ThatChap

I called up my local garage and after repeating myself 5 times they finally got it, laughed and hung up. I called back and they said they'd call the police. I live in London, United England.

Bianchigirll 

Is this a 5 month old brand new bike? or 5 month old 'new to me bike'? If it is new shouldn't the dealer/seller take care of this?

ThatChap

I took it fresh from the stork 5 months ago. They charge for wear and tear repair. I took my previous bike to Halfrauds which was suffering from the same problem, they gave it back in worse condition saying "take it away please - it's hospitalised one of our chaps". I ended up releasing Mr. A. Grinder from the gimp box.

AlphaDogg

Threads do not simply "smear off"... Ever. You or the dealer must've damaged the aluminum threads. I've only ever seen such failure in the form of user error, never as a manufacturer's defect. It seems as if you've crossthreaded it multiple times.

ThatChap

I've received my new crank puller. As you can see, the threads look good and it's black which means 'hardened metal' in my world. There's the plunger, spanner and the base of a model rocket built from knock-off Lego. Wish me luck everyone!

Amesja

Looks like a fine crank-pulling tool you have there..

No crank or other tool is going to fix the issue with those fuxored crank threads other than a bottoming tap. Even that is doubtful.

ThatChap

Success! I re-ploughed the furrows with this cheaper but harder extractor tool and removed the arms! There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the cassette casing though. Must be bearings, although it seems to turn alright. Once my muscles have healed, I'll replace with a new one. If the same noise happens, I will buy a skateboard.

Amesja

I am glad to be proven wrong for your sake. My experience shows that you got extremely lucky here. Good for that!

Got some after photos of the crank arm threads? I wonder what they look like post-plowing.

nhluhr

ok I'll bite. There is no cassette in the picture you linked. That is a cartridge bottom bracket.

Amesja

This is a common point of confusion. The industry standard of calling the cog system a "cassette" and a sealed BB a "cartridge" seems fairly arbitrary to someone not very well-versed in the jargon.

It is sort of like the difference between and 3rd-hand brake tool and a 4th-hand tool. I see these two terms interchanged quite often too.

FBinNY 

Even jargon can have specific meaning. Cartridge has been used for decades to refer to the general class of pre-assembled bearings, vs the cup/cone versions common to bikes. By extension, some also refer to pre-assembled spindle/bearing BB the same way.

Cassette came into bike jargon when screw-on freewheels were split in half along functional lines with the mechanism built into the hub (freehub) and the sprockets slid on as a module called the cassette. I think we can credit Shimano with this coinage.

These both have fairly specific meanings. While the adoption of a specific word may seem arbitrary, once it's adopted and used it takes on meaning the same as any other word in normal use. Likewise 3rd and 4th hands, to knowledgeable people each refers to a specific type of tool.

Just because folks don't know a language (including jargon) that doesn't make misused terms correct.

Amesja

I agree -but can we expect a n00b who doesn't seem to be able to screw on a crank removal tool correctly without buggering up the crank threads to know all the proper bicycle mechanic terms?

He seems to have learned one valuable lesson today, maybe he might have learned more when it comes to the correct terminology. But don't be too hard on him. A lot of folks who have been around bike wrenching make similar mistakes. At least he didn't spell brake wrong -that one is my pet peeve.

FBinNY 

I didn't intend to come down hard on the noob. I was simply commenting on the implication that jargon is arbitrary and therefore it's OK to use it sloppily. I'm pretty patient with noobs, especially when they identify them as such, and usually help them with the language while trying to help with the technical problem.

BTW- I've gotten used to break for brake now that we're in the spellcheck era. My pet peeve is the use of bearings when meaning the balls.

AlphaDogg

What about saying ball bearings?

Amesja

Handlebar/handlebars
Fork/forks
peddle/pedal
cable/housing
quill/stem/steertube/fork
tire/wheel/rim

The list is endless.

FBinNY 

Ball bearing refers to the entire class of bearings using balls in races. You'd use the term ball bearing the same as you'd use roller bearing, linear bearing, air bearing or plain bearing to refer to the entire assembly.

You can also call the pre-assembled unit, we sometimes call cartridge or sealed bearings a ball bearing. But the balls themselves are just that balls. If you're worried that the context doesn't make it cleat that you want balls for bearings as opposed to golf, tennis or bowling balls, then you can call them bearing balls, but usually the context makes that unnecessary.

Kimmo

Congrats! Given what a mission that would've been, this casts doubt on your alleged hamfistedness; your protests of innocence gain credence and you score some XP. Level up soon.

Heh... some parts (or even whole bikes) just don't want to play nice. Hang in there

When I repack my hubs, I like to fondle my balls.

nhluhr

Still, there is correct and incorrect. In the bicycle industry, a cassette is a stack of cogs that go on a freehub and a bottom bracket can be in a cartridge form.

Likewise, the 3rd Hand Tool is for holding brake arms against the rim while adjustments are made and the 4th hand tool is for pulling cable while tightening a fixing bolt.

nhluhr

Amen. The rampant misuse of "you're" and "your" doesn't make it acceptable.

Kimmo

Folks accepting it makes it acceptable.

I don't want to live in that world

ThatChap

I cleaned up the square-taper cartridge bottom bracket, gave it a GT85 enema then reassembled. Riding it around the block, the chap on the bongos seemed subdued, but still there. I've ordered a Shimano jobbie from Hevans which I'll plug in tomorrow (provided I can remove the crank arms again (trembles). I'll post a pic of the threads which I think are much healthier. The threads on the new crank extractor are taller than those on the old one (which I've subsequently had crushed) and harder/sharper it seems - it was like a knife through butter albeit powered by my droopy musculature.

Definitely feel I was lucky. The procedure seems so fraught but Jesus smiled on me so I've converted to Mormonism.

ThatChap

Yes, cartridge not cassette. My editor is a monkey.

ThatChap

My current pet peeve is 'lay' instead of 'lie'. Ooh, my hackles just rose!

Kimmo

How do you know it wasn't the FSM? His noodly appendage can do it all.

DCB0

I am glad you got your crank arms off, but your travails make me suspect of your ability to make assumptions as to the source of the problem. Your previous problems removing cranksarms are another clue.

Generally, cartridge bottom brackets are either good and reasonably smooth or have some play and are worn out or damaged. They do not (or very very very seldom, bordering on never) make almost-musical creaking noises. A more likely source of noise is the threads of the bottom bracket in the frame. More likely than that are the pedals, chainring bolts, saddle rails, headset, cables, etc. You'd be very surprised what problems masquerade as bottom bracket noises.