Bottom Bracket

Mosiki

I've had the bike for almost a year now, look after it well, cleaned before me after a day out, etc.

Recently there has been a light creaking/rubbing/grinding noise which i think is coming from the bottom bracket, doesnt sound awful but has caught my attention.

Do they need replaced often, or greased, or what? And whats the process if so? Might save me an hour or two of reading a book on bike mechanics if anyone knows off hand. Dont want to go messing around and fecking it up.

Thanks

Eggie.

kona

Mosiki wrote: »

I've had the bike for almost a year now, look after it well, cleaned before me after a day out, etc.

Recently there has been a light creaking/rubbing/grinding noise which i think is coming from the bottom bracket, doesnt sound awful but has caught my attention.

Do they need replaced often, or greased, or what? And whats the process if so? Might save me an hour or two of reading a book on bike mechanics if anyone knows off hand. Dont want to go messing around and fecking it up.

Thanks

Eggie.

First thing to do is to make sure that both of your cranks are on tight, they can creak when they are slightly loose(they still may feel solid). Another that causes a click or a creak is a bent crank.

What bottom bracket do you have? Is it sealed?(Splines on the outside diameter), Cup/cone(lock nut on the L/h cup), Is it Hollowtech2(Bearings sit outside the frame.

Get the R/h crank at 12 oclock and the L/h at 6 o clock and try rocking them, see if there is any play in the bearing.

doozerie

It's also useful to lift/drop the chain off the chainrings and turn the cranks by hand to check for any roughness in the bearings of the bottom bracket. A year is not very long for a bottom bracket to last, depending on the mileage you do of course, but it is also not unheard of for one to bite the dust in that kind of time. Some types of bottom bracket are just more fragile than others too, which doesn't help - for example, the general consensus is that ISIS Drive bottom brackets wear out relatively quickly because they use smaller bearings. ISIS Drive doesn't seem to be very common these days though so you'd probably only encounter it on an older bike.

There are some very good guides here on working on bottom brackets. In particular, this gudie to diagnosing creaks in your drivetrain is pretty comprehensive and worth a read.

One thing to beware of too is overtightening your cranks. I am only aware of this as an issue with square taper axles, but it's something to beware of generally too. A torque wrench would be useful, but common sense is fine too - just don't continue swinging out of it once it feels reasonably tight (very subjective but the more you work on bikes the more you get a feel for it). With square taper, the more you tighten the further up the widening axle the crank is forced - eventually you could end up with a crank that splays a little and just won't tighten enough or it could potentially fail too.

Oh, and it's a long shot this, but the issue could be your wheel(s). I spent ages trying to track down a problem on my bike, convinced that it was related to the drivetrain. Eventually I narrowed down the cause to one of the (semi-deep section) rims creaking as my weight shifted a little on the bike. You might be able to check this by taking all of the pressure off your pedals and try to lean the bike a little side-to-side as you roll along - it is tricky though 'cos as soon as you put even a little pressure on one of the pedals, the drivetrain could be the source of the creak again.

doozerie

I forgot to mention the most effective way of checking the state of the bottom bracket, which is to remove both cranks and rotate the axle by hand. Leaving the cranks on can very effectively disguise the roughness of worn out bearings in the bottom bracket.

Ryaner

It could easily be worn out with the weather we've had over the past few months. Throw in the salt on the roads and a non-sealed one could be toast. I know mine went a few weeks back and it was only 5/6 months old.

Mosiki

I now know I have an FSA - MegaExo bottom bracket. Are these no replaceable cartridges or can they be removed greased and put back?

My choices are:

1. Attempt to remove BB, regrease and replace (never done this before, dont even know what tools I need but could soon buy some).

2. Remove and replace myself, if worn out and not worth regreasing.

3. Leave in to LBS and ask them to service the BB (replace if necessary).

Anyone any experience with the comparative difficulty and cost of the above?

Thanks

Eggie.

blorg

They are supposedly non-servicable, but if you want to try.

I'd replace the BB, going cheap on CRC at the moment:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=19209
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=38998

Or if your bike is Italian thread (it is a Pinarello, right) even cheaper, Ultegra 6600 @£;12

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=11725

Depending on your exact FSA cranks Shimano BB is compatible.

Ryaner

The Shimano stuff is *not* compatible with the MegaExo stuff. They look the same but until you try fit it, you won't notice the tiny difference. Got stung by this in the past. The BBs are cheap enough anyway so just replace and be done with it for another few months.

blorg

Ryaner wrote: »

The Shimano stuff is *not* compatible with the MegaExo stuff. They look the same but until you try fit it, you won't notice the tiny difference. Got stung by this in the past. The BBs are cheap enough anyway so just replace and be done with it for another few months.

It depends on the crank. I have a MegaExo BB with an Ultegra SL crank and it works fine. Thing is, FSA have multiple different types of cranks and particularly with their carbon cranks they have a special BB for each one. If it is an alloy crank a Shimano BB should work fine.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2009/01/technical-faq/technical-qa-with-lennard-zinn-the-tall-mans-dilemma_86337

Mosiki

Yeah Pinarello.

