Originally Posted by outashape
Okay, here is an update. I tried to take pictures with my cell phone and the pictures came out too light so I will try to explain.
Chainring: I screwed down the 74 BCD granny ring. The 38 Middle ring, I lined up with the holes on the inside of the spider. The 48 outer ring will not fit. A typical ring is about 1 inch around the outside circumference with tabs dropping into the center with holes to be attached to the crank. On the rings that I bought, the outside diameter is about 3.5 inches of metal and in that space are drilled holes for 130, then there are tabs that are further inside the circle for 110. The inside diameter is not open large enough to fit on the spider drop outs. I will have to order from somewhere else. The chainrings are 6061 aluminum, but they weight at least twice as much as the original rings. They are called rocket rings.
The bottom bracket: My brother came over and helped me. I was trying to unscrew the non-drive side which the book says to do. I broke a part of the plastic ring which is really about a 1.5 inch screw in cup(?). My brother used a cheater bar (large pipe) and took the bottom bracket off on the drive side. That side showed a small metal circle which was actually the end of the bottom bracket. The part that I broke was about 1 inch off the plastic/light metal cup which was able to be screwed out once the bottom bracket was removed. I looked up pictures of lockrings and it is not a lockring. What do you think it is? I was trying to use the BB2 tool with an adjustable long handled wrench and I hit it with a hammer. My brother said I hit it too hard and that is what caused it to slip and brake the end off. I may be able to use it, but what is the part??
You're describing the typical plastic Shimano bottom-bracket cup for a cartridge-type bottom bracket. Here's terminology descriptions:
Bottom bracket is the axle & bearing setup as a whole.
Bottom-bracket shell is the part of the bike's frame that the bottom bracket threads into.
Cartridge bottom brackets are the type you're describing, like in this picture:
The cartridge bottom bracket usually has one end where there's a metal "flange" that goes firmly against the frame (this is the metal ring you saw on the drive side). The other end of the cartridge (the cylindrical silver part in this photo) is supported by a plastic or metal "cup" that threads in until it's snug. That's the part you broke. You can get another one from a bike shop.
Fixed cup In the picture above, the cartridge has cups at both ends. The one with the flange on it is the "fixed cup," where "fixed" means "securely fastened." That's the side that gets firmly threaded into the frame until the flange is really tight against the frame, which is why you needed a lot of leverage to remove it. Some cartridge bottom brackets basically have the fixed cup built into the cartridge, in which case the cartridge has threads and a flange right on it.
Also, here's a link to a good 48-tooth outer chainring that has very high-quality material and is a 110mm bolt-circle diameter ("BCD"):
http://www.cambriabike.com/shopexd.asp?id=10219 The shifting on these is not as good as the Shimano XT/XTR version (
http://www.cambriabike.com/shopexd.asp?id=8596) but they have unbeatable longevity due to the nickel plating on top of 7075 aluminum with all full-height teeth. 7075 aluminum is better in my opinion for chainrings than 6000-series aluminum, due to its hardness, which helps resist gouging and jamming.