RIP one BB. One month old. How to deal with LBS?
 

Well, I thought it was my pedals. I just switched them out only to find that it is actually my BB that is borked.

So now I'm pissed, as my entire weekend is effectively ruined. And I'm more pissed because I just got this installed a month ago. And yes, it is that bad. That thing is creaking like crazy.

What I wonder is what should I expect of my LBS? Now I'm going to have to take my bike back there on Monday and go through the whole rigmarole of hoping they'll get it right this time, and miss out on yet more days of riding in this my last month here in Holland (:mad:)

I had a bunch of work done a month ago, I was already miffed that I had to take it back once after the first time because they didn't do all the work.

When I took it in the first time I asked about the BBs, the guy said "we only have one". Is it normal for a high-end LBS to not even bother stocking more than one type of BB? My attitude is that if they're only going to sell one, it should be something that won't fall apart on me in a month.

They apparently had a hell of a time getting the last BB out because it was such a mess. I paid a fair whack for the work the first time.

What I'm expecting now is that they'll replace the BB and charge me again, for the parts and the labour.

Is that fair? I'm currently fuming at the beautiful weather I don't get to enjoy on my ride. I was really looking forward to this weekend :(. And now this is the second time I go back there.

If what they did and what they provided was right, then how can it be normal for me to wreck it in one month?

wtf.

BB creaking? Sounds more like Cranks loose- which can happen after having been refitted and the "Newness" has worn off.

Now to quality of BB. Unless you are going for a special- then even shimano have differing grades. Shimano is the only one that I would trust by the way.

Shop fitted it- Only one month- Shop sorts it at their expense. That is my view but others may think differently.

I admit I'm not technical enough on the fine details of BB mechanics to know exactly what I mean when I say "borked". But it's definitely making a heap of noise.

I'm off right now to work. Have to pick up my car, then drive to LBS. And hope they'll take it on and be able to sort it by monday evening. I certainly can't expect anything today.

On second thought, it could just be some creaking because it needs some adjustment or tightening or something. I'll hassle them on Monday to have a look.

I went to work then realized I forgot my car keys and my ID card, so cycled back.

Went there again and realized it's not there. I've lost my car. Go figure.

First I'll say that whatever the problem turns out to be, I think the bike shop should not charge you since the work was done only a month ago.

The most common causes for creaking in the area you're talking about are:

loose crankarm bolt(s)

bottom bracket/bottom bracket shell interface that needs to be cleaned and greased or have teflon plumber's tape used on the threads.

Tightening the crankarm bolts are by far the easiest problem to solve of the two, all you need to do is tighten the bolt or nut that threads into or onto the bottom bracket spindle. Other than the dust caps on the crank arms (if there are any), nothing would need to be removed to do this. For the bottom bracket threads, the cranks would need to be removed so that the bottom bracket could be removed. For really stubborn bottom bracket creaks, I've found the teflon plumber's tape trick to be the best way to get rid of the noise. I've done this on a few bikes, and it will take away the creak where even the most liberal slathering of grease alone won't do it.

If it turns out the bottom bracket itself has gone bad after just a month, then the shop should definitely replace it, charging you no labor, under warranty.

Good luck with it-

Sounds like you might want to invest in a bicycle repair manual - Park Tools' or Zinn's are both great.

Nico....
the BB area is the dumping point for noises that eminate from all other
areas of the bicycle too. Stem and seat post creaks are two very common
BB dwellers :eek: Recently, I had a big chunk of road sploodgie in my chain
that emulated some BB buggery. A month ago I built a chopper that has a
big , dual spring seat on it....the springs were creaking and chirping in perfect
unison to pedal strokes. IT took a few miles and some standing up/ sitting
down to get it figured out.

I'm slowly gathering tools, and have already decided that my next step will be to get dirty with BBs. I'm with you there.

Oh I know where you're coming from. Don't worry - there is no doubt on this one. It's either the pedals or the BB. Since I've tried 2 pairs of pedals and a variety of greases, I reckon it's the BB. But no displaced noises from elsewhere, I'm sure.

I've done that! (more than once, even :p )

I'm about to go address some creakage... thought it was the BB, had that tightened, noise stopped for (literally) half an hour, now I'm trying pedals. Will also try crankarm bolts.

If nothing else, I'm sure learning a lot about how bikes work!

If it stopped for half an hour, it almost has to be one of the two things you changed the first time (why else would it have stopped temporarily?), which presumably would be the crankarm bolts (when you removed them to get to the bottom bracket) and the bottom bracket. If it turns out it's the bottom bracket, and it started creaking again half an hour after you tightened it, you might try teflon plumber's tape on the threads, it will often save you some grief when it comes to bb creaks-:)

The shop may be telling you they are incompetent. If so, get a Phil Wood and have it installed somewhere else. Installing it yourself would be best. bk

You migth have some trouble getting decent parts(and maybe service) I have a dozen customers with Dutch bikes, they are pretty bad, even Walmart might not carry them.

Anyway, take it back to the shop(got your reciept?) and tell them what the deal is. They should do the right thing and fix the problem for free. As long as it is related to the work done, as Lem said there are some surprising noises coming from the BB area that are created elsewhere(Loose bottle cage screw anyone?)

This ain't no old Dutch commuter, it's a Spec'd Sirrus and only 3 years old.

The weather is too beautiful to not ride today. I'll just have to take it easy on the old boy and hope I don't make it worse. At least I have the headphones to help me ignore the noise :D

Cheers all,
-Nick

If it is the BB it should still be under warranty. Ask them to warranty it out for a new one. You might have to pay for labor though.

BTW, do you know which model BB it is?

update: after a day of riding and some reflection, it's not the BB.

It's the left pedal - the crank thread is borked.

So now it's another LBS, in England, I'll have to deal with. I replaced the pedals a month ago when I was in England, and they were ok with replacing the pedals there and then for me. Except apparently the lazy kid in the back they gave it to must have forced the left pedal on.

I'm quite positive this is the problem now (metal shavings came out when I removed the pedal, clicking and noise are largely in left foot, and noise is horrendous with new pedals). I'll have to phone up the shop in England tomorrow and see what they think. I certainly can't wait another month when I see them again to fix this.

Is it feasible to replace a crank arm on one side only?

I wonder if it's worth putting in the cheapie pedals with liquid metal, and just ride with this until it's dead. Either way, I think the other shop should be responsible if their monkeys can't replace a pedal without ****ing up the crank. Is it common and/or easy to do that? :mad:

You can either buy or have the LBS make an insert to fix stripped pedal threads on a crank. The last time I was at my LBS he had just finished making an insert for someone who had stripped a pedal on their new XT crank set. IIRC the charge was under 10 euro.