New Bottom Bracket????

[Biciclista]

After the unraveling tire scare, I went to the LBS to get a new set of tires. The guy gave my bike a look-over, determined I needed new brakes (kool stops work well but they do wear out more quickly than standard brake pads)
So i was happy to have him replace them. Next he started messing with my handlebars -- the head tube. As if that wasn't bad enough, he messed with my pedals and said I might need a new bottom bracket.
His boss (shop owner) came over and hemmed and hawed.. well, maybe it's just loose.. He started talking about Italian bottom brackets versus English... started talking about ISO 111 and ISO 115 and reverse this and cassettes and well...

All I want to know is, can I ride this bike?
Turns out, everyone thinks I can, for a month. A MONTH? 3 weeks? 5 weeks?
2 months?
I ordered the part amid much confusion. Reverse? English? Italian? Record? (hell no) Veloce? (yeah!)

So I rode it yesterday, wondering what it would do wrong, but never felt or heard anything.
Owell.

[KnottedYet]

I had to get a new headset for Flossie. They do wear down and start to make the bars feel spring loaded. Maybe that's what he was doing with your head tube and bars? Checking for a worn headset?

Flossie also needs a new bottom bracket (crank arms can be wiggled in directions they're really not supposed to go) but since I don't ride Flossie much, the shop said that would wait another year.

You, on the other hand, are a wildwoman on that bike! I'm not at all surprised you've started wearing out parts!

[Biciclista]

it's actually been 4 years and close to 10,000 miles (which is less than what DH does in a year )
sniff. it's not a new bike anymore!

[salsabike]

Chris says they're very honest about what work you do and don't need--he took his wheel in once and asked them to rebuild it and they said, you don't need it rebuilt--go ride.

[KnottedYet]

it's actually been 4 years and close to 10,000 miles (which is less than what DH does in a year )
sniff. it's not a new bike anymore!

Four years?!?! FOUR YEARS?!?!!!???

Has it really been that long?

Wow, where did the time go?

I still think of her as your "new" bike... :p

[Melalvai]

I've had 2 bottom brackets go out on me. They clanked randomly. I think that was the bearings? They told me I was eating through the bottom brackets because a) I had the cheapest components on that bike and b) I pull a trailer with heavy stuff. Also winter weather, and just lots of miles. When I got my "new" bike (3 yrs now) they told me not to get the lowest end because I would need better components--such as the bottom bracket.

They're not expensive and if you replace them before they break inside the bike it's not hard to do. One of mine broke inside the bike and we spent hours chipping out the pieces without damaging the threads!

[Biciclista]

Yeah, i still see it as my "new" bike too.

Melavai, I currently have a campagnolo "record" bottom bracket. I'm going to replace it with Veloce gruppo because from what I can tell with Record, they go out of their way to make things as LIGHT as possible, not as sturdy as possible. So Veloce is still a good gruppo, but at 1/3 the price!

[smilingcat]

10,000 miles and 4 years sounds reasonable time frame to replace the bottom bracket. I also agree that you are better off with Veloce over Record. Record and Dura Ace are made to be light at possible and gets more cosmetic finish for that Wooo WWOOOWWW factor. Besides, lot of pro teams do not use Record or Dura Ace. It's too costly.

[DebW]

As if that wasn't bad enough, he messed with my pedals and said I might need a new bottom bracket.
His boss (shop owner) came over and hemmed and hawed.. well, maybe it's just loose.. He started talking about Italian bottom brackets versus English... started talking about ISO 111 and ISO 115 and reverse this and cassettes and well...


Mimi, did the bike shop guy take your crank arms off the bottom bracket spindle? Did he try tightening anything? If not, he's probably just guessing about whether you need a new bottom bracket. If there is play in the arms, then either you need a new bottom bracket OR the cups that hold the bottom bracket in the frame have come loose. This happens more often with Italian frames because the right side is right threaded. If the shop guy doesn't know for sure, leave him your bike for day and have him try tightening the cups. If they are loose, you could damage the threads by continuing to ride. If the cups are tight and the bb is worn out, then it doesn't matter too much if you replace it now or in a couple months because the old bb will be thrown away. However, if there is very much play in the crank arms, your shifting won't be working very well and you may hear the chain rubbing the front derailleur frequently.

[Biciclista]

Deb, thanks for chiming in. Yes, he did finally take it apart and then tighten it which did not help. He explained the Italian thing to me (which went over my head) but you clearly described it, thank you. He said it was a tragic flaw in its design. So far I'm not hearing anything but it will be replaced within the week.

[Biciclista]

well the bottom bracket started to fail today (slipped gears, loud noises).
So after our very hilly ride we stopped at the LBS where the new bottom bracket had arrived. he pulled the old one out and we compared them.
I had NO IDEA that the campy Record was THAT much lighter than the veloce. I thought we were talking grams. NO we're talking close to 1/2 pound!! After he pulled the old one out he said he could probably rebuild it. So That's what he's going to do, but my bike is now in running order.