Play in BB, no rumble

[landotter]

Hmm, I felt a little slop in the cranks as I was crossing our new
pedestrian bridge:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2281/2252214055_2560f783cb_o.jpg

so I stopped to make sure it wasn't the obvious, a loose crank arm.
Nope. There's play in the entire spindle. Flipped bike, dropped the
chain, spun the cranks and found no rumble. Smooth with play. This is
new to me. I've never managed to wear out a cartridge BB. Only 1200
miles or so on the Dew. Cheap RPM BB--but I've got a cheap RPM on the
fixie and it's done five times the miles with more stress and zero
play.

Should I try to get a warranty replacement as the bike's four months
old, or should I not molest my LBS and just slap a Shimano U*3 in
there?

[Tom Sherman]

"landotter" wrote:
> Hmm, I felt a little slop in the cranks as I was crossing our new
> pedestrian bridge:
>
> http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2281/2252214055_2560f783cb_o.jpg
>
> so I stopped to make sure it wasn't the obvious, a loose crank arm.
> Nope. There's play in the entire spindle. Flipped bike, dropped the
> chain, spun the cranks and found no rumble. Smooth with play. This is
> new to me. I've never managed to wear out a cartridge BB. Only 1200
> miles or so on the Dew. Cheap RPM BB--but I've got a cheap RPM on the
> fixie and it's done five times the miles with more stress and zero
> play.[...]
>
One would expect cheap bottom brackets to have more variation in
durability than expensive ones. I wore out two Shimano LP-27 bottom
brackets, and each lasted less than 2000 miles.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

[landotter]

On Feb 10, 5:52 pm, landotter <landot...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hmm, I felt a little slop in the cranks as I was crossing our new
> pedestrian bridge:
>
> http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2281/2252214055_2560f783cb_o.jpg
>
> so I stopped to make sure it wasn't the obvious, a loose crank arm.
> Nope. There's play in the entire spindle. Flipped bike, dropped the
> chain, spun the cranks and found no rumble. Smooth with play. This is
> new to me. I've never managed to wear out a cartridge BB. Only 1200
> miles or so on the Dew. Cheap RPM BB--but I've got a cheap RPM on the
> fixie and it's done five times the miles with more stress and zero
> play.
>
> Should I try to get a warranty replacement as the bike's four months
> old, or should I not molest my LBS and just slap a Shimano U*3 in
> there?


Never mind, upon close inspection with a strong light, it appears to
be a loose lock ring. Thanx anyway, guys.

[yhg]

On Feb 11, 12:34 am, landotter <landot...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Feb 10, 5:52 pm, landotter <landot...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Hmm, I felt a little slