Trek BB90 Troubles
 

All,
I have had some troubles with my drivetrain feeling "heavy" so I have been going through bearings and I noticed that the nondrive side bearing cup in the BB was shot. The cup wont rotate more than a tiny bit, I am not sure what this means as I have never dealt with anything other than just rough feeling bearings in a BB. It looks like the crank spindle has just been spinning against the metal shell, creating some serious friction.
So assuming that I need to just replace the cup since it can't be serviced, but I can't seem to pull it out. These cups are supposed to be removable by hand and I was able to pop the drive side out pretty easily and put it back in. The other side is a mystery though.
Has any body experienced this/ does anyone have any suggestions? Should I just try to lightly tap it out with something (not concerned w/ bearing damage re: shot)?

Thanks

I had the same problem. The cup should be splined so a bottom bracket tool should be able to spin it out.

-SP

I have no experience with bb90 so all I can suggest is take it into a shop.

Your nomenclature is erroneous! There are no removable cups in these frames. The bearing, which is what you are calling the cup is shot and, depending on the tolerances of the frame can either be popped out with your fingers, or if tight, driven out from the other side using a long blade screwdriver and some gentle taps with a hammer. Bontrager makes a special and very inexpensive tool for this, but I doubt you need it.

Bearings are sold in pairs at your Trek dealer for about $20.

A bit late to the party but...

I prefer to use Park Tool's bottom bracket tool (BBT-30) to remove the bearings from my Madone's bottom-bracket. The tricky part is that inner plastic tubing that goes between the bearings and isolates the spindle from the internal wiring (in my case) ... not sure if you use the tube for a mechanical cable setup ... and this reduces the size of the lip you have to work with when knocking out the bearings. This makes it a bit more challenging to get a clean strike as the the screwdriver or the fingers of the knockout tool will sometimes slip over the lip.

As for the bearings, I prefer the ceramic ones, mainly because they are harder and less prone to water damage (rusting) like the steel bearings; I've used both - steel bearing on one side completely shot after three rides in the rain :(. They do cost quite a bit though... $100 iirc.

Lastly, just a note, but the bearings should be tight in the BB shell as they are an interference fit. The bearings on my Madone will not come out without a tool.