bottom bracket play newbie question
 

Hi everyone,

My bottom bracket on my fixie has a bit of play. When I push down on both pedals side to side they move just a bit. I have tried tightening the bb but I can't get it to be perfect without binding. Anyways I have decided on the weekend to switch to a sealed bearings bottom bracket, my question is will it be ok to ride to work the rest of the week on these. The bike rides fine and I don't notice anything.

Thanks, and thank goodness this forum is so helpful for people who are trying to become more bike independent.

you sure its not chain tension
or the chain ring bolts?

it seems unlikely, but i'd err on the side of caution on this one. when a bottom bracket fails, it's pretty bad. bring it to a shop and replace the bb asap.

I am suspicious of the word 'fixie' in the original post.
I don't understand how there could be play in the BB, unless it wasn't installed properly, please double check that it's not your chain or chainring.

Edit-I thought it was a sealed cartridge. Doh!

Thanks for the answers,

Yes there is a little forward backward motion due to the chain but that was done at the bike shop and the mechanic said that you don't want the chain too tight. This is actual sideways motion. If I put my hands on both pedals and push down on one then the other there is slight movement, the cranks are on tight to the spindle, so it must be the spindle moving up and down a bit, when I tightened the cone more then my ball bearings were binding as it was much harder to pedal.

Sounds like it just needs adjusting, it takes finesse to get it just right.

So I guess I need to tighten it to a point right before it starts to bind. Then secure the lock ring very tight.
I really need to get a lockring wrench. Does anybody here know where I can get relatively cheap bike tools in Toronto?

At the LBS everything is at least $35 each, seems a bit steep.

I am going to build my own bike stand as well since they run at a minimum $100 or so.

cheers

Good luck to you.
I have been slowly buying tools, it's great to be able to tinker anytime I want to.

I have a Suntour loose ball bb that did the same thing;

One thing I would suggest is making sure the 36mm drive side cup is fully seated. A lot of times when you find you can't get the slop out of a loose ball bb without binding, the drive cup isn't 100% seated.

You could also simply get new ball bearings and ditch the cage/bearing setup if it's slightly crushed.

At the end of the day I'd get a new sealed bb though.

EDIT: I would also suggest at least pulling the NDS crank arm to get a more accurate adjustment. Sometimes getting a wrench on the DS bb cup can't happen unless you pull it too.

Thanks, yes it is nice to have transport that you can get working yourself, self reliance :)

yes that is what I think I will do. Sealed seems to be much less hassle :)