BB fused with frame?
 

I have a commuter bike that is now hanging in my garage because the LBS (new city) could not get the BB out when it went bad. I rode that bike for a good 6-7 years and since it was my first bike, I had NO clue about upkeep and my old LBS (old city) never ever recommened that I bring the bike in for service. My new LBS, is great at that and when they suggested that I get the BB removed and regreased once a year I looked at them with disbelief and they probably thought I was nuts for never getting my BB serviced.

Long story short: the BB seems to be fused to the frame and since the BB is trash, so is the frame. I have a new commuter that I am learning to upkeep it myself but I'd like to ressurect my old commuter frame and build a new bike from scratch myself. Is there ANY way I can get the BB out without doing damage to the frame? What if I let it soak in some gasoline for a week? Any ideas?

The frame is chro-moly and I bought the bike new in 1996 (I think). It was a Giant Yukon if that makes any difference.

Step away from the gasoline! There is suitable stuff for attacking frozen threads at auto supply stores. If that and proper tools and locking the tool to the BB and using a vice or other leverage fails, It can always be cut out. Often a heavy hammer applied to the end of a big wrench will knock one loose.Again, the removal tool should be securely locked to the BB before attempting.

:eek: no open containers of gasoline!
Try kerosene instead.

What kind of BB is it? cartridge or cup & cone?

Soak the crap out of it in Liquid Wrench for a couple of days and then try again. Worse case scenario you can cut/chisel out the cups with a Dremel rotary tool.

PB Blaster will eat the corrosion right out of the frozen threads. Spray it down good and let it sit overnight.

okay... no gasoline! lol... I didn't expect that kind of reaction. I'll give the other products some thought. I'll see if I can find some liquid wrench or this PB Blaster and give one or the other a try. Thanks for the suggestions.

It's a cartridge if I remember correctly. I made this post without even looking at the thing first.

Remove your seatpost and spray a LOT down into the bb shell, then lean the bike over to one side for a while to get that side going. Then spray again and lean to the other side. You can also remove the cable guide on the bottom of the bb shell and spray it in that way too.

With cartridge you should be able to fit the splined tool in there, thread a bolt through the outside of the tool into the spindle (though I suppose this assumes you have a hollow spindle), and use a wrench with a cheater bar to get pretty much all the leverage you want. That combined with the penetrating oil or other treatments should break the BB loose.

Try heating up the BB tube with a heat gun. You may ruin the paint job, but it sounds like you have nothing to lose.

I've had success chucking my bottom bracket tool into a bench vise. Get a helper to assist you in threading the bottom bracket onto the tool. Think it through to be sure you are turning it the right way and use the whole bike frame as a lever. That cartridge bottom bracket will come loose.

My LBS could not get the BB out of my 11 year old Giant Yukon. No matter what they did the BB tool would come out of the splines with enough force. Even standing on the thing. So I went home put it in the bike stand used a huge "C" clamp to hold the BB tool from popping out and took it out myself.

Does the BB tool come out of the splines under a lot of pressure?

edit post: This cartridge BB was in there from the factory. I got the bike in 1994 and replaced the BB last year or the year before.

First, make sure you are turning the cup or retianer the correct way. English treads are left threaded.

Only on the drive side dude.

This tool is made specifically to hold BB tools in place. It works great:

http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...tem_id=SN-FCC1

No guarantees, but I have found it to be of great use with stubborn BBs (and much easier to use than a c-clamp - I used to do that myself). The biggest problem with most low cost BB tools is that they are flat and slip off. This clamp prevents that. It cost's ~$40, but will work with any flat BB fixed cup tool. It's worth every penny, IMHO. If you look in Barnett's at the list of recommended tools for BB removal, this Stein clamp is right at the top of the list. An even better solution would be the Hozan or VAR BB fixed cup tools, but they are very expensive ($100-200), and they may not even have the correct pattern for your fixed cup.

More info on the Stein clamp and other Stein BB tools at:

http://www.jastein.com/Tools_for_Cranks.htm

Damm cool dude! somehow I have always managed with a selection of bolts and washers. But I'm just a dummy. But a dummy with money in the bank.

Hey, I didn't say it was the only way. I just happen to be one of those people that likes the cool tools. If you watch New Yankee Workshop and know what tools cost you know that ole Norm has about $250K worth of tools in that shop, so it's obviously not for everyone. All I'm doing is offering an alternative method that I have had good success with. If you're happy with your bolts and washers, then by all means, stick with it. As you so correctly pointed out in post #2, the removal tool needs to be securely locked to the BB to get any decent leverage on it. I happen to think the Stein clamp is a great aid, and after I got one I found that Barnetts shares the same opinion.

This thread has certainly been informative and I thank everyone for their input. I got a chance to look at the BB and I took some pictures. Have a look below and tell me if this can be done. The first image is of the drivetrain side. I'd also like to point out that the spindel moves freely from side to side but I cannot remove it from the BB. Right now I'm most confused about "locking" the tool to the BB. The only thing I have is this: http://www.parktool.com/tools/BBT_2.shtml which did the job for me to remove and regrease my BB in my Kona. I think I need more tools.

I can see how that must be a lot easier than the C clamp. I used to go to Salem all the time to see relatives. I went by a bike shop and then a big lake with houses right on the edge of the water. What's your address? Where do you leave it? :)

Yup. A Shimano BB tool works lots better for getting tight cartridges out than a Park tool does. The Shimano tool is much shorter so your wrench sits tighter to the frame and you tend to tip it less.

Well, that's a real mess.That's a cheap shimano cartridge that installs from the non drive side rather than the typical drive side. I'd cut the spindle and try and get it out of the way. Then you can insert the removal tool into what is left of the notches in the cartridge. Use a bolt thru the tool and bottom bracket with washers and a nut to lock the tool into the cartridge so it can't slip when you put the strong arm to it. If that doesn't work, then get out the cutting tools.....An alternate to cutting the spindle might be be to insert removal tool as before and then use a bolt and thru the tool and into the end of the spindle to lock tool in place. In either case, the more solid the lockup, the better chance of the tool getting a good enough grip to do the job.