Don't tell me you thought I would actually post something untowardly? I disassembled the bottom bracket on the Bianchi this evening and found that the bearings looked nice and shiny but had absolutely no grease on them. Had a little help from Harpoon's Octoberfest Beer, too.
Close up, sorry for the blur, it wasn't because of the beer, honest! As you can see ballbearings are pretty dry.
So, I lubed them up with some Phil Wood and put it all back together. In order to accomplish this little feat, I picked up some tools from the Bicycle Goodie Shop in Bethel. I got a really big cone wrench for removing this plate but it wouldn't budge. I was, however, able to take off the other side with that tool from the first picture.
We'll see how it performs tomorrow when I try to ride 30 miles round trip to work. Now that I am getting fixed riding down, which by the way, I am loving it totally, it's time to had some distance.
4 comments:
At least you can grease your bearings. Several of the BB's are going to have to be thrown away when they crap out. Thank you Mr. Shimano. Maybe there's a way I can get the cartridge bearings out of there?
Greasing the bearings was no problem but I think I tightened the end cap too much because I could feel them rolling this morning. That is quick fix that I might even be able to do without removing the crank arm.
Oh, and that wasn't the problem. Still getting the squeak. That means it has to be the rear hub (Yikes). Going to take that apart this weekend and see what's going on. Probably ride SS next week on the FIR till I get this hub squared issue away.
I also want to try 17t in the back and see how that works for climbing.
I know you're smarter than this, but I'm not: what about your saddle / seat post connections? I had a squeak that was driving me nuts until I stood up to pedal and realized that it was originating where my saddle rails entered the plastic saddle shell. Cyclocross is hard on saddle shells.
I am out of the saddle when it creeks. That's something to consider though.
Post a Comment