Originally Posted by
AlexTheRabbit
In the first picture I rotated the crank to the position where it just stays in place, where I can feel a noticeable amount of resistance, this is the only part where I rotate it that there is ANY kind of resistance.
Looking at your pictures, I can't see any clearance between the arm and the fixed cup, but the angle makes it difficult to judge. It also appears that your fixed cup may not be fully seated in the bottom bracket shell. Is this perhaps an Italian or French frame where there is a propensity for the fixed cup to loosen with riding? It's possible that if your fixed cup can be fully seated the arm will have the clearance it needs to rotate freely.