I'm batting 1,000 on seemingly stuck fixed cups. PB Blaster the heck out of it from the inside so that it penetrates into the threads, tapping on the cup with a tool helps vibrate it in. WAIT a day. Give it another go. Also, trying to remove it with a big wrench on the outside flats is almost always useless. I use the Sheldon tool from his tool tips section. https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbcups.html (Scroll down to the 'Fixed-Cup Tools' section) Cost a few bucks at the local hardware store for the necessary nuts, bolt, washers. Hasn't let me down yet.

~kn

I don't see how the Sheldon fixed-cup method could fail short of the bolt breaking. It takes a LOT of force to break a bolt that big. Something has got to give -I'd put my money on it being the fixed cup. If you don't have a big enough wrench get another bigger one or go with a big 3/4"-drive air impact driver. Either the fixed cup is going to move, the bolt is going to snap, or the BB is going to twist off the frame...

In the article Sheldon reports snapping a 1/2 inch bolt so he upgraded to a 5/8 bolt. That's an affordable upgrade.

~kn

Or even upgrade to a harder bolt.

I guess the worst thing that could happen is one of the washers digging into the cup and damaging it but as Sheldon said, the cup is much harder than any normal washers you are going to get at a hardware store so the softer washer will deform first. And even if it did damage the fixed cup the only reason to really ever take it out is to replace it with another one or a cartridge BB.

Tell you what to do, make a few clocks, then bicycles are so simple to
work on!



Design and build a control unit for a flight simulator!





Bicycles are one of mans simplest creations!

Easy Grasshopper,

The particpation im "Wrenching" will teach you patience ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patience ). It will also teach you to think outside the norm/box etc.

Better yet it gives you reason for the "N+1" A.K.A "But Honey, its my Back up bike!"

I agree. Once you work on clocks everything else is easy (until you start working on watches.) I have more money in horological tools than I do in bicycle tools. Bike tools are cheap. Buy a reamer set or a Bergeon bushing tool and the expensive and weird stuff in the Park Catalog starts to look like it is chicken-feed cheap in comparison

My last order from Timesavers ran $350 just in tools.

Ok so find the right tool - annoint the demonic area with PB blaster - lay hands on it and when all else fails build clocks - take a trip down to the LBS or vist Sheldon Brown's website. I think after last night I'm more into breaking plastic chairs, but I give this other stuff a try first. Is there a craigslist site for C&V clocks? But I'm happy to report new bb and crankset on the way.

I have bought a few clocks off of CL. People tend to get stupid with the prices though. An old clock that no longer runs is not "worked a few years ago -needs a tune up" A clock that doesn't work is like a car with a blown engine. You basically have to strip it all the way down and build it back up again. Take a real clock to a repair shop and see how much it costs to "get it going again." Unless a simple dunk-n-swish cleaning gets lucky and makes it run temporarily it is often a full-on job including reaming pivots and often adding bushings. Old clocks aren't worth much unless they are C&V special but everyone who has a high-volume cheap (but old) clock thinks it is worth $100 or more.

Then there are the cuckoo clocks. A lot of clock guys won't touch them. I like working on them but they are the PITA of the clock world... Usually they aren't worth what it costs to get one running again unless you do it yourself.

Look at it from the other side.

...or take it to RobbieTunes, and one of you can look at one side while the other looks at the other side. Point at it. Have another man or two join the circle. Swap stories, do what men do, and all will be right in the world. Might not fix the offending part, but it calms the nerves and keeps you from breaking plastic chairs.