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Just thought I’d finish this
Just thought I’d finish this thread off with a post-BB replacement report. I got a Dura-Ace BB in the end as it was pretty cheap and the plastic adaptor was readily available on Wiggle; also puchased a Park BB tool.
Crank removal was easy. Noting they were the original BB cups, they really didn’t want to move so had to put the bike on the floor (ie off the stand) and stand on the wrench. Both moved eventually although the tool scuffed up the metal on the (old) BB in the process. Excessive grease in the frame so there was some cleaning out to do. The plastic sleeve (between the cups) was stopped from coming out by the screw that holds the cable guide (under BB on frame). I gently used a screwdrive to help the sleeve over the screw. Gave everything a good ‘grease’ but not excessive. I didn’t have a torque wrench but, seeing the torque was quite high, I just tightened the cups as high as possible by hand. Given the difficulties taking the old cups off, a longer torque wrench (with BB adaptor – more leverage) could have been better. Advantage of the plastic adaptor was that the ‘teeth’ on the BB tool couldn’t scuff up the new BB. The torque for the dust cap on the non-drive side was ‘hand-tight’, although that’s a bit subjective. Noting the comment above ref spinning the cranks until you feel resitance (and another comment below an on-line video that overtightening the dust cap could damage the bearings) I just tightened it below the ‘as tight as possible by hand’ level. Had a small torque wrench for the crank bolts which I tightened evenly as per the instructions.
All good!….next maintenance frontier is probably headsets (when one needs replacing). Anyway, threaded BB replacement is pretty easy and you also get confident in removing the crank (chainring replacement).
I’ve got a B17 Imperial and a
I’ve got a B17 Imperial and a Swift; both of which have been repaired by Brooks at points in their life. Details on their website. I think if you register your saddle there’s some sort of (free) extended warranty.
Easyout with a drill? Had a
Easyout with a drill? Had a similar situation with some siezed bolts securing mudguards and the pannier. Slightly corroded bolts stripped immediately; had to get pretty brutal with the easyout and a drill to get them to move. Even destroyed one of the Easyouts in the process.
Chris Boardman did a good
Chris Boardman did a good piece on Utrecht in the ITV coverage of the 2015 TdF. His line was, “I didn’t see cyclists, I saw people in normal clothes on bicycles”. If (current) cycling in the UK had it’s roots in a ‘mode of transport’ with all the enabling pieces (eg infrastructure, behavour, laws etc) in place, as opposed to being grown out of ‘cycling as a sport/fitness activity’, I reckon there would be more women cyclists.
Whenever I feel the ‘itch’ to
Whenever I feel the ‘itch’ to move to carbon I read stories like this (to add to other carbon tales of woe I’ve heard over the years) and think, no thanks. There’s no mechanic to hand me a new bike if I trash the frame; I’ll stick with steel or titanium.
This is a very easy job but bear in mind the Ultegra bottom brackets are smaller than standard Hollowtech 2 bottom brackets and will need the new Park Tool BBT-59.2 rather than a standard Hollowtech 2 tool.When fitting the new one, the correct torque value is approx. 30 ft/lbs but mechanics have been hand tightening them for years though so just use common sense. Make sure you can screw it in a few turns by hand before you use tools, this will reduce the chance of cross-threading.
Lube-wise, I always use copper grease for bottom brackets but any good grease would. Be liberal with grease and grease both the threads on the bottom bracket cups and the threads in the frame. Water tends to accumulate inside the bottom bracket area so you can never have too much grease.
The crank itself should be easy enough to remove. If it’s a bit stuck just wallop the end with either a plastic hammer or a lump of wood, there’s nothing holding it in once the left crank is off so it shouldn’t give you any grief.
When you’re re-installing the left crank, as you install the plastic preload keep pausing and swinging the crank arm. As soon as you start to feel a smidge of resistance, stop and tighten the two bolts on the crank arm.
Have fun!
Thanks; v useful. I assumed, sticking with Shimano, that one tool/adapter would cover removal and fitting. Sounds like changing to Ultegra would need 2? Some quite good deals on Dura-ace, but that may well have the same problem?
