Omniums are stiffer and 144bcd, which are things I prefer.

The frames are probably of equal quality but the Black Label uses a dumb seatpost size.

I want one.

How important are torque wrenches when installing a crankset onto a steel frame? I definitely don't have $100+ to spend on a tool that I'll use a handful of times in my life, and I like to do as much work on my own at home as I can. From the month or so I've been posting here, I know you're someone who definitely always leans more towards the "correct" way of doing things, but just exactly how important are getting the correct Newton-meters on something like this?

Common sense is the best torque wrench.

Signature worthy.

As a follow up, are the cheap ass torque wrenches you can get at harbor freight worth using for the 10 times in my life I'll need one? Oftentimes, I think of harbor freight tools' shortcomings being that they don't last, but if I'm only going to be using it 10 times, that's not a huge deal. For a beam torque wrench that doesn't get calibrated anyway, are those close enough to be using? I don't tend to use for my crankarms and everything I own is steel or aluminum, but that pretty Thomson stem I just bought has specs printed on it, so I don't know whether I should be more precise than my usual "torque it down until it doesn't move when I put some leverage on the part and then tighten it half a turn or so more" approach.

From what I've seen of HF torque wrenches, they suck and are inaccurate. For stems, bars saddles & seatposts, my general rule of thumb for those without a torque wrench is to tighten the bolts until the part no longer moves, not until the bolts no longer move.

Thomson stems now come with bolts having a 3mm hex head for the very purpose of keeping hamfisting to a minimum, as the wrench will bend before you can over-torque the bolts.

Yeah sorry that's what I meant tighten the bolts down until I can put some sideways force on the bars stem and they don't move and then a touch more (because I tend to otherwise not quite do my stems enough and they slip just a touch on my first big climb - not enough to fall, but enough that I notice it).

I'm going to replace the bottom bracket that came with my S300 crankset. Which do you recommend: Phil Wood or Chris King?

Both are very good but I prefer Phil Wood. The Chris King GXP adapter (Conversion Kit #9 ) is made of five separate pieces as opposed to the Phil, which is one piece.

Thanks. I'll be placing an order soonish.

I thought the same thing the moment I read it.

Any idea how to remove the cup from the cartridge?



It's on there real good.

Install it into your BB shell without the other cup and gently tap the end of the spindle with a hammer. Be sure to grease the cups next time.

Scrod, your opinion about Sram BlackBox GXP ceramic bottom bracket.
There are a lot of complaints about it on the internet.
Did you ever heard about any problems with Sram BlackBox GXP?
Thank you

I've never used it and would never use it. Ceramic bearings are stupid, IMO.

Sounds good! I just ordered the Phil BB tool from ya last night. And I purchased the bottom bracket used, and whoever owned it before me, installed the drive side cup on the "P" side, inside of the "l" like their instructions talk about.

I was wondering why you needed to remove it. I removed the drive side cup (other side came off during removal from the frame) before sending mine in to have the bearings replaced and apparently the folks at Phil like you to send the cups with to ensure they aren't worn or loose fitting. They document the crap out of their service work.

If the spindle is symmetrical, it really doesn't matter which way the logo is facing. Cartridge bearings don't care about which way they're spinning.

thank you....if you never used it that means most people don't needed

Dear Scrod,

My wife has a vintage bike frame with a 65 mm wide bottom bracket shell. Assuming the threading is British, would you say a 68 mm cartridge bottom bracket will work? Thank you!

Hard to say. You may need to use a few BB spacers to make up for the extra 3mm, as the non drive-side cup may not thread in far enough to be fully seated on the cartridge.

Thank you for the swift answer!

Are the 26.0 to 31.8 handlebar shims on your site black or silver?

Also, is 48mm the only width for that size? Because that's wider than the face of my stem.

Silver, as pictured.

26 to 31.8 is 45mm wide.