Need help to fix the bottom bracket
 

Hi,

I just have my Medici Pro-strade road bike. It's my first experience with a real racing bike, italian parts. Yesterday, after a short trip, I came home and found that the pedals were heavy and I couldn't push the pedals.

I found that there was a problem with the bottom bracket as in the below image:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8062/8...092f1006_z.jpg

Because I don't have any exprerience, could anyone please help me show me that how to fix it? What tools do I need?

Thanks a lot.

You will need to be able to remove the crankset and tighten the drive side cup with the appropriate tool and then make sure the adjustment is correct which is done on the left / non drive side of the bottom bracket.

If you have an Italian bottom bracket it will be right hand threaded on both sides and this is why the drive side probably loosened up... if they are torqued properly they usually stay put and although some might advise against this, a little BLUE loctite can keep things from shifting.

NEVER USE RED LOCTITE.

Thank you Fiver!

yes, my BB is Italian BB. I've got tool to remove crankset but I don't know which tool use to tighten the drive side cup.

If this is a cup-and-cone BB, it might be a good idea to open it the rest of the way and clean/inspect/relube/adjust it. :thumb:

+1 on that! If you're going to take the crankset off you might as well get in there and take care of business.

I think that is a cartridge like those oddball Campis (Thun?) but I would just pull the whole thing and clean and reinstall it anyway. If you don't have that wrench you may be better off just letting a shop handle it. I would lend you mine for postage but I am out of town until Friday.

I've enjoyed having all by BBs repaired by professionals. it's a wonderful feeling.

↑ +1. Clean ID and OD threads with a steel wire brush and brake cleaner, acetone, or similar - any oil will nullify the Loctite's effectiveness.

I'd recommend getting the right tool to do this...using a big ol' adjustable wrench (or worse, Channellocks) is a scar waiting to happen.

Consider getting the BB surfaces lightly faced at a good LBS - I'd reckon that good face contact between the BB shell and the cup will help hold it in place and eliminate any cyclical strains that could be helping to unscrew it. This is just a hunch on my part but still worth checking into IMO.

IIRC OFG and BBM both recommend teflon plumbing tape on Italian BB fixed cup threads? Might try that and see if it stays tight.

it's a campy cartridge. This is the proper tool. The park BBT 4.

http://www.racycles.com/assets/produ...kTool_BBT4.jpg

I've also used contact cement (also sold as rubber cement) on Italian BB's to stop them from unwinding. Same cleaning rules apply. Nice thing is that it remains slightly tacky so it stops the loosening but you can still remove the BB without a gigantic breaker bar. Unless you're into that sort of thing.

+1 Veloce; Italian threaded bottom brackets have been around for a 100 years (maybe longer) and while they are more prone to backing out, it is almost always caused by in sufficient torque. Campy reccomends 70nm (51 ft lbs) which is more than the above tool is capable of without considerable effort; it's usually reasonable max effort with a 16" wrench. The first time I installed an Italian BB I gave it the max effort with a 8" park tool (HCW4) as I do with BSC BB. Well 200 miles down the road it backed out. I removed the BB and re-greased (it was a loose ball) and this time I attached about 10 inches of pipe and again tightened it to a reasonable max; it was not come loose since. Some blue thread locker might be some added insurance, but the torque is more important. BTW I did not use a torque wrench because I have no way to attach the torque wrench to the bottom bracket cup.

Thank you all. My BB is a Veloce. I stay in Hanoi, Vietnam, where Italian bike is rare. I will order a Park tool BB4 online to fix it.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

Can I use this tool to remove the lock ring?

This might offer a bit of help and good luck with the repair...

http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...re_BBDone4.jpg

No, the Veloce cartridge looks like the one below

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=288964
and is not installed or removed with a spanner wrench like the loose ball shown above (the Veloce cutouts are rounded and not square off for use with a spanner).

I have try to remove the dust cap first. It has two tiny holes on it. I tried to use the scissor to loose it but it didn't move. The holes are tiny so I can't not use the pin spanner of the Roswheel tool kit.

Could you please suggest how to remove it?

I had a Campy cartridge barrel that corroded in the shell and it was a monster to get off. But let us be positive and hope yours will slide out. Now ... can you put up some more photos? Dustcap? Tiny holes? Don't worry! — we can all work this thing out!

http://i51.tinypic.com/34gub5w.jpg


I forgot to take photo. The crank dust caps on my bike look like this maybe the holes are smaller.

there are pin spanners of different pin size and there is one for this.

one like this would work:

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/images/TL6123.jpg

Are the dust caps made of plastic?

Yes, the dust caps are made of plastic. I got a pin spanner from Roswheel tool kit but it too big for those holes.

Do you want to reuse them? You would always drill a couple large holes to fit your spanner. Sometime needle nose pliers work but it is hard to get the leverage.

It is no way to treat a nice pair of needle nose, but you bung the points in the holes, then set a pair of channel-lock hose clamp pliers on the jaws axle at right angles to the needle nose. Ungawa ... a la Tarzan grunts! — it's off!

I have ordered a Park tool from ebay and still waiting it to ship to Vietnam. There are so many blue Loctite, could anyone please tell me which kind of loctite I can apply for my bottom bracket?

At the end of this month, I and my friend we organise a century ride to support a bear rescue center so I don't my BB loose on the way.

More information about the bear center is here:

http://stoptheeviction.info/bear-bile-farming.html

So sad :(
I'm sure with modern technology they could synthesize the ursodeoxycholic acid.