I was given this "free" bike that needed some work. So I have replaced the wheels (including replacing the broken coaster brake with a coaster/3 speed hub) I cleaned the heck out of it, replaced the chain and saddle. On my first ride the bottom bracket seized and the LBS did a clean and tune up, but I was warned that it isn't a real bottom bracket it is a built in POS. (I'm paraphrasing)

Today I went on my first post clean up ride and there is a clunking sound / feeling in the pedals at a certain point in each rotation. I have ruled out it being the pedals striking the chain guard or the kickstand. Also, it only clunks on the straight away but not uphill.

My questions are:

Is there anything quick and easy I can do to fix it?

I can't afford the cash to getting it professionally checked out this month, will I make it worse by riding it in the mean time?

Am I completely hooped? (AKA - the bike is on it's way to the great bike path in the sky)

Do I just have to learn to live with it?

Thank you for any help you can give me

"Hi guys, the bike is making a funny sound since you fixed it, what can you do about that?"

Is it fair to ask for free help when I know they already did their best with a bad product? (not rhetorical, really. They have been really nice to me and I don't want to take advantage of that)

not a real BB? i'm confused - i would at least want an explanation as to what that means from the LBS

Sorry - that was my bad paraphrasing not their bad explaination. It is an integral, proprietary part, not like you can just order a replacement. I understand on some modern bikes this is standardized and is easier to repair or replace.

Noises/clunks get worse, so ignoring it is not a good plan. Would need a lot better pics of the bb, but I would start there. Also search the mechanics forum for various noises. What sounds like a clunk to you, might be something different. Almost anything on a bike can be fixed. Too early to give up now. Any wobble/play in the bb? Hard to diagnose over the internet, I would save up a little coin and go to a shop. At the very least, a good shop can give you an idea of the problem and cost to repair for very little.

Thanks Bill. I'll keep her in the garage and wait until payday. I was tempted to run out and take more pictures, but she still has a little rust problem and I hate to show her off like that. Too much like posting pictures of someone first thing in the morning with a hangover. She came from an abusive home, but I'm working on it.

I'm thinking of putting a three speed hub on my Fuji mixte, I ride it for weeks with out changing gears.
I've also been riding my wife's three speed and am kind of getting the hang of it, the bike decides how fast it wants to go and I get
to decide how fast I want to pedal.
Another thing I notice, Canadians have a hard time not being pleasant.
I have the same problem, I get it from my mother in law, she came from Cardston.

I parked her until I can take her in for professional help, but here is a pic of the BB in case anyone is interested:

Huh,interesting.I have a Columbia mixte with the same type BB except it has a square tapered spindel, which they still make.First one I've seen with a cottered spindel.

Kewl bike Dec1st

Thanks Michael. Some days I doubt if I can keep her from falling to pieces and the whole thing rattles so loudly you can hear me coming a block away, but she is comfortable.

While I'm asking impossible questions, anyone know why the paint washes off when I clean it with dish soap or rub it with a piece of towel? I've never heard of a bicycle with water soluble paint. Some of it is flaking off due to rust, but the blue color wipes off a fair bit without any effort. Those highlights in the picture aren't because it's shiny, that's where the colour is coming off....

Very weird.

I don't see a reason why you can't use a cotter press to pull of the crank arms and open it up, but maybe I am missing something.
You might want to make sure that all the bolts in the general region of the BB are tight and that the cotter pins aren't moving on you when you pedal.

Honestly, if that is some sort of strange unserviceable and unreplaceable proprietary bottom bracket-like contraption then I wouldn't even bother taking it to a professional bike shop to have them tinker with it. It's an aesthetically pleasing bike but paying someone to look at it is likely going to quickly equal half or the entire price of the original bike. You're probably better off looking for another frame with a more reasonable BB and moving over the usable parts to the new frame. What's nice about that bike is the extras and accessories, more so than the frame itself.

Paint oxidation= Patina

I suspect that the crank seizing at one point have irreversably damaged the bearing races on th BB cups to cause the clunking feel and sound you are experiencing and the LBS cannot find an exact replacement to fit the bike as it might be a proprietary design. I'm sure a resourceful mechanic can figure out some way to adapt a more conventional BB to the bike, but it might cost more to do than the bike is worth. Proprietary designs are always a risk because of this. Its similar to the whole Betmax/JVC thing when VCRs were in it's infancey. Some design just don't end up as a standard and eventaully just fades away into oblivion. Your bike is "Betamaxing" on you....

Chombi

Paint Oxydation ("Chalking"). Basically your paint is drying out and turning into powder from age and exposure to UV light so it "melts" when you soak and scrub it. Scrub hard enough and you migh take it off all together and see the metal underneath.....
Be gentle with the old bike and gie it less baths if possible.

Chombi

Chris - I don't have a cotter press. This is the first bike I've had to work on.

Chombi - I stopped scrubbing and switched to baby oil on a soft cloth to deal with the rust once I noticed this. There is bare metal on the fenders, but that is where I carefully removed the rust.

Just my luck I would have to find the betamax of bikes.