sloar 

I'm a decent wrench but I'm not sure how to keep my b/b tight I have Nuevo record cranks and b/b and after each ride I have to tighten it up again, what's the fix for this?
I know there's a forum for this but I trust you guys more...

Bianchigirll 

What comes loose? The lockring and or adjust cup or the fixed cup?

You really need to put some muscle into the fixed cup especially if your wrench does not have a cheater extension, mine is over kill at almost 3'.

Kind of the same for the lockring when you think it is tight nudge the wrench once for good measure.

Are the sides of the shell clean and free of paint and grease? has the BB ever been faced? you could use a little dab of locktite too.

sloar 

The spindle comes loose, you can move the crank arms side to side

squirtdad

is it fixed cup side? not getting the italian threading tight enought to start with perhaps?

Bianchigirll 

But unless the bearings or spindle are shrinking something else is comeing loose too.

what do you do to readjust the spindle?

sloar 

I'm gonna check it out in a few hours. I think the lock ring might be coming loose. Looks like a job for loc-tite

dbakl

No need for locktite; the lockring is the locktite; properly set, it can't move. Check the fixed cup. Do you have the proper tools to disassemble? If so, pull the arms and check both cups. Remove spindle, tighten fixed cup as hard as you can and re-adjust spindle.

roadrunner2012

Your cranks come loose from the BB spindle? or the cups loosen from the bb?

I have a feeling you mean the former, if so, your crank arms are toast. If the latter, use teflon tape on the cups and crank down good.

sloar 

It's the fixed cup that came loose, I know I have to crank it down but is loc-tite also advisable? Thanks

randyjawa 

There is no need what so ever to use loc-tite in this application. Just ensure that you properly "lock" the lock nut.

I set my bearing clearance, which should be zero with ball bearings but zero is darn tough to nail - anyway...

Once set, hold the adjustable cup in place, ensuring that it will not rotate, and tighten the heck out of the lock nut. Now check the bearing clearance and there should be no drag and no play. If you have to settle for one or the other, and sometimes you do, let there be play. Drag will wear the bearings and races out pretty quickly and that is a drag.

Sometimes it takes me several tries, to get it just the way it should be, but I keep at it until I get it.

Hope that is a help and hope also that I did not simply state something that you already know.

sloar 

Yeah, that helps a lot,, thanks.

Bianchigirll 

Do you have a tool to help hold your fixed cup tool in place? You can make a cheap one with a big fender washer, a PVC pipe cap and long 8mm bolt and nut.

If you have that tool you can give your wrench a few taps to seat the cup.

squirtdad

the Sheldon Brown fixed cup removal tool will also work in reverse to really tightien the fixed cup in place, whcih is needed for italian thread.

https://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbcups.html

dbakl

I'd clean the threads in the bottom bracket and cup and put the fixed cup in as tight as you can with the normal bb wrench. Get someone to help holding the bike so you can just concentrate on the tightening. One thing about the spindle adjustment; I was taught you're looking for no side to side play but there might be a hair up and down. Adjust that out and you might be too tight.

It can take 2-3 tries to get it right. Tighten the lockring less than fully and use the pin wrench to move the cup and lockring to get more precise before cinching down the lockring completely.

I know people say that, but in 40 years I've never had an Italian bottom bracket fixed cup come loose. Believe me, I put em in as tight as I can!

jimmuller 

You got a lot of good advice, but some of it was about tightening the left side before you posted this clarification.

The right side (fixed cup) should be as tight as you can get it. You really need a good BB wrench that fits. Some people use Loctite on the right side. I've never had a right side come loose that I had tightened sufficiently. (And when I didn't tighten it sufficiently it did come loose, now didn't it?)

randyjawa 

Knowing the it was the fixed cup issue is a big help with the bottom bracket question. Getting the sucker off can be a tough task, and getting it back on can be just as difficult. I use the "big bolt" method to secure the wrench when removing or tightening the fixed cup. And not one has ever come loose, once tightened in using this method...

sloar 

thanks for all the tips. i like the one using the washer. last thing i want to have happen is the wrench slipping and gashing the paint..i got it all back together. i will see what happens after tomorrows ride...

Bianchigirll 

This looks slightly simplier than my suggestion for the homemade Stein tool if you happen to own a Cresent Wrench with 36mm jaws.

sorry I can't find a better pic.











If someone knows where one of these tools is just laying about unused and unloved I would be interested.

roadrunner2012

Do what randyjawa suggested, except use the proper tool. A Crescent wrench is not the proper tool. Teflon tape on the BB cup, grease on the BB shell. If the BB is not faced properly, you must do that first. Tighten as tight as you can.

rootboy 

sorry Randy but is that a typo? Should that say "Big NUT needs to be finger tight only" ?

signed : Big Nut

Grand Bois

Does the bolt screw into the nut or does the nut screw onto the bolt?

JohnDThompson 

No, you just need to get it tight. Ideally, you'd use a tool like this:



But a wrench like this will also work if you can get the cup tight enough:

fietsbob

I bought a tool that holds the flat wrench like above down, screws in to the crank bolt.
so I can bang on the pedal wrench end with a mallet, and get it tight enough.
[oh, Bgrl has a picture above, #18 the cut away bb .. ]

Bikegeek1968

The big bolt method or a fixed cup tool that holds the cup from the inside and outside are pretty much a given for an Italian BB. Since it lacks a reverse thread, normal pedaling action tends to loosen the cup over time.
I would also recommend the use of "Mr. Leverage". He is a 4' segment of 2" iron pipe that fits over the end of most tools and really lets you crank that fixed cup in. Be careful not to bend the frame! If it still works loose after having cleaned and greased the threads, clean it again and use loctite.

Bianchigirll 

So did you get this resolved?