Bicycle Mechanics - specialized cages suck

Ok, so I bought this set of specialized carbon bottle cages, and they are horrible to say the least. On a ride yesterday, the downtube bottle somehow slipped out through the cage and came to rest quietly on the top of my big ring. After what must have been miles, my foot started to feel wet, i look down and the bottle is squirting yellow gatorade all over my feet, chainring- the whole bottom bracket area, you get the idea.. Which leads me to my question, today i went out for a fast 30 and my bottom bracket was creaking and groaning terribly the whole ride. Did my gatorade spill-out just destroy my bottom bracket? It is an Ultegra 9sp, about 3 years old, not the new bearing style either. Any tips would be helpful.

Try hosing the bb area with plain water to wash off the Gatorade residue and see if that helps. If not, remove the bb and see if the bearings are good or damaged. Maybe the sugar just got into the shell threads and that's what's making the noise.

thanks

i would suggest not pressurizing the water when you hose it down. if you use pressure, it can blow the water past the seals on the bearings and stay there. the seals are very good at keeping water and dust out, but once those things get in, the seals do an equally good job at keeping them there.

i would suggest removing the BB, cleaning the threads and re-greasing them. also grease the splines on the spindle. you'll also want to clean the BB cable guide, as all that sugar and crap will cause your shifting to be quite pooptacular.

i would suggest not pressurizing the water when you hose it down. if you use pressure, it can blow the water past the seals on the bearings and stay there. the seals are very good at keeping water and dust out, but once those things get in, the seals do an equally good job at keeping them there.
Good point. I said to rinse the bb area but didn't say not to blast off the crud with a high pressure stream of water. Thanks for the correction. BTW, this advice applies to all bearings including the hubs and headset.

Good point. I said to rinse the bb area but didn't say not to blast off the crud with a high pressure stream of water. Thanks for the correction. BTW, this advice applies to all bearings including the hubs and headset.


yeah yeah. i wasn't trying to correct you, just trying to clarify so the OP can avoid future trouble. it also applies to any other seals, like a scraper seal on a shock body, or the seals on a suspension fork. and could applie to suspension pivots as well.