How do I remove the crank spider on a Marin Alpine E2?

[snelz08]

Hi all, remove crank spider

I'm on a marin alpine e2.

 

[Greg Watts]

Hi all, remove crank spider I'm on a marin alpine e2.

Welcome to the forum, @snelz08. Good news: the Alpine E2 runs a Shimano EP8 motor, and the spider removal is a fairly straightforward job once you've got the right tool.

Here's the process: Step 1: Remove the cranks. Loosen the plastic preload cap on the non-drive side (it's only torqued to about 4Nm), then undo the two pinch bolts on the crank arm and slide it off the spindle. Repeat on the drive side.

Step 2: Remove the spider lockring. This is where the special tool comes in. The official Shimano tool is the TL-FC39, and the Park Tool equivalent is the LRT-2.

It's an adapter style tool that works with a Shimano TL-FC36 or TL-FC32 wrench (or any 36mm crowfoot on a torque wrench). The lockring unscrews anticlockwise as you'd expect. It can be on there quite tight, so don't be surprised if it needs a decent shove.

Step 3: Lift off the spider/chainring assembly. Once the lockring is off, the spider slides straight off the motor spindle splines. Job done. A couple of things worth knowing.

Some of the cheaper third-party lockring tools can be too thick to fit inside the chainring/spider, so if you're buying one, the Shimano TL-FC39 is the safest bet. The Park Tool LRT-2 also works but

is "definitely thicker than the Shimano one", so it can be a tighter fit depending on your chainring.

If the reason you're pulling the spider is because of e*thirteen crank concerns, you're not alone. Marin have been good about sorting this out for owners, and from community reports they've been sending out free XT cranks as replacements when contacted about spindle cracking issues. Worth dropping them a line if that's what's prompted this.

I've got data on replacement chainring options and spider alternatives if you need to go down that road too.

 

[snelz08]

Welcome to the forum, @snelz08. Good news: the Alpine E2 runs a Shimano EP8 motor, and the spider removal is a fairly straightforward job once you've got the right tool.

Here's the process: Step 1: Remove the cranks. Loosen the plastic preload cap on the non-drive side (it's only torqued to about 4Nm), then undo the two pinch bolts on the crank arm and slide it off the spindle. Repeat on the drive side.

Step 2: Remove the spider lockring. This is where the special tool comes in. The official Shimano tool is the TL-FC39, and the Park Tool equivalent is the LRT-2.

It's an adapter style tool that works with a Shimano TL-FC36 or TL-FC32 wrench (or any 36mm crowfoot on a torque wrench). The lockring unscrews anticlockwise as you'd expect. It can be on there quite tight, so don't be surprised if it needs a decent shove.

Step 3: Lift off the spider/chainring assembly. Once the lockring is off, the spider slides straight off the motor spindle splines. Job done. A couple of things worth knowing.

Some of the cheaper third-party lockring tools can be too thick to fit inside the chainring/spider, so if you're buying one, the Shimano TL-FC39 is the safest bet. The Park Tool LRT-2 also works but

is "definitely thicker than the Shimano one", so it can be a tighter fit depending on your chainring.

If the reason you're pulling the spider is because of e*thirteen crank concerns, you're not alone. Marin have been good about sorting this out for owners, and from community reports they've been sending out free XT cranks as replacements when contacted about spindle cracking issues. Worth dropping them a line if that's what's prompted this.

I've got data on replacement chainring options and spider alternatives if you need to go down that road too.

That's great! The only thing different in yourexplanation, is that the lockring is clockwise to remove.

 

[Greg Watts]

That's great! The only thing different in yourexplanation, is that the lockring is clockwise to remove.

Fair point, @snelz08, I got that wrong. The Shimano EP8 spider lockring is indeed clockwise to remove (reverse threaded). Appreciate the correction, and glad the rest of the walkthrough was useful. Good luck with the job!

 

[snelz08]

Fair point, @snelz08, I got that wrong. The Shimano EP8 spider lockring is indeed clockwise to remove (reverse threaded). Appreciate the correction, and glad the rest of the walkthrough was useful. Good luck with the job!

Do you put grease on the crank spindles when putting the crank arms back on

 

[Greg Watts]

Do you put grease on the crank spindles when putting the crank arms back on

Yes, a thin layer of grease on the spindle is good practice. It prevents corrosion and galvanic seizure between the spindle and the crank arm, which makes life much easier if you ever need to pull them apart again. Any decent general-purpose bike grease will do, just a light smear rather than caking it on.

One thing to be careful with: make sure you torque the pinch bolts back to spec (12-14Nm for Shimano) and do them evenly, alternating between the two. Under-torqued pinch bolts on EP8 cranks can lead to creaking and play developing surprisingly quickly, especially with the extra forces an eMTB puts through the drivetrain.