sunv

Hello
I noticed my BB was very crunchy. BTW it is an old school shimano 3 piece bottom bracket. I brought the bike to sports chalet thinking it was just bad bearings, but they did an overhaul and noticed the BB axle was chipped. The mechanic put in new grease and bearings and the cranks spin better now, but he said over time the chipped axle will eventually wear the bearings away and it will get crunchy again. Therefore he suggested they replace the axle or replace the whole BB itself.

I looked on harris cyclery and its about $15 for a new BB axle. On nashbar it is low as $7 and up to $50 for a new sealed BB. The Sports Chalet mechanic said usually BB's range from $20 to $30 and he'd wouldn't charge me more (just the $25 I already paid for BB overhaul) + whatever more for the new BB.

So my question is should I get a new axle or new BB? Obviously the new axle would be cheaper but wouldn't be as great as a new BB. On the other hand this is my beater bike running a BB from the 80s and if I got a new frame, would I be able to transfer the BB to another frame? Or would the sizes and threading of the BB not match. In other words would a japanese frame have the same BB threading as bikes from around the same time?

I ride an SR Semi-Pro that was converted to a fixed gear. I'm going upgrades right now with a new set of wheels and a whole new drive train (cog, chainring, chain, and now BB). My frame is not that great so i dont want to put too much money into it; I want to be able to move the parts to another frame if needed.

moxfyre

I *think* what you are saying is that the cone race (bearing contact surface) of the BB is chipped or pitted. It's fairly common for cup-and-cone bearings to get pitted after prolonged use, if dirt gets into them and they aren't cleaned or overhauled for a while.

Your bike (SR Semi-Pro) is Japanese-made, which means that it uses the most standard bottom-bracket threading, English or ISO (also known as 68mm in reference to the shell width). Almost all modern bikes use the same threading, so you could easily move the BB to a new bike.

I'm surprised the shop doesn't have a bunch of old spindles lying around that they'd sell for about $5! I had a nice pile of cup-and-cone BB parts in my basement, but gave them away a year ago or so.

But since you have to order a new part, get the new sealed-cartridge BB... don't bother replacing the spindle. Even a cheap sealed-cartridge BB will last a very long time, we're talking thousands and thousands of miles (I have found the Nashbar ones to be pretty good). There is not much point to paying money for cup-and-cone BB parts these days, in my opinion. They are obsolete, mostly because they are messy, hard to adjust, and need to be overhauled frequently in order to not get pitted and crunch... as you've just found out.

Stacey

I recently paid $12 for one at LBS. It was one of the longer ones that is N/A at Harris

I_bRAD

Sounds more to me like you need to replace your mechanic first! Why would he rebuild the whole thing just to call and tell you that you need to do it again soon. for the $3-5 for a new spindle he should have just fixed it right in the first place. It's like rebuilding an engine, and then recommending that you need new rings.

moxfyre

Yeah, I thought that was weird too. But the mechanic may have thought the pitting on the cone was not that bad, and with new bearing balls and grease it would run smoothly. Then he put it together and adjusted it and realized it still wouldn't run smooth. Fortunately, the OP said that the shop offered to replace the spindle/BB without further labor costs, which seems like the right thing to do.

I_bRAD

A valid scenario! I didn't notice they were going to do the no-labour thing

powers2b

Just replace the whole BB ASAP.
You'll be glad you did.

sunv

Ok after a month of phoning and visiting Sports Chalet like every week, I finally got my bike back just now. Can you believe it takes a month to replace a BB? The mechanic that gave it to me was not the one that worked on my bike but he said that the new Shimano UN54 BB was installed (the BB I ordered).

However I spun the cranks and guess what? It still is a bit crunchy. I dont know if im just a perfectionist but for some reason the BB feels crunchier than even the BB on my other bike. I'm also starting to doubt they replaced it. I'm going to phone sports chalet tomorrow to ask if the mechanic that worked on my bike is there and ask him myself because the other guy seemed kind of clueless. The receipt for the BB overhaul labor didn't even have a price, and the cashier at the front had to ask someone for the SKU. So im kind of thinking it was like not finished yet, but the mechanic today just wanted to get rid of me.

