Feeling slight resistance when pedalling

rumbataz

On my older hybrid (5 years old now) I'm starting feel some resistance (like a groaning/creaking feeling) when I'm pedalling. It can be felt through my feet. The pedals are relatively new (Wellgo MG1 pedals).

I suspect that the bottom bracket is worn. Would this be a reasonable assumption?

Also, sometimes when I steer I can feel the same sensation through my hands. Could this be the headset bearings are worn?

I'm just looking for advice as my LBS reckons it'll be a £90 - £100 bill to replace the bottom bracket and headset bearings (parts + labour).

As I mentioned, the bike is 5 years old now and gets used for about 50KM of riding per week. The LBS changed the rear cassette and chain last year.

fenix

TBH for £100 I'd put up with that 'feeling'.

cooldad

DIY and it'll be a lot cheaper.

rumbataz

I want to be able to DIY but I don't know exactly what I need to change the BB. I've watched many YouTube videos on the subject but there's so many variations of BB so I wouldn't know exactly which tools I'd need as I don't know what BB I have.

If I knew and could order the correct replacement and the correct tools for the job, I'd do it myself!

So it's a catch-22 for me - without removing the BB, I don't know which one I'd have to order. And I cannot remove it as I don't know which tools I need to remove it!

The Rookie

Have a look behind the crank arm, if you can see a narrow diameter axle which is formed into a square as it goes into the arm it will be a square taper.

Name and model number of the cranks would help as well.

Headset bearing - go to parktool.com and look at the standards.

Neither is hard to do DIY, BB and tools will cost less than £20, and as long as you have a hammer, block of wood and screwdriver the headset needn't cost much if you have to replace the lot, or it may just need fresh grease or new ball bearings in which case its pennies.

rumbataz

The only information I have is Suntour XCCT for the crank/chainset. It does seem to be a square taper BB.

cooldad

99% sure it will be a 113mm BB.

Semantik

rumbataz wrote:

On my older hybrid (5 years old now) I'm starting feel some resistance (like a groaning/creaking feeling) when I'm pedalling. It can be felt through my feet. The pedals are relatively new (Wellgo MG1 pedals).

I suspect that the bottom bracket is worn. Would this be a reasonable assumption?

Also, sometimes when I steer I can feel the same sensation through my hands. Could this be the headset bearings are worn?

I'm just looking for advice as my LBS reckons it'll be a £90 - £100 bill to replace the bottom bracket and headset bearings (parts + labour).

As I mentioned, the bike is 5 years old now and gets used for about 50KM of riding per week. The LBS changed the rear cassette and chain last year.

£90 to £100 quoted by LBS? Say, what? It's £10 max for a square taper bottom bracket Shimano UN26. Half an hour to fit. headset bearings similar.
You seriously need to find a different bike shop. Or man up and learn some skills.

rumbataz

I've ordered a few tools to help with the bottom bracket removal so I'll be doing that myself - I presume that the bottom bracket I remove will have the exact spec printed on it so that I can order a new one?

Semantik

rumbataz wrote:

I've ordered a few tools to help with the bottom bracket removal so I'll be doing that myself - I presume that the bottom bracket I remove will have the exact spec printed on it so that I can order a new one?

It will almost certainly be 68x113 as previous poster says. I have several MTB frames of a similar vintage with triple chainsets. They all take this same one.

The Rookie

Headset bearing is almost certainly loose balls, strip it down and do a visual inspection of the balls and cup and cone, it may well just need a bit of grease, or it may need new balls.

rumbataz

Okay, the tools I ordered arrived today. Yesterday I unscrewed the dust cover (I presume it was the dust cover anyway!) using the hex wrench that I use for my pedals. When I peered inside I saw a square spindle so is it safe to assume that the BB is a sealed square taper cartridge?

