My Panasonic has the older cup-and-cone setup, which is loose. Co-worker is going to bring tools into work on Monday for me to take this apart; but I'm wondering if in the meantime I can just attempt some hack job at tightening it up just a hair, so I can get a pinch of ride time in? The bike has seen very little use, so I don't think it's from wear--and if it is worn out, I doubt I'll do any more damage.

I don't know if I can just waltz into my LBS and get this tightened, but I might ask. Maybe they could cut a new cable while they are at it (something else that needs work).

I did find this:
https://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbcups.html
which indicates that I ought to only mess with the fixed side if I'm replacing it. It seems to me that if one side can be ignored, that I could "ignore" the other and just tighten it? At least until it starts making crunching sounds.

I'll have to go back to reading about those toolkits; none seem to come with these parts, so maybe I'll look into buying tools piecemeal.

You can try to loosen the lock ring with a pair of pipe pliers and then using something, anything that you can get into one of the little holes on the cup, tighten it just a little less then you need, because when you tighten the lockring it will tighten the cup a little more since you're not doing it the proper way with the proper tools. Any lbs can tighten for you in about 15 seconds.

I don't get what you're saying here. You don't need to touch the fixed side at all. You adjust the side with the lockring.

My coworker was advising to pull it all apart and relube. And I wasn't sure if I was going to get that advice or not--since the bike is "old".

"Old" means the grease is probably oxidized and needs to be cleaned out and replaced, even if it has seen very little use.


And when you take it apart, do make sure that the fixed (drive-side) cup is tightened down all the way. If it is loose, it could cause your problem.