Chainrings, Bottom bracket and rear wheel Boardman Team

HenryTheHoover

Bike: Boardman Urban Team MTB (basically a ridgid forked Boardman Team). Purchased New 2012
Chainset: FSA 386 comet 2*10 42/27. 3 bolt
Bottom Bracket: FSA mega exo, external
Rear Wheel: Formula Disc

Basically long story short ( or quite possibly longer ). Replaced chain and rear cassette ( 12-36 ). Chain still squirming on small front ring. Seems OK on big ring in that I cant feel it squirming when peddling. Also noticed bottom bracket stiff / gritty and rear wheel stiff / gritty.

Realised chainrings were FSA specific. Can get small for ~ £15 del or both small and big for £45 (from ze Germans.)

Bottom bracket = confusion. Have read Shimano is no go due to tiny difference in spindle diameter. Have also read FSA BB bit pap and doesn't last.

Whole bike done prob good bit less than 350 miles around Sheff / Peaks in ok weather with ok cleaning / re lubing.

Q's
1. How do I know if front big chain ring is worn? Conundrum = having splashed £50 on chain/ cassette then potentially £15 on new little ring could a slightly worn big ring fark it all up?

2.Bottom bracket. Can I get new bearings for the FSA or should I replace? If bearings any Idea what / and where from for Mega Exo?

3. I am a bit miffed its all worn out so quick especially the small front ring as its supposed to be steel. Is this normal for under 350 miles?
Conundrum= New big/ small ring £45 + bearings £20(?) or even new FSA bottom bracket @£38 . I Could get Shimano SLX chainset for £88 which I think includes a Bottom Bracket.

4. If I replace the lot with Shimano SLX the gearing options are (40 / 28) or (38 / 26) or (38/24). None of which are the same as I am used to and have bought the rear cassette for. I am lardy and regularily use my bottom gear of 27-36 but that means prob dropping my top end from 42-12 to 38-12 if I get SLX. I have no idea in practice what effect this will have and if it will be an issue.?

5. Haven't opened up the rear wheel yet ( Formula disc - standard qr). Should I get some bearings first or just have a look see?

6. If I need bearings are they standard sizes / easy to get?

Any pointers would be vey much appreciated. My wife thinks one of my relatives has died and I dont want to talk about it. Little does she know the real source of my depression.

coulddobetter

Very surprised things are so bad with such low mileage.As a first step I would get new shifter cables. Then follow this set up guide for derailleur.
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/tech-tuesd ... -2010.html. best guide I have found . Site also does front mech set up.

Also check your chain length. Mega exo bearings are servicable . Bikeradar itself has a tech link to cleaning / regreasing cartridge bearings. If they are dead you can replace just the bearings.

Can't help on formula hub other than to say when my boardman rear wheel started getting gritty I upgraded to a lighter set of wheels on hope hubs for ease of maintenance.

Re chainrings post pictures ( only way to tell ) as I said though with the riding you describe I doubt they are to blame .

The Rookie

HenryTheHoover wrote:

Chain still squirming on small front ring. Seems OK on big ring in that I cant feel it squirming when peddling.

I really have no idea at all what that means!

HenryTheHoover

The Rookie wrote:

HenryTheHoover wrote:

Chain still squirming on small front ring. Seems OK on big ring in that I cant feel it squirming when peddling.

I really have no idea at all what that means!

When I apply pressure to the pedals there is movement between the chain and small front ring and it creaks a bit. I.e. The small chainring is obviously worn ( I should have just said it was worn tbf ). It seems OK on the big ring but having replaced cassette, chain and now needing a small front ring I am a bit wary of not swapping the big ring too.

@ Could do better. Thanks for your reply. I didn't know about servicing a cartridge bearing. I will do a search later to find the guide. If I can revive the BB it makes getting the chainrings a bit more palatable even if they don't seem to last that long. Then maybe I could swap out to a Shimano crankset when I need a new cassette.

It's been ten years since I have done any bike mechanics so I am not all that familiar with the newer type stuff.

The Rookie

If you are running the chain at an angle (as in the rear sprocket isn't exactly in line - in other words almost always) it will always pull to one side when you applied a load, it doesn't mean anything is worn at all. In fact Granny rings almost never wear out, they are steel, thick teeth (no ramping) and not used often. My guess is you are over thinking this.