Bowery Owners: Need your help

Caroline_ie

Hello people -

Has any of you changed the Bottom Bracket on their bowery or the bearings.

The Specs says it's a 68mm Giant cartridge bottom bracket

I've no idea what that means :P

have you guys replaced it before? What Do I need?

thanks

blorg

68mm is the shell width on the frame; that is a standard English thread like on the vast majority of modern bikes excluding Italian ones.

The BB is AFAIK just a standard sealed square taper unit.

The other number you need to know is the spindle length. This should be marked on the old BB but a quick Google suggests it is 110mm.

I think this in 68-110mm would do the job.

To remove I think you need a crank puller and a BB tool for a sealed cartridge BB. This goes into the splines sort of like a cassette tool; it is different from the modern Hollowtech tool which goes around the outside. I think I have both of these if you need to borrow, I have a crank puller anyway. TinyExplosions may have borrowed it if it is not in my toolbox.

Disclaimer: I have never actually removed one of these myself before.

abcdggs

Would be interested to hear how you get on removing your bb, i have a bb tool and crank puller if you need, but so far haven't been able to get the bb out of my fuji track, granted i havent tried particularly hard...

Gavin

Top tip for BB removal. Have a friend close by.

Every time I've removed a BB it has required extreme effort. I've resorted to putting the bike on the ground, on its side. Put the BB tool in and slip a pipe over the end. Get your assistant to step on top of the tool to make sure it stays firmly in the splines and then lever away. Tends to come off quite easily then.

DirkVoodoo

It can be quite hard, my last one was almost seized and I wasn't able to get it out on my own. It's a very simple job though, just remember to give the BB shell a proper clean, then apply plenty of grease to the threads when installing.

abcdggs

I presume everyone is using a bb tool like this

How do you get it to stay engaged in the splines when trying to turn it, or am i just being gammy about it??

bbosco

I was given a good tip on this by my lbs after I ripped the splines off an FSA BB while trying to remove it.
If it requires a lot of force it can be easy for the tool to slip off the splines as you put the pressure on and you end up getting nowhere with the removal and potentially slicing the tops off the splines making it even harder to remove.
So I was told to take the QR skewer off my rear wheel and run it through the BB and tighten it enough to hold the removal tool in place but still allow you to turn the B shell. It mightn't work or even be required for your particular BB, but I've found this really useful, allowing you to put all your force on the tool without worrying about it slipping off.

Harrybelafonte

In light of all this hassle, would taking the BB out every few months make it easier to work with or will it be just as difficult each time?

Caroline_ie

I think i have the tools I need to remove it ... maybe not the strengh. Luckily, I have a lovely assistant who should be able to help me.

DirkVoodoo

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

In light of all this hassle, would taking the BB out every few months make it easier to work with or will it be just as difficult each time?

Those shimano ones are pretty much "install and forget", you shouldn't have to take it out until it falls apart, which should be a good bit of hard riding. I don't think taking it out makes it any easier, as long as you install it properly, are liberal with the grease and generally keep the bike clean and free from corrosion then it should be fine.

ten speed racer

Also remember that the threading on the drive side of the bottom bracket is left-hand, rather than the normal right hand.

That sounds like a good suggestion about the skewer. Depending on the bottom bracket and chainset, it may also be possible to use the bolt that holds on the cranks to keep the tool in place while removing the bottom bracket.

Provided that the bottom bracket isn't seized, it is a fairly straight forward job.

Harrybelafonte

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Those shimano ones are pretty much "install and forget", you shouldn't have to take it out until it falls apart, which should be a good bit of hard riding. I don't think taking it out makes it any easier, as long as you install it properly, are liberal with the grease and generally keep the bike clean and free from corrosion then it should be fine.

Cool.

@caroline_ie Is your BB knackered?

Caroline_ie

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

@caroline_ie Is your BB knackered?

Not sure, I would need to have a look as it 'clicks' a bit - I think the bearings might be a bit used. But I won;t know until I have a proper look.

I use the Fixie a lot and I am not really nice to it using it on hills for training ...

serendip

bbosco wrote: »

So I was told to take the QR skewer off my rear wheel and run it through the BB and tighten it enough to hold the removal tool in place but still allow you to turn the B shell. It mightn't work or even be required for your particular BB, but I've found this really useful, allowing you to put all your force on the tool without worrying about it slipping off.

This is a good tip. I did something similar recently to remove a freewheel.

BUT BE CAREFUL:

If you do this, as the BB rotates (under huge pressure from you) it comes outwards. This increases the distance between the QR tabs on either side ... potentially ripping them to pieces.

Do you see the problem?

What you need to do is loosen the BB slightly, then loosen the QR, then again the BB, then again the QR, etc. Perhaps just a quarter or a half turn at a time.

Caroline_ie

Noise diagnosis

Will check my cranks as well ...

mloc123

I had a clicking BB once, just had to remove and regrease the threads... solved the problem