In terms of the process of extracting it, I think I need to do the following:

1. Unhook chain from chainring;

2. Unscrew dust cap from non-drive side crank arm;

3. Use the Park Tool Cotterless Crank Puller to get the non-drive side crank arm off;

4. Unscrew dust cap from drive side crank arm;

5. Use the Park Tool Cotterless Crank Puller to get the non-drive side crank arm off;

6. Use the Park Tool Bottom Bracket Tool to unscrew the cup from the non-drive side;

7. Use the Park Tool Bottom Bracket Tool to unscrew the cup from the drive side;

8. Remove the cartridge, clean the inside of the frame, etc.

Does that sound about right?

cooldad

Read parktools. Some stuff has reverse threads so if you get it wrong it gets really tight.

The Rookie

You'll need to remove the nut or bolt holding the crank arm on behind the dust cap before you can remove the crank arms.

rumbataz

Just checked again - the 'dust cap' that I referred to is actually the crank bolt. So I know how to get that off at least - 8mm hex wrench.

I've got a crank puller that I'll try out later and then I've got a BB tool for the BB. I think I have all the tools I need now, plus a torque wrench for the BB and crank bolt when I put it all back together again.

Despite a couple of days of Googling, I'm struggling to find the correct torque settings for anything related to the crank arms or BB.

This has what made me a bit cautious about tackling the job in the first place - I don't know what I have and, because of that, I didn't know what tools I need to do the job. I've guessed at the tools after as much research as possible.

My final part of the unsolved jigsaw puzzle is the torque settings for the crank bolts and BB.

cooldad

I've done probably hundreds over the years and never used a torque wrench.

Hva eyou had a look at the Parktools site? You don't have to use their tools, but it tells you how to do everything, and what you need.

rumbataz

A quick update: I made use of some of my new tools and managed to remove the crank arms and the bottom bracket. It's actually a 68mm x 122.5mm BB (sealed cartridge). Things weren't that dirty down there but I'm going to clean everything out and order a new BB anyway.

It ended up being easier that I expected it to be but a fair amount of strength was required to get the crank arms and BB out. Seven months of weight training were put to good use!

Tomorrow I'll give the chainrings a good clean, as well as the crank arms, frame, etc, whilst I wait for the new BB to arrive.

In terms of torque, I'm going to tighten the BB and crank arm bolts to 40Nm, which I suppose is about right.

If all goes well then I'm going to do the headset bearings next.

rumbataz

Just updating this thread - the bike has a new bottom bracket now. I'm really chuffed I did the job myself although all of the tools I needed cost me a small fortune (I wanted to buy some new tools anyway for other uses too).

I also noticed that the headset was a little loose so I watched a few YouTube videos on that and reset that too. My plan is to replace the headset bearing soon.

Long_Time_Lurker

Ok - so you changed the BB. The important question is - can you still ride it?
(The last time I tried to fix my chainset a small spring shot across the garage never to be seen again. I was forced to go cap-in-hand back to my LBS to fix the mess I had made.)

rumbataz

Went out for a 15K ride this evening just to test the hybrid bike out. It goes really, really well. Pedalling is silky smooth now and the steering is a lot sharper. All the previous noises have vanished.

In summary I replaced the BB and overhauled the headset - I actually did that three times over the last 5 days as I wasn't sure which way I had put the bearings in and I also wanted to add a lot more grease.

It feels like a new bike again and a big thanks to everyone on here who encouraged me to do these two jobs myself (BB replacement, headset overhaul). It's a nice feeling when you go for a ride and the bike works really well.

thistle_

Well done on fixing it.

While the tools have cost you money this time, you can use them next time and the time after, and after that... Bottom brackets do wear out and need replacing every so often.

Headset bearings will go loose over time as the steel gets worn away. The headset has a preload which drives two "wedges" between the circle of bearings to take up the slack so tightening it up will also get rid of any slack due to wear - but you will still need to replace the ball bearings at some point.
You don't need any special tools to replace the bearings and it sounds like you already have the correct allen keys.