Hello,

I've had an issue installing a new crank set. The left arm doesn't seem to be setting all the way on the bottom bracket, and I'm not entirely sure if I'm doing something wrong.
The drive side has very little visible gap, it almost sits flush, but the left side is nearly 3/8" from the frame. I'll attach pictures because I'm probably doing a horrible job explaining.

I pulled off the previous crank set without any troubles, and installed this one fairly easily, but I noticed when pedaling I was hearing a pretty bad "click" sound, so I did some investigating both online and on the bike, then noticed how far off the crank arm was. When I removed it to inspect, it came off way too easily with the crank puller; whereas the previous crank set took some effort to remove. I tried putting the old crank set back on, and I'm seeing the same issue with both sets, so I can only assume it's something I'm doing wrong.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

IIRC, some square-taper BBs are asymmetric, usually the DS is longer. And square-taper cranks come in a variety of profiles, and are meant to go with a specific size of BB.

The whole scene is a nightmare, I'm glad to see the back of square-taper.

First thing I'd do is look at the chainline and compare the gap between the chainstays and ends of the crank arms. You may need a different BB for those cranks.

What kind of bottom bracket is that? That taper looks extremely short.

Are you sure you have the axle oriented properly? What would happen if you turn it around?

What specific bottom bracket and crankset are you trying to put together? What's the old crankset?

Thank you for the responses. I'm very new to the cycling scene, I am learning as I go, so please forgive any level of ignorance.

I don't know what kind of bottom bracket it is; I bought the bike complete from ZycleFix, and then shortly after read up on how that was a bad idea. I don't know what kind of components come on ZF's bicycles, but I haven't changed the bottom bracket. The crankset is from All-City, here's the link https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...13&category=62
The old crankset is the one that was already on the bike from ZF.

The All-City crank arm is about 1/16" thicker where it is put onto the BB. The square hole in the crank arm is also turned 45 degrees on the All-City... Here's a couple more pictures, since they would do more justice than me typing.

In the second picture the arms switch sides, the ZF is on the left, the AC is on the right. Sorry about that

Cranksets are generally made with a specific bottom bracket spindle length in mind, as well as a taper specification. The recommended spindle length for your All-City 612 crankset is 110 mm and it's intended for use with a JIS tapered spindle.

Unless your previous crank was Italian (e.g. Campagnolo), your bottom bracket spindle is probably JIS taper, so that's probably something you don't have to worry about. You'll need to measure the length of the spindle end-to-end to see if it's the proper length. Or you could remove it to check out its make & model so you can look it up.

Also... How tight did you install the crank? Use a torque wrench to make sure you're installing it tight enough per the manufacturer's specs (but not too tight). Riding with a crank arm too loose can deform the square hole on your crank arm and ruin it. Over-tightening isn't good for it, either.

Ok later tonight I'll see if I can remove the bottom bracket and measure out the spindle length. I don't have a torque wrench so I was just making them reasonably tight; so I'll also swing by REI or something and pick one up.
When I first got this I didn't think there was so many small things that made such a big difference, it's all so confusing to me. Haha.

But thank you all for your help. Sometimes I get to the point where I have no idea what to type into Google anymore.


At what point do I stop investing money into buying specialty tools (ie: to remove the bottom bracket), and just start taking the bike to a local shop when I want something done? I don't plan on modifying the bicycle much more than I really have to. And I only really particularly care about being able to replace basics, chains, tubes, tires, etc; I just don't want to find myself neck deep in special tools that that I'm going to use once every couple-few years. (I'm sure this is a question for myself, but not necessarily rhetorical if anyone has a thought)

Um, now?

Some points to consider:

-if you enjoy working on your bike yourself or
-and/oryou want to work on your own bike to save money, then
many of these specialized tools will pay for themselves versus taking the bike into the shop for the same service even just 2 times.

OTOH,:
-if you don't like turning wreches
-and you'd rather spend a few bucks and have a professional take care of it for you,

Then the LBS is (hopefully) there for you. Get yourself a decent multi-tool, a good floor pump, and some tire levers. Let the shop handle the rest for you.

Thanks. I don't mind turning wrenches, and if the work isn't too complicated I'd rather do it myself. Never a bad thing to learn how to handle things like this going forward.
I don't have a multi-tool, but I do have a hex key set, chain tool, crank puller, tire levers, and a hand pump, which has all been fine and dandy up until this point. I'm just not sure how many more tools I'll need to purchase. It looks like the BB tool from REI is pretty inexpensive: https://www.rei.com/product/546011/pa...m-bracket-tool (assuming that's the right one... I apparently need to get out of the mindset of "universal" for bicycles). REI is good about taking returns though if I need to.

Anyway, cheers. Thanks again for the advice.