Not sure if you have had any
Not sure if you have had any advice ref spectating but you need to plan it like a military op. I’ve done it twice and there were some lessons learn’t from the first time. The Tour website has the times for the Caravan and the race. The French are absolute masters at it; on the signature climbs the best spots are bagged by the motorhome convoy (that follows the race around) 3 days in advance! The Belgiums sometime take over an entire section and turn it into a mini-town. When they say ‘road closed’, NOTHING, including bicycles, moves on it and the Gendarmes don’t take any prisoners (a pretty firm ‘non’). Got caught out by this at my inaugral session as we wanted to watch the Caravan and then cycle up the climb nearby to watch. Climbs are best as the race is slower, but also the most popular. The locals arrive early and there are masses of them; tables, chairs, parasols, TVs etc – they stake their claim! If you want to bag a spot with a car, then arrive early (well before road closure) and plan to spend a LOT of time (ie hours – caravan goes through at least an hour before the race) sitting around, so take food, beer, water etc. There’s a bit of time just after the road closes to gently cycle up/down a climb whilst they set up the boarding, arches etc. You can arrive nearer the race time from a side road and walk/cycle in, although plenty of other people will have the same idea so, again, plan wisely. Caravan is worth it for the spectacle; you can trade your free ‘tat’ with others to get what you want (hats). Stand near kids as they’re more enthusiastic and more stuff is thrown at them. Anything that ‘goes loose’, incl discarded Bidons, it’s ‘take no prisoners’ if you want it! When it’s all over the road is bedlam, so plan your escape as well. Third biggest spectator numbers behind the Football World Cup and the Olympics, so has to be seen.
Sorry tugglesthegreat I saw your post too late…Think I’m coming to the same conclusion. Was out on a club ride yesterday and I was the only one in SPDs and the only one without a funny walk over the wooden decking at our cafe stop and the only one who clipped in straight away each time.
You were probably able to unclip faster if you needed to in a hurry; safer?
I’ve always stuck with SPDs
I’ve always stuck with SPDs based on LBS advice years ago. I’ve got some Rapha CX shoes (i think just rebadged Giros) which are nice and stiff. Lots of great looking SPD touring shoes these days. Can’t be done with clip-clopping around in SLs; in terms of any performance gains I reckon there are other things that would make a bigger difference.
Just spotted the Orbea Gain
Just spotted the Orbea Gain (not out yet) which has the motor in the rear hub, so looks like a normal road bike at a glance. 3 versions (depending on the spec) with space for mudguards and a rack, so could be turned into a good commuter bike. If you had a decent e bike, I think you’d need a hefty lock as the thieves would definitely target them.
Seems like an e bike would ‘take the sting’ out of a long hilly commute, but if you want to get some training in you can still insert a regular bike day when it suits.
When I was discussing a wheel
When I was discussing a wheel upgrade with my bike mechanic, one of the advantages of hand-built wheels was that any of the components could be repaired/replaced, hence I went down that route. He also wouldn’t source factory wheels as he couldn’t compete with the web, so it would have been repair by replacement if I’d chosen that route. Disadvantage was the cost (Dura ace hubs with Mavic rims)!
Commiserations; you would
Commiserations; you would have thought that a supermarket car park in broad daylight would have been safe enough.
Stayed overnight near Calais a few years ago after a late Channel Tunnel transit. Car crime sounded horrendous (from internet search) and my bikes were on the back of my VW Transporter due to other camping gear, windsurfer, kit etc being inside. Found a hotel with a reasonably secure car park but there was a lot of heavy chain in use securing the bikes to the van. Won’t go that route again as I was told I should have travelled ‘freight’ which was way more expensive. Managed to blag it (as a regular vehicle) but my face must have said ‘are you taking the p#ss’ when the tunnel staff opened the van, looked at the pile of camping and sports gear (the bikes on the back might have been a giveaway) and said it classed as freight.
Whilst visiting friends in a
Whilst visiting friends in a village I was roped into the annual verge litter picking session; 100% motorist generated, and plenty of it.
I also recall doing a sportive and there was no shortage of ‘I think I’m a pro’ cyclists flinging empty wrappers etc onto the road.
Both groups have their miscreants, although cyclists should know better when people are looking for any reason to have a go at us.
I use a Rapha City Rain
I use a Rapha City Rain Jacket but they don’t do them anymore; may do something different in their current urban range. Orange colour, so less offensive than day-glo. Vulpine do some on/off bike jackets, if they’re still trading.
For this sort of thing I’d be
For this sort of thing I’d be on my commuter/hybrid and would, for a few minutes, use the D lock (silver rating) through the seat stays and rear wheel (may well leave the lights fitted). Anything longer and I’d have the secondary (thick) cable lock on through the frame and front wheel (+ a thin cable from the saddle to the D lock and all lights/speedo removed). Not worth taking the risk and having the ‘nausea’ of having your bike nicked (been there). There’s a lot of weight in the locks but ‘that’s the way it is’. I know a few people who have ‘scrimped’ on locks (cost, weight or both) and have paid the price.
Road bike?…pocket sized combo/cable lock, but also have a way of taking a mini-D Lock (2 bits – using seat pack) if, for a reason, I’m locking it up for a while in a town (rarely).
