bing4sons

Hi,

Newbie here. I've gotten some great advice off of the forum.

I have upgraded many the components on my Trek Pilot 1.0 to Shimano 105 (9 speed triple), with the exception of the crank (I also upgraded the wheel set to an Ultegra Mavic Open Pro set built by Colorado Cyclist).

The current crank is a Bontrager Sport triple (52-42-30) square taper. I have noticed that on longer rides I get some creaking and clicking,which appears to be coming from the crank area. My local BS says that there is play in the cranks and that the BB will most likely need to be replaced. I'm wondering if it would make sense to upgrade the crank set at the same time.

In order to convert to a Shimano 105 triple (Octalink V1) do I need anything other than the BB and the crankset (i.e. lockrings, cups, etc). Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

bing4sons

Thanks for the reply. Yes I have a 105 FD, 9 speed 105 RD and chain. I think I'll go ahead and get the BB-5500 and the 105 (FC-5504) crank.

cs1

Shimano makes the new external BB cranks in 105 and Tiagra. They really are a great deal for the money. You won't get any flex from either. This is one of the few times I'd recomend something new over a vintage part. Give them a look and see what I mean.

Tim

HillRider

105 9-speed cranks are available pretty cheap these days so it's a good time to upgrade. The BB-5500 is the only Octalink bb still in production, AFAIK, but it's a good one.

Applehead57

My old Tiagra square taper stayed tighter than my new to me (9 speed) Dura-Ace (triple) Octa-link.
Just thought I'd add that.

HillRider

Then you didn't torque the Octalink adequately. I have Octalink bb's (a BB-5500 and a BB-6500) on two bikes, both with Ultegra triple cranks, and neither has shown the slightest sign of coming loose after thousands of miles.

bing4sons

Thanks for all the replies (I'm not sure what happened to the 1st reply to my original post). I went ahead and ordered the BB-5500 (105 BB 68 x 118.5) and the FC-5504 (105 Triple Crank 9 speed). I'm not sure whether to get my LBS to install or to do it myself. I replaced my shifters, FD, RD, chain and new wheels, but I'm uncertain whether to tackle this one.

Thanks again.

BCRider

Just a note that the Octalink splines will need to be almost surgically clean. Then apply a light film of grease and slide them home and torque.

My one and only set of Octalink drove me crazy with a creak. I tightened the screw and it still creaked. I took it apart and wiped down the splines, regreased and assembled and they still creaked. FInally I really hit the splines with solvent and a brush over a clean tray. Turns out that a very tiny little fleck of metal was sort of squashed/embedded in the base of the U of one of the spline teeth. Once that got poked out and I put it together it's been fine. But lesson learned. Clean them and inspect closely before assembly and do anything you can to avoid ANY grit or other forgien matter in the splines. Don't trust the light packing grease that comes on them. Clean with solvent and inspect closely. Then clean fresh grease and assemble.

bing4sons

Thanks again for all the responses. I ended up finding an Ultegra BB-6500 on eBay (I'm keeping the BB-5500 as a backup). I installed the BB-6500 and the 105 crank. The install was a piece of cake. The crank/BB spins smooth as butter. I'm very happy with the upgrade.

bing4sons

When I thought about my last post, I remembered it wasn't quite as easy as I stated. It SHOULD have been, however, I forgot to remove my pedals from my old crank, before taking it off of the bike.

The Pedals were tightened down tight on the old crank. Therefore, I was having to use a lot of force to try to loosen them. I had an Allen wrench in my left hand that I was pushing and an adjustable wrench in my right hand that I was pulling. I was basically pulling with all of my might to try and loosen the pedal. Once the bolt loosened, it released fully, so my hand when flying into my nose. I pack a pretty good punch . My nose was red for a day or two, but I thought I was going to be black and blue.

I just wanted to share my pain, so hopefully someone else won't repeat my stupidity.