Has anyone had any luck with the fixed cup removal method offered by Sheldon Brown using this DIY tool?



I was very optimistic. I set it up this morning, but I can't seem to get it to budge. I flooded the cup with PB Blaster and let it sit, so I'm hoping that when I go back to it tonight it'll just work.

In the meantime, does anyone have any tips to offer? At some point, it seems like I'd have to apply less pressure to the bolt on the inside to get the whole thing to turn. As I have it now, it seems about as tight as I can get it, but if I push on just the outside nut, the nut and bolt turn, but not the outside washer.

The last one I worked on was stuck real bad too, I brought it down to my LBS and they removed it for free with that sheldon brown tool.


....Be sure you are turning it in the correct direction for the type of threading your BB has.

No luck either. It keeps slipping....

Do you have access to a vise? This method has never failed for me, but it is nice to have a helper when getting the cup set properly in the jaws.

I don't have a vise, but my neighbor might. I'll ask him if I can't get this to work.

I started out by taking this to the LBS. For some strange reason, the flats on this fixed cup were the wrong size for the standard tools they had. I'm sure they have a vise, but this time of year I might need to make an appointment to get more than a minute or two of their time.

Soak it a couple of times with PB Blaster, and let it sit for a day or two. I have had good luck as long as I give the PB Blaster enough time. I am usually not too patient, I end up trying it about an hour after treating it, which sometimes works, sometimes does not.

I've had great luck with this. I make sure there is at least one lock washer on each side to prevent slipping. In the toughest case I recall, I had my Craftsman breaker bar pushing forward with the frame sitting upright on a padded floor as i stood on the chainstays. Remember an english BB fixed cup is left-threaded.

Yeah, that's usually my story too, but I sprayed it this morning before leaving for work, so I have no choice but to let it sit for 8+ hours.

On Capo #1, I finally gave up and let Jim Cunningham remove the fixed cup so that he could get started with the frame sandblasting and painting. Cyclart has the pro bottom bracket tool and a pole-mounted vise specifically for bottom bracket work. The old one fought us for the first several turns, which is the downside of the English/Swiss self-tightening system.

I used a variation of the SB homemade tool to clamp a BB tool to the cup, and then really layed on it with a 5' jeebus bar.

Finally moved. This was with an Italian BB on one of my De Rosa's.

Depending on the bike:

https://bikesmithdesign.com/BBTool/index.html

It's easier if the bike is sitting on its tires so you can use your weight to push down on the breaker bar. If you get slippage, your nut and bolt aren't tight enough. Put a wrench on the other side long enough to jam aganst the floor and stand on that breaker bar until it won't move any more. Now remove the second wrench and stand on the breaker bar again. Bounce if you're a lightweight.

I must be lucky, whew. I have yet to run into a fixed cup that didn't yield to my Sugino BB wrench and few firm hammer taps(2-3 pound dead blow),,,,BD

A bench vise works nicely if your fixed cup has flats (most do), but didn't help with this bad boy:



I tried the Sheldon Brown tool without success, took it to the LBS and left it for a week and a half -- still no joy, finally got this tool from Hugh Enox which did the trick:

I had great luck with this tool, too. I think I used a 3/4" bolt, with two lockwashers inside the cup, one lockwasher and a big flat washer on the outside, then the nut. Three foot length of ABS pipe as a cheater bar.

I don't remember if it's mentioned in Sheldon's description, but I use the adjustable cup to support the socket wrench extension. I also once had a really stubborn fixed cup, but since I wasn't keeping it I filed a bunch of notches around the spindle hole and that helped the flat washer get a really good grip on it.

I had one that was stuck on really tight. I tried the tool. I tried soaking. I gave up and took it to the LBS. A longer wrench and a few blows of the hammer had it come loose.

Sometimes there's no substitute for brute force.

I have never failed with the Sheldon tool. If the bolt is big enough to not snap in half, all you need is more leverage. Get thee a long length of pipe and a goon-helper who can assist keeping the frame in one place. Archimedes was right; this will work.

j

It needs to be tighter. I've had this issue, where it slips. You REALLY have to get the sucker tight. In my experience, it's much more difficult to get the assembly tight enough to avoid slipping than to break the cup free once it is.

It's never failed me either. I've removed some steel cups that looked nearly bonded to the BB shell by rust. Soaking in penetrating oil, of course, will make things easier.

EDIT: What Dirtdrop said.

+1

That is my go to method now. It works great, even with my cheap Harbor Freight vise.

My case hardened 3/4 machine thread bolt, two locks inside and one and a flat outside...then my electric impact knocks out all victims so far!

One last thing to try with the Sheldon tool is to wipe everything down with mineral spirits or some other degreaser to make sure you are getting all the friction necessary. This has definitely worked for me where it was failing pre-degreasing.

I had to remove a stuck fixed cup off my mother in law's Terry. Used a vise and it came off easily.

We used to bolt the frame to the vise and that never failed
when all else fails, heat the cup, rust doesn't survive heat too well. Yes, it seems like that's backwards, but the cup isn't painted.

I tried using the Sheldon tool on my Zieleman but to no avail, I didn't have a
gorilla helper so I brought the frame up to the LBS. they took out a VAR BB tool
and a 3 foot cheater bar. One loud snap and the fixed cup came out no less worse
for wear.

Marty

after I snapped a couple bolt suing the sheldon method, I just got a long bolt with a couple of flat washers and used that to hole the fixed cup wrench in place, then broke it loose with a cheater bar