The bottom bracket feels like it's wobbling and I wanna replace it before it gets worse. This is on a Diamondback Outlook mountain bike, prolly a 1997 or 1998 model. The bottom bracket literally broke while riding about 2 years ago and was then fixed by a local bike shop (LBS). Now it's wobbling. I'm new at this and I guess I need a crank puller and a bottom bracket bolt that you twist with a wrench?

It looks like I'm gonna have to remove the old one just to see what size I need so I'll know what to buy before I can actually do anything. I'd like to get a sealed cartridge one.









Thanks!

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Oh yeah, does the kind of bottom bracket I have need one of these to remove it?



These appear to be rather expensive, and I would only need it once.

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Definately need a crank puller. Your BB is a cup and cone style and, as you plan to replace it with a cartridge, you can most likely remove it with a pair of channel locks and a large creascent wrench. Once the crank arms are off, loosen and remove the lock ring on the adjustable cup; remove the adjustable cup; remove the spindle and bearings; and remove the fixed cup. The fixed cup will be the only thing that may give you problems as they can be a bit tough to break loose. Another good method is to clamp the fixed cup in a vise and turn the frame to get it loose. Once the old one is out, clean the threads, grease them up and install the new BB.

EDIT: You will need the correct tool to install the new BB. Get the one that fits the BB you decide to go with. Probably a Park BBT-22 or equivelent.

One major point. The fixed cup (the one on the crank's side of the bottom bracket) is left-hand threaded so it must be turned clockwise to remove it. The lockring and cup on the opposite side have common right-hand threading.

Crank puller, Hook spanner, Pin spanner and a fixed cup wrench.
A well stocked, older bike shop should be able to provide you most of these, but you can always just have them do it as some of the tools might be from so long ago that they are not readily available anymore for purchase.

Chombi

Now it's looking like the cost of the tools will make this expensive and maybe I'll have a bike shop replace it after all. This bike is my main transportation Monday - Friday, so I hope they can do it one weekend.

Or it just might need adjustment.

Crank puller for sure. But from that point I'd get the bike shop to replace your present BB with a cartridge style. From there if you run into trouble again you only need the Shimano style spline socket to work on both sides. It's just that your present setup requires the hook spanner and pin wrench while the cartridge style only requires the spline socket and a 1/2 inch drive ratchet to operate it. Of course you STILL need the crank puller in either case.

I've rebuilt many cup and cone BBs and never owned a hook spanner or pin wrench. Channel Locks, if used carefully, can easily remove and replace the lock ring. The adjustable cup can vary. Some have two holes (needle nose pliers work on these), some have slots (flat blade screw drivers works on these) and some have wrench flats (crescent wrenches work on these). As he is dumping the old BB anyway, there isn't even a need to be overly carefull in the removal.

It would be a good idea to pick up the spline socket as this will allow for future maintenance to be done and, as most others have noted, there is really no alternative to a crank puller. Assuming he has a few basic tools laying around, he should only need to spend $20 on tools to do the work himself.

Channelocks? ! ? ! ?

For removing a set that you don't want to use ever again I actually agree that they would work great. But then so would a pipe wrench. And I mean that seriously. The light didn't come on until I read your Channelocks suggestion.

However I would never use either tool on a ring that I intended to use again if I cared about the bike being worked on. I've had some lock rings that were stinking tight and it would have been way beyond impossible to remove them without leaving serious marks in the metal. Same with tightening. The proper torque applied with any toothed pliers or pipe wrench would leave serious markings in the rings and certainly ruin the nickel or chrome plating on them leading to rust issues. If you've managed to install rings with your Channellocks and they did not leave marks or fall off then you're darn lucky. I would not recomend the same procedure for anyone else unless they don't care about their parts becoming marked or rusty. I've seen a lot of your other posts that had nothing but great information. But I'm afraid this one made me shake my head.

I made the suggestion only because he was trashing the BB and any tools he bought to work on cup and cone BBs would be worthless to him in the future as he was going catridge. IMHO, it would be better to spend his money on a good crank puller and cartridge tool that will serve him well in the future.

That being said, it can be done without damaging the components. Maybe not in every case but I've not run into a problem even with bikes over 30 years old. Disassembled, cleaned, lubed and resinstalled many in the past without a problem myself (although they were all more or less thrasher bikes to begin with). I wouldn't recommend anyone else go that route if it was a BB they cared about and planned to reuse (of course, if they were sticking with cup and cone, buying the tools would then make sense so it would be a moot point). I'll also add that, as I picked up a pair of new-in-box vintage MTBs recently,I will be investing in the proper tools before it is time to service them.

Oh, there's no doubt that they would work. It's the acceptance of marring of the finish on the parts IF they were to be re-used that I found surprising. But then again on old clunkers that are in sad shape when they come in anyway a couple of bite marks on the lock rings is hardly a big deal I guess. Fair enough. As long as we agree that this would not be acceptable on some nice old vintage Campi cup and cone BB then my ruffled feathers are smoothed...

I'd never use this method on anything nice but when your dealing with a gas pipe Schwinn dug out of a dumpster, it works just fine.

When I had the bike shop replace the bottom bracket 2 years ago, they told me they had a real hard time getting the old broken one out. The repair guy said he'd never seen a bottom bracket broken the way mine did. It was 10 years old and was the original that came with the bike. Damn, if they didn't get the old one the bike would be toast. Wouldn't that suck to have to buy a whole new bike cos of a broken $25 part?

I'm not worried about cosmetics. This bike is 12 years old and I've beaten the crap out of it. For $219.99 12 years ago I've gotten my money's worth. If it were possible to get the thing out without a spanner wrench that'd be great. My plan is to throw it in the trash. LOL.