Bottom Brackets for Dummies - BSA / 68mm??

tangled_metal

I got a London Road bike from Planet X that has the only details of BSA / 68mm for the bottom bracket. As a cycle maintenance scaredy cat I am not the sort to try to take it apart to see if it is working OK. i currently have a major creak going on that sounds to me to be related to the bottom bracket. The bike is from about April so is fairly new with perhaps 350 to 400 miles only on it. From what I can see the pedals and cranks are all on ok and not loose so the noise must be coming from the BB.

The noise started with one creak when under load from a high gear or me stomping down on the pedals to get up a steep(ish) hill. The creak was once a revolution. Now it is several creaks (worse when under load) that go around the full pedal cycle. It took a sudden increase in noise and creaks yesterday.

If I was more confident I could strip it down and do some general maintenance such as greasing it (if needed) and putting it back. I am not so I need advice. Is it likely to be the BB? If it is what is the best course of action based on home repair or is it a LBS job? Easy job or hard basically?

If I decide to ruin it, I mean fix it myself what tools are needed? I have only basic tools at the moment but was tempted by the daily deal today from PlanetX. It is the 24 piece Jobsworth for Shimano kit at £25. Any good and is it worth buying to get what is needed to try and fix this?

Seriously my limit so far is clean and lube with a little bit of sorting the brakes and gears out. Plus I used to do a bit of wheel tweaking to take out a mild buckle. I have had a look inside quill steerers in the past but only a simple open it up and put it straight back.

So can anyone suggest what my best option is? If you say LBS and pay for a good job I won't be offended and probably be a bit relieved. One thing it is my commuter bike that is also used for family day rides out plus anything else I choose to do on a bike. My one and only road worthy bike. Very important it keeps working and has the least down time (holiday coming up early July when it will be needed in good condition). My only issue is the bike shop I trust round here told me a month ago they were booked up for 6 weeks in the workshop!!

nicklouse

that info is re the BB on the frame. IE standard.

as to what to do it depends on what crank/BB set up you have.

have a look at the crank and BB topics on parktools.

link below.

re the tool kit you need to ID the BB and cranks then you can see what tools are needed and if it is even servicable.

keef66

It does sound bottom bracket-ish.

Which model of London Road? ie what groupset and especially crankset have you got on there? If in doubt, post a photo or two.

Sounds like the frame has a conventional screw threaded BS bottom bracket shell, so it shouldn't be too much faff to deal with. If the bearings have packed up already maybe Planet X will consider a warranty replacement...?? (you've not been pressure washing it, have you?)

dj58

68mm is the BB shell width and BSA means the BB shell is a internally threaded. As above what group components are fitted to the bike, most likely to have a external threaded type BB. If it is the SRAM Rival 22, their website states SRAM Rival 22 Chainset (with BB) 172.5mm / 50/34T.

tangled_metal

Tiagra groupset one from earlier in the year (before all their price reductions and new SRAM groupset options came out. In fact I got it 1 or 2 days before the £999 SRAM setup dropped to £699 or I would have gone for that option.

So Tiagra groupset (chainrings, cassette, brake levers/gear shifters and cranks too. The brakes themselves are BB7s. Not sure of the hubs but they are the PX CX wheelset for shimano 10/11 speed.

I do not have a photo unfortunately, or at least one that is clear enough. Also the spec is no longer offered, i checked because I was trying to find out more about the BB. The invoice does not have much at all, indeed I am not even sure I could see the BB specced out at all.

I have not jet washed it at all, don;t even own one. Also I took out the hose a few years ago (well the outside tap it was connected to) so it is a bucket to clean it so no chance of flushing it out (unless heavy rain can do it). I am mostly very bad at keeping bikes clean, I tend to just get out on them and sort out problems based on noise or poor performance (such as it kept jumping in the lower cassette cogs so I had to adjust the barrel adjuster to sort out - easy even for me). Everything else on the bike was set up ready to go once the pedals were on and the bars sorted. Even the seat was actually at my height too which surprised me.

A long time ago my road bike had similar noises. Somehow I sorted it by taking the cranks off and then putting them back on again. Do not know what that was about but I took the win and enjoyed many more years on that steed.

