BB spindle feels a little loose/has movement

Qwazil · October 4, 2009, 10:48pm

Hey sorry i thought this thread had faded away~

I tightened the cup and the jiggle was reduced and i put the cranks back on~ jiggle has been reduced heaps but i left it’s still there a bit because i thought the resistance on the spindle turning was getting a bit much, once again it’s probably not going to effect pedaling at all.

I’ll open it again and have a look and see if what i have done is the same, tomato

Cheers guys

Dan-O · October 19, 2009, 3:30pm

Bottom brackets are a bit finicky.

Do you have a decent C spanner to tighten the lockring?

Ok, so assuming that your bearings are all the same size and are all in good condition (no pitting).

Don’t bother with caged bearings. Use 11 1/4 inch bearings in each cup, put enough grease in to hold them and then tighten the cups down.

I had a problem where when I tightened the lockring, the adjustable cup would also move, with the result being an over tight BB. That’s very bad for your bearings and spindle.

So what I did was loosen the adjustable cup so that the spindle had some play in it, and then tighten the lockring. After a bit of playing around, you can get the lockring tight and it will be at the right adjustment for the adjustable cup. Main thing is make sure your bearings and spindle are in good condition.

nexus · October 19, 2009, 3:35pm

While it’s fun to DIY, these things aren’t worth the effort. Just throw it out and get a new one.

Buy a new BB!

chris224a · October 19, 2009, 6:31pm

Where’s the joy in chuckin it out. I say stick to your guns so long as faces are in good nick. Good tip on cages too, can’t put em in wrong if balls go in loose.

Qwazil · October 21, 2009, 2:44am

Alright, tightened the movable cup (NDS) so that the spindle had no play. Was all awesome, for a bout half an hour. The play came back, took NDS crank off, and found my BB shell case (thing) hadn’t moved (i could see because the two holes you use to tighten it hadn’t moved. Pretty pissed off at the bottom bracket by then.

I get some vice grips and a monkey wrench take the entire BB out, pretty good.~ At least i found out it was English threaded. (is there a tool besides a spanner used for taking the drive side cup off?

I’ve ordered a sealed BB. white flag

Dan-O :

Bottom brackets are a bit finicky.

Do you have a decent C spanner to tighten the lockring?

Ok, so assuming that your bearings are all the same size and are all in good condition (no pitting).

Don’t bother with caged bearings. Use 11 1/4 inch bearings in each cup, put enough grease in to hold them and then tighten the cups down.

I had a problem where when I tightened the lockring, the adjustable cup would also move, with the result being an over tight BB. That’s very bad for your bearings and spindle.

So what I did was loosen the adjustable cup so that the spindle had some play in it, and then tighten the lockring. After a bit of playing around, you can get the lockring tight and it will be at the right adjustment for the adjustable cup. Main thing is make sure your bearings and spindle are in good condition.