Think its MOST cranks I have on it (its 105 groupset if that makes a difference). I dont mind getting the same BB, at least i'll know it fits before it arrives. Any particular tooling necessary other than a torque wrench (which i dont yet have either)?

I'm presuming all MegaExo BB's are the same size so any of these should fit (Italian thread)??

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=30056
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=30060

blorg

Mosiki wrote: »

I'm presuming all MegaExo BB's are the same size so any of these should fit (Italian thread)??

Unfortunately, NO, all MegaExo BBs are not the same size, this is covered in the link I posted. They are crank-specific.

FWIW the Gossamer one is interchangable with the Shimano BBs which I linked to at a third of the price.

If it is a carbon crank I don't think the Gossamer one (or by extension the Shimano ones) will work.

Ryaner

blorg wrote: »

Unfortunately, NO, all MegaExo BBs are not the same size, this is covered in the link I posted. They are crank-specific.

FWIW the Gossamer one is interchangable with the Shimano BBs which I linked to at a third of the price.

If it is a carbon crank I don't think the Gossamer one (or by extension the Shimano ones) will work.

I've got a MegaExo Gossamer crank on my Giant. The Shimano BB did not fit this when I bought it as the MegaExo was out of stock at the time.

SubLuminal

Try taking it to Rothar on phibsboro road, they fix bikes and are a not for profit organisation so they'd fix it for cheap or even better show you how to do it yourself, so you'd come out with a fixed bike and a bit of knowledge - seems a pretty sweet deal to me!

kona

SubLuminal wrote: »

Try taking it to Rothar on phibsboro road, they fix bikes and are a not for profit organisation QUOTE]

How do they survive?

blorg

Ryaner wrote: »

I've got a MegaExo Gossamer crank on my Giant. The Shimano BB did not fit this when I bought it as the MegaExo was out of stock at the time.

Fair enough, my setup is the other way around (Ultegra crank on MegaExo BB previously used with a Gossamer crank) and it does work fine.

SubLuminal

kona wrote: »

How do they survive?

I think its "not for profit" as distinct from "everything is free". They sell bikes/services at a rate to cover costs and keep things going, rather than pricing their stuff to make a profit, like a second hand bike shop would. eg a fully complete and quite decent bike from there costs like €100 / €150 and will be way way better than any other bike you can get for that kind of money.

Also they have a lot of volunteers who donate their time to work on the bikes because they think that its a worthy cause, recycling bikes that'd be in a landfill to have a new use, and teaching other people how to do the same thing.

Hm. This isn't meant to be or sound like an advert, I've nothing to gain from promoting them, I just think they're doing a cool thing and not many people know about it.

Link - http://rothar.ie/about_us.html

kona

SubLuminal wrote: »

I think its "not for profit" as distinct from "everything is free". They sell bikes/services at a rate to cover costs and keep things going, rather than pricing their stuff to make a profit, like a second hand bike shop would. eg a fully complete and quite decent bike from there costs like €100 / €150 and will be way way better than any other bike you can get for that kind of money.

Also they have a lot of volunteers who donate their time to work on the bikes because they think that its a worthy cause, recycling bikes that'd be in a landfill to have a new use, and teaching other people how to do the same thing.

Hm. This isn't meant to be or sound like an advert, I've nothing to gain from promoting them, I just think they're doing a cool thing and not many people know about it.

Link - http://rothar.ie/about_us.html

While I do have vested interestes, I dont believe in these NoN-Profit groups, essentially Every business is there to pay the wages, any surplus is usually re-invested. I dont see where this differs?

What is different is that I doubt their work is guaranteed? You do get what you pay for. also while it is a good idea taking bikes out of landfill and "doing them up" there is a reason they are in landfill in the first place.

Its a well known fact that bikes sold through dealer networks (Trek and Spesialized for example) are far more economic than the BSO that would be plucked from landfill.

Just my 2c , as I said I do have vested interests.

SubLuminal

kona wrote: »

While I do have vested interestes, I dont believe in these NoN-Profit groups, essentially Every business is there to pay the wages, any surplus is usually re-invested. I dont see where this differs?

What is different is that I doubt their work is guaranteed? You do get what you pay for. also while it is a good idea taking bikes out of landfill and "doing them up" there is a reason they are in landfill in the first place.

Its a well known fact that bikes sold through dealer networks (Trek and Spesialized for example) are far more economic than the BSO that would be plucked from landfill.

Just my 2c , as I said I do have vested interests.

I hear what you're saying, but I think there are differences;

A shop is a capitalist venture, its aim is to make money/profit by providing goods/service. Not for profit ventures are geared toward providing goods/service by providing goods/service, the means is in itself the ends, with the important difference being that there is none or very little provision within the pricing structure for excess/profit. With Rothar, particularly, its about community and getting people on bikes rather than just being a bike shop, they run free classes on bike maintenance and repair and are generally just nice friendly people. Anyone can show up and be taught how to change a flat tyre, rather than paying someone €30 to do it for them, and you can use their workspace for €5 an hour with free tea/coffee and advice on what to do if you're not sure (and want to do it yourself.) I'm not sure if their work comes with a guarentee as such, but I'd bet that being as these people are giving up their time to work for free, they're doing it because they want to and as such would want to do a good job, so if something came loose or broke then they'd want to fix it if it, thats kind of the whole point of them being there. I know two of them are ex 'pro' bicycle mechanics, in that they formerly worked as bike mechanics as a main / primary source of income.

You do get what you pay for, I agree, but often what you're paying for is someones profit margin. AFAIK there's no official recognised bike mechanic qualification in the ROI anyway.

I may have mislead when I mentioned the landfill. What I meant was, a lot of the bikes are donated, and would therefore otherwise end up eventually in a landfill. In this way, waste is reduced, bikes are kept on the streets for people who would otherwise have no option but to buy a toy store piece of cr@p (I for example definitely can't afford 250 for a bike, even 150 is a stretch, forget about buying a new trek for 400 or so, thats a months rent to me).

There are of course differences and no place provides a one stop shop with a solution for every need and budget. If I walked into a bike shop and said I had €150 to spend and I wanted a light, fast bike with new tyres, and I wanted to cherry pick all the parts that went on it from their selection, and I also wanted the bike shop owner to teach me how to put the bike together using his tools, for free, I doubt I'd get very far. But at Rothar I can do that.

Similarly, if I went into Rothar and said I wanted a particular bike, in a particular colour, and I wanted to pay for it on finance/hp, and I wanted this optional extra or that add-on, I doubt i'd meet with much success in my endeavour.

TLDR version; its horses for courses but for some (like me) a place like rothar is an ideal solution. I was never going to get a new bike from a bike shop, can't afford it, but at least now I'm back on 2 wheels with a decent bike that is safe, and that I'll enjoy and keep using! And maybe in a few years, when I can justify the expense to myself, and I'm not so annoyingly broke, I'll be in a shop eyeing up a shiny new bike


---
Just proof-read and realised how much i've typed, I don't really have that much of a point to prove or anything, I just type very fast on account of working at a boring desk all day! lol.

seamus

kona wrote: »

While I do have vested interestes, I dont believe in these NoN-Profit groups, essentially Every business is there to pay the wages, any surplus is usually re-invested. I dont see where this differs?

The difference is that in a commercial business, wages are paid and the owners/directors take a big % of the profits for themselves. The entire aim of the venture is to increase those profits.

Not-for-profit ventures aim to simply cover their costs each year without driving profits up. The workers may or may not get paid and if the owner or director gets paid, they get paid a fixed amount which is not a % of profit. Usually owners and directors get enough money to cover their expenses, they don't take any income from the venture.

What is different is that I doubt their work is guaranteed? You do get what you pay for. also while it is a good idea taking bikes out of landfill and "doing them up" there is a reason they are in landfill in the first place.

Its a well known fact that bikes sold through dealer networks (Trek and Spesialized for example) are far more economic than the BSO that would be plucked from landfill.

Subliminal has covered this better than I can, but the whole point of Rothar is not to profit from old or wrecked bikes. It's to make cycling accessible to people who may not have the money to do it normally. For someone living in poverty in Dublin's inner city, a bicycle provides freedom of movement that the rest of us have taken for granted most of our lives.

If someone donates a 10 year old Trek 1.2 (for example) to Rothar which gets spruced up and sold on for €150, that bike will last far longer and be a much better buy for that person than a BSO from their local shop.

I've been considering volunteering with Rothar for months now but I'm very protective of my saturdays

kona

seamus wrote: »

The difference is that in a commercial business, wages are paid and the owners/directors take a big % of the profits for themselves. The entire aim of the venture is to increase those profits.

Not-for-profit ventures aim to simply cover their costs each year without driving profits up. The workers may or may not get paid and if the owner or director gets paid, they get paid a fixed amount which is not a % of profit. Usually owners and directors get enough money to cover their expenses, they don't take any income from the venture.

Subliminal has covered this better than I can, but the whole point of Rothar is not to profit from old or wrecked bikes. It's to make cycling accessible to people who may not have the money to do it normally. For someone living in poverty in Dublin's inner city, a bicycle provides freedom of movement that the rest of us have taken for granted most of our lives.

If someone donates a 10 year old Trek 1.2 (for example) to Rothar which gets spruced up and sold on for €150, that bike will last far longer and be a much better buy for that person than a BSO from their local shop.

I've been considering volunteering with Rothar for months now but I'm very protective of my saturdays

Ah right! I kinda understand it, but it seems like one of those ideas that are really good in theory and remain really good until people start taking the piss.

Good idea, however are there many people living in "poverty" in Dublin city centre that (now take this as just a point Im not saying its true) would spend e100 on a bike, if they are living day to day? It would be easier(and probably more likely) for them to rob bikes??

Its a good idea but Im a skeptic, for no reason to be honest, maybe other than my own interests. But back on topic:)