And I looked at the BB and it still has the same pin and lockring cap that I brought it in with. The cap that needs a pin spanner and BB lockring tool to open. I thought the cartridge sealed BB's had different caps, so that's also making me doubtful they replaced it. Can anyone give advice on this?

If all is good, then I guess i'll start building my bike up. But i'd hate to have spent $20 for labor and $22 for a new BB, and a month being bikeless when they didn't even install the new BB in the first place. Next time I'm bringing my bike to a real bike shop. There are serious communication problems between mechanics at Sports Chalet.

For instance about a week ago I called to see if my bike was ready. The mechanic asked if it was the blue road bike and I'm like yea, the one without wheels. And he says well your file is in the "done" pile, I guess its done. I ask are the cranks on the BB? And he says they are. So I say Great and I'll pick it up later today. I eat lunch, and then someone calls me back (I think the manager) saying that the bike ISN'T done yet. So im like ok. But im confused because the other guy who was a mechanic said it was. See what I mean; having to experience that makes me doubtful that my BB was even replaced.

Adohrn

Sound to me like nothing was done. Here is a picture of a sealed bottom bracket as well as a cup and cone.

https://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_bo-z.html#bottom

tellyho

I agree. Pin and lockring = ball and cup. Definitely not cartridge. You need a new LBS.

DMF 

He may not have had the right axle. And the OP could have made it very clear that he has no money.

We can't blame the mechanic here.

DMF 

Don't blame the mechanic.

In college I worked service at a large import dealer (Volvo, Triumph, Alfa, Ferrari). Part of my job was to close out tickets and call the customer to come get the car. One day I did that on a blue Spitfire. The customer seemed surprised, and when he came in we couldn't find the car on the back lot. Finally found it in a 'parking' bay with the head off and bits of the engine spread all over the floor. Seems that while waiting on a part the mechanic had gone on vacation and his tickets were moved back to the office for re-assignment, but they'd gotten put on the wrong pile.

Stuff happens.

I_bRAD

Yeah, you'll see above that I back-pedaled when I saw he was going to re-do it for free

Still sounds suspect though... a month with the bike and they didn't even look to see if it had a new BB before they handed it over? Even if the clerk isn't a mechanic surely he'd be able to tell the difference between a cartridge and standard BB at a glance.

sunv

After seeing the sheldon brown site with the BB caps, I see now that it wasn't replaced in the first place. I'm going to bring it back today and tell them that. Freaking mechanic lied to me. I said I had a new sealed cartridge BB installed but why is there still the pin and lockring cap? He said it was just the cap that goes over it. I knew I was right; sealed BB's have different caps from the spindle types. But since I thought he was the mechanic, I thought he knew more.

So they never installed the new BB then. And so saying its free labor to install doesn't mean anything because they never installed it. And my new sealed BB I bought from them is sitting in Sports Chalet. So actually they have property that belongs to me still in their store. I dont care free or not, I just want it done quickly so I can ride my bike again. I mean i'd gladly pay another $20 for labor right now and watch them install it rather than give it to them and have them do it for free while another month goes by and my bike is still in the shop.

I_bRAD

My advice: Pick up your BB, take it to another shop. Better yet, demand a refund (both for the BB and the original "repair") and just take your bike to another shop.

sunv

Ok turns out there was a mix up with the ordering and KHS (who Sports Chalet was ordering from) didn't have my BB in stock until october. So someone failed to check this out and contact me so my bike was just sitting there for days for no reason. The mechanic was kind enough to give me a refund for the BB that was not available and he said he would do a BB install for free. He gave me a hand written note to prove this. I said i would just buy a BB off nashbar and come back later. So all is cleared.

But just recently I noticed my bike is too big for me. I am currently riding a 59 cm SR fixed conversion frame but should probably be riding 57 cm. So I'm not even sure if I want to replace the BB now. But i'll wait to see if I can find a deal on a track frame before I buy the BB.