Bianchi Pista Bottom Bracket woes . . .help!
01-22-06, 11:25 AM
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Bianchi Pista Bottom Bracket woes . . .help!
After messengering on it for about 8months I finally destroyed the bb that came with my '03 Pista. It was a Truvativ BB-03-SPL-SL-106-68. In other words a 68/108 isis standard bb. I got only other readily available isis bb I could find in in 108/68, a Truvativ giga pipe team sl 108/68.
Every thing looks cool. I thread the thing in there to the proper torque and right away notice a problem. Once it's torqued up the spindle binds and won't spin freely. Putting the non-drive cup on only makes it worse. If I loosen the bb a bit does not bind as much. The more I loosen the less it binds, leading me to believe the amount of torque on the cups is directly related to the friction on the spindle . . . though I don't now why this would be.
I tried throwing a spacer in there, but this doesn't work either. I have to space it out too far to make it work. In any case it should not need to be spaced, this size it meant to fit flush on the drive side according to the compatiblity chart and type on the bb shell "68mm shell. no spacer".
Anyone know what's going on here?
I'd like to figure out the problem before I try buying yet another bb.
Thanks,
Lee
Every thing looks cool. I thread the thing in there to the proper torque and right away notice a problem. Once it's torqued up the spindle binds and won't spin freely. Putting the non-drive cup on only makes it worse. If I loosen the bb a bit does not bind as much. The more I loosen the less it binds, leading me to believe the amount of torque on the cups is directly related to the friction on the spindle . . . though I don't now why this would be.
I tried throwing a spacer in there, but this doesn't work either. I have to space it out too far to make it work. In any case it should not need to be spaced, this size it meant to fit flush on the drive side according to the compatiblity chart and type on the bb shell "68mm shell. no spacer".
Anyone know what's going on here?
I'd like to figure out the problem before I try buying yet another bb.
Thanks,
Lee
01-22-06, 08:20 PM
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Yep. two possibilities:
1. Your bottom bracket shell isn't faced properly and the faces aren't exactly square to the center line. Any good LBS can face the shell to correct this.
2. There is something wrong with the new bottom bracket and the cups aren't square with the spindle.
If your first bottom bracket spun smoothly when torqued down then the shell is probably ok and the new bb is defective. However, if the first bb was ruined in 8 months, maybe it wasn't ok to begin with and the bb shell is the problem.
1. Your bottom bracket shell isn't faced properly and the faces aren't exactly square to the center line. Any good LBS can face the shell to correct this.
2. There is something wrong with the new bottom bracket and the cups aren't square with the spindle.
If your first bottom bracket spun smoothly when torqued down then the shell is probably ok and the new bb is defective. However, if the first bb was ruined in 8 months, maybe it wasn't ok to begin with and the bb shell is the problem.
01-27-06, 07:52 PM
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Grrrrrrr!
Had the bb shell threads chased at the LBS and also had them face the it. The mech up there takes a look at the situation and tells me the bb is defective and the spindle is sitting a bit cockeyed. That makes sense and I take my newly faced and chased bb shell and go home. I chalk the defective part up to extremely bad luck.
I promptly contact the folks I bought the bb from and they offer to send me a new piece next day at no charge. Good. Good. Not so good. It threads in buttery smooth going in. I finger tighten it and its still spinning freely. Tighten it down for real and tork it up to spec . . . crap again. It offers less traction now, but still drags and ticks a bit. Putting the opposite cup it makes it far worse. WTF. I want to kill someone. I'm tired of riding the mtb.
I know putting the same model bb back in there doesn't help much, but its what was given free of charge so I took it. Anyhow, it should work. It's the correct size. It's designed for this application. I'm at wits end. If I can't get this working, I'll try a different bb. There's basically only three choices for a isis 68x108 . . . Truvativ, FSA, or Nashbar. . . or stronglight(prohibitively expensive).
Any other thoughts on this. Please help if you can.
Thanks,
Lee
Had the bb shell threads chased at the LBS and also had them face the it. The mech up there takes a look at the situation and tells me the bb is defective and the spindle is sitting a bit cockeyed. That makes sense and I take my newly faced and chased bb shell and go home. I chalk the defective part up to extremely bad luck.
I promptly contact the folks I bought the bb from and they offer to send me a new piece next day at no charge. Good. Good. Not so good. It threads in buttery smooth going in. I finger tighten it and its still spinning freely. Tighten it down for real and tork it up to spec . . . crap again. It offers less traction now, but still drags and ticks a bit. Putting the opposite cup it makes it far worse. WTF. I want to kill someone. I'm tired of riding the mtb.
I know putting the same model bb back in there doesn't help much, but its what was given free of charge so I took it. Anyhow, it should work. It's the correct size. It's designed for this application. I'm at wits end. If I can't get this working, I'll try a different bb. There's basically only three choices for a isis 68x108 . . . Truvativ, FSA, or Nashbar. . . or stronglight(prohibitively expensive).
Any other thoughts on this. Please help if you can.
Thanks,
Lee
