Bicycle Mechanics - Installing a cartridge bottom bracket without specialized tools?

Hi guys, I'm new here. I don't know if this has been asked or not, but are there any DIY cartridge bottom bracket tools (like there are headset cup installation tools?) My LBS owner is sort of a prick about letting people use his parts and I want to do it myself, as I'm a novice still learning. its a 68mm bottom bracket, if that makes any difference. Thanks!

just buy the tool. a cheapo Chinese tool is like 5 bucks on ebay

Hi guys, I'm new here. I don't know if this has been asked or not, but are there any DIY cartridge bottom bracket tools (like there are headset cup installation tools?) My LBS owner is sort of a prick about letting people use his parts and I want to do it myself, as I'm a novice still learning. its a 68mm bottom bracket, if that makes any difference. Thanks!

It depends.

Different threaded bottom brackets take different tools. Campagnolo uses a cassette tool for many of their traditional bottom brackets while Shimano did it's own thing. ISIS bottom brackets take a different tool. Most of the external bearing models seem to share the same 16 spline tool. Just get the special tool.

While press-fit bottom brackets (BB30, BB90, etc.) can be installed using a headset press it's possible to use a mallet and block of wood to spread the load.

It depends.

Shimano did it's own thing. ISIS bottom brackets take a different tool.
I believe Shimano square taper cartridges, Shimano Octalinks and ISIS from various makers all use the Park BBT-22 or similar tool.

just buy the tool. a cheapo Chinese tool is like 5 bucks on ebay

This.

pay the shop to do it for you. with his tools.

My LBS owner is sort of a prick about letting people use his parts and I want to do it myself, as I'm a novice still learning.

It is not reasonable to ask a business owner to allow an unskilled person, not covered by worker's compensation, who may blame that same owner if something goes wrong, to use what may be the only tool of it's type, shop space and employee time, in a shop whose insurance may not provide for problems caused by someone who is not supposed to be there.

Maybe the owner is less than gracious about his decision, but it's perfectly understandable. I was service manager at a bike co-op where we had free clinics so people could work on their own bikes. Not every shop can do that, but even we did not give people access to the mechanic's area or to specialized tools.

LBS owner is sort of a prick about letting people use his parts and I want to do it myself

That's not being a prick, he's running a buisiness, not a charity. He probably has thousands invested in tools, pays insurance, trains and compensates employees, etc. Why would you expect he'd just hand over his tools to the DIY crowd? If you have a bike co-op in the area they usually offer the use of tools and workspace for a minimal fee or freewill donation. My general rule of thumb is that if the tool costs less than what I would spend to have the LBS do it over 3-5 years, I buy the tool. If it is an expensive tool that will likely only get used once in a blue moon (no, not once for every beer I drink) or if the job requires great technical skill and the penalty for failure is high, I gladly pay the LBS to do it for me.

I know what it is like to be on a very tight budget but if the choice is between paying the LBS $15 to do it for me or buying a tool for $10 to do it myself, it's a no brainer.

Just use your teeth.


If you don't have money, cultivate friendships with tool-owning amateurs. Not your LBS owner, he is not an amateur and you need to preserve your goodwill credits with him for when you really get stuck.

There's a lot of specialty tools you need when working on bikes. Suck it up and buy the tools like the rest of us did. You'll save money in the end and learn the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

And bad on you for thinking that the LBS owner is a prick. He's trying to make a living and feed his family, not run a Coop bike shop. Not to mention the number of times I've heard of my own LBS guy "lending" a tool to even a regular customer only to get it back broken in some way.

Maybe ask the owner what tool do you need to do the job yourself. Maybe buy the BB from him and then do it yourself at the house.
maybe buy the BB and have him install it for a nominal fee. Just test to see how helpful he is, if not helpful take yer business elsewhere.

If you plan to wrench/really be a DIY bike guy, you need to buy the tools.

My LBS owner is sort of a prick about letting people use his parts

Go to a local restaurant, walk in with some ham and eggs that you bought at the supermarket, and explain that you want to cook them in their kitchen. For free.

What kind of response would you expect?

Go to a local restaurant, walk in with some ham and eggs that you bought at the supermarket, and explain that you want to cook them in their kitchen. For free.

What kind of response would you expect?

It's worse than that. Frying ham and eggs is very unlikely to ruin any expensive equipment. Wrongly used bike tools can break easily.