Appreciate your help, my bike is becoming part of my life now so without a stand-in for repairs I am snookered without it. I'm no racer only a commuter (7miles each way) and a family cyclist (towing the trailer) but this use is still important to us. Saves fights over the car and keeps junior happy in the trailer at the weekend.

keef66

I'm guessing then it's got a straight forward Shimano Hollowtech 2 bottom bracket, probably, but not neccessarily Tiagra. Can you see something like this?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-tiagra- ... t-cup-set/

It could be creaking because the cups are not screwed tightly into the BB shell, or they've been installed dry without any grease or copperslip. In which case you can whip out the chainset (2 pinch bolts on the NDS crank and unscrew the plastic preload cap, pull off crank then whack the end of the spindle to push the crankset through to the drive side and remove). With the crankset out, make sure the bearings feel smooth when rotated by hand. They shouldn't be buggered after such a short time but it's not unheard of. Either way, next remove / grease / reinstall the cups (Hollowtech BB tool required) Or replace them with new units if it feels like the bearings are shot. Remember the drive side cup has a reverse thread!
Reassembly is the reverse. Whack the crankset through, pop the crank on, tighten the little plastic end cap just finger tight to preload the bearings, and progressively nip up the 2 pinch bolts, making sure the safety tab thing is in place.

The Planet X toolkit should contain all you need for this

bobones

Are you sure it's not the saddle creaking? Does it still happen when you're standing up?

In any case, if you want to strip it down and refit, removing the cranks is pretty easy: remove the 2 bolts on the left crank, unscrew the preload centre cap with the appropriate tool and remove the left crank arm. You should be able to pull the right side of the crank from the frame but you may need to coax it out using a rubber mallet. It is not necessary to remove the chain: just derail it a sit it on the frame BB shell.

You can then remove the BB cups from the frame using the appropriate tool. The Shimano cups are dirt cheap, but I wouldn't expect them to need replacing unless you've done a lot of wet miles. The bearings tend to grumble and grind rather than creak when they're worn.

Wipe out the BB shell and make sure the threads are clean. Check for cracks in the frame. Grease the BB cup threads and refit to the frame. Tighten quite a bit (around 40Nm).

Also apply grease to the metal parts of the crank arm that interface each other and refit the crank.

Tighten the preload cap so that the crank spins reasonably freely and there is no lateral play. I usually tighten it a bit too much, loosen it off, then nip it up a little.

Fasten the left crank arm bolts fairly tight (about 13Nm).

Tools you need: allen keys, rubber mallet, Shimano HT II cup tool, Shimano preload crank tool. That toolkit from Planet X contains most of what you need.

tangled_metal

Looks just like the wiggle link. Thanks for that. Looks like I might be able to find a video for it now I know the type of BB it is.

BTW is that PlanetX toolkit worth considering? Or is there something else out there better for that sort of money? Perhaps...Halfords?????

Wish I had bought the £25 Aldi stand now. Everything is just a bit harder leaning against a wall or upside down on the saddle and bars!!

dj58

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEiIFbIklJg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZm2ch5TjWM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPX8Hv3Pjk0

keef66

"Wish I had bought the £25 Aldi stand now. Everything is just a bit harder leaning against a wall or upside down on the saddle and bars!!"

To be fair, for BB work, it's easier to get enough leverage when the bike's standing on it's wheels.

Workstands are handy for most other stuff though.

The PX toolkit is probably good enough for most occasional home mechanics

tangled_metal

Looking around it seems to me that the PX one is about the cheapest set with close to this number of tools. The Halfords ones and the Wiggle ones seem to be either the same price or more and not sure they have the same amount of tools. Reckon I have to buy the PX tonight while on the daily deal rate. At least it is for working on a PX bike so chances are it has the right tools for my needs.

Thanks for the videos and the advice. It sounds an easy enough thing to do, just got to get tooled up and get some grease or copper slip did someone say?

So if I understood it right you grease the bearings in the BB not the cones which go in dry? Then you grease the bolts that clamp the crank on?? Think I got that from the video or a post on here.