Any advice about drilling the BB shell?
03-29-06, 09:55 AM
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Any advice about drilling the BB shell?
I'm talking where all the frame tubes come together at the bottom. It seems like this would be the IDEAL place for a drain hole, yet the frame I'm working on doesn't have one. Anyone tried this? My only concern would be if there's enough stress there that a hole might result in a crack developing. Although I might be able to get in there well enough with a dremel to chamfer the edges a little.
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03-29-06, 01:51 PM
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The bottom of the bottom bracket doesn't see a whole lot of stress, so you should be fine. This was one of the procedures touched on in this cool article from cyclingnews.com last year: https://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?.../pro_bike_prep
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03-29-06, 09:32 PM
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Many road bikes have a cable guide on the bottom of the BB that is held on by a screw. I bet if you took the screw out and positioned the bike just right you could get any water in there to drain. That is of course if it's not plugged with grease, but then you wouldn't be worrying about rust.
When I've seen my BB taken out of my Trek (Al frame) I've always been astounded at the amount of water that came out.
When I've seen my BB taken out of my Trek (Al frame) I've always been astounded at the amount of water that came out.
Last edited by bccycleguy; 03-30-06 at 07:09 PM.
03-30-06, 02:21 PM
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The frame material wasn't mentioned, but every steel road frame I've seen has a vent in the bottom of the bottom bracket shell. If your frame doesn't already have one, could your frame be aluminum and/or titanium? Perhaps other forum members might comment as to whether or not an aluminum or titanium frame would benefit from a BB shell vent hole. Since most all steel frames usually already have good sized vent holes in the BB shell, I can't imagine that it causes any strength issues.
03-30-06, 03:47 PM
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like it says in the article though, standing water in the BB is bad for bearings, regardless of the frame material.
03-30-06, 08:38 PM
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It is a steel frame. The cables were run across the top of the BB area instead of below, so there's no screw hole. I'll probably just drill one.
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