor quality bolt? Ill fittng allen key? I often replace oem bolts on components with stanless steel ones, if I suspect they’re not great quality. Even on expensive components, the fittings aren’t always ofgreat quality. Hope disc rotor bolts being one prime example; doing them up to the required torgue setting actually rounded them off. Rubbish cheap metal. Replaced with better qulaity ss ones.