BB problems on Road Bike
 

I think I need some BB work done. But thinking I can do this myself.

road bike is an Argon 18

Argon 18

Radon

I have a SRAM Apex crank

When I am riding . I all of a sudden get moments where you hear all this metal on metal screaming noise.

So I was able to take it all apart myself and look inside

I noticed I only had 4 ball bearings left . the bearings seem to sit and held in place by grease.

I am wondering how many bearings would i need to place here? as it is odd i could only find 4 bearings here. Should the whole circular of the BB have more bearings?



or would i need a new BB. here are some pics of the crank. I don’t have a pic from inside.

suggestions of what i should do, as per do it at home situation for now. as my LBS is backed up for a few weeks now.



Help and suggestions please. thanks
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...50531234cf.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...45075636d9.jpg

Knowing what year and model of the bike would help a whole lot. But if there are as you say only 4 ball bearings left, that is a serious problem, and that whole BB needs to be replaced, as (so far as I know) any GXP BB would use cartridge bearings-- so there should be no way for individual balls to "fall out."

Bike is

Argon 18.
2006 year

Argon 18 is the brand, the model could be Gallium, Platinum, Krypton, etc, etc. Knowing the mfr. doesn't help much.

Argon 18

Radon

Were you able to actually count the balls? if so then the cartridge bearings (one unit a side) were far more worn/broken down then should ever have been continued to be used. If this really is the case then the crank would have been slopping about with in the massively loose and unable to be supported by the lack of, maybe, 75% of the balls. Typical cartridge bearings will have 10+ balls evenly about the race and often held apart by a ring.

So what's the real story? How about some photos of the bearings? Andy

Those are pictures of the crank. The bottom bracket is behind it mounted in the frame.

Your pictures aren't helping. How did you tear this down, see the problem and not provide pics of the problem?

Yeah I don't see the 4 balls

hi all here is a pic of the BB
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f3ba5aefc9.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fa0551535e.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...da9588052e.jpg

You don't replace the bearings you replace the complete bottom bracket.

https://www.sram.com/en/sram/models/bb-gxp-a1

That cartridge bearing done fell apart. It's amazing the cranks will even turn. Is the inner bearing race stuck on the crank spindle?

yea. it was turning when riding. but i would get a loud metal on metal sound

Get a new BB

https://www.amazon.com/SRAM-Bottom-B...7890128&sr=8-5 + https://www.amazon.com/Acekit-Bracke...890201&sr=8-23 and pray that being in a completely destroyed BB didn't mess up the spindle of the crank too badly.

tool bb
 

what tools would i use to take out old bb and install new one?

Any tool similar to the one linked in post #15 .

now to determine the proper size of BB, just go by the numbers on it? and size of tool? or most quite universal?

By the time you obtain all the stuff you need you might be better off with a bike shop doing it. The tools sometimes cost more than the bb and if your next crank and bb are a different type, then those tools will sit unused forevermore.

As well, they'll probably put the crank back in for you correctly and even tune up the DR for little to no additional cost.

no problem i found the tool, i had one all along and i was able to get the BB off now with no problems, just have to order the new one, thanks everything

if i went with a lower priced brand of BB would it still work with my crankset? would that be a bad idea? in regards to wear if using a cheaper BB over the type/brand i am already using?

The bottom bracket for that crank is proprietary. There are no cheaper substitutes

That'll look cheap if you look at better ones.

https://www.retro-gression.com/produ...bottom-bracket

i think i order the right one

says SRAM Bottom Bracket GXP Team Cups English 73/68mm
i assume thats the normal dimension/ otherwise how do i measure it properly?

when i measure from across it is 9cm or 90mm? across?

or what size do i select?

or how do i measure?

Gosh.... bb's are expensive in Canada. The same BB here is only $19.00 USD. Hope you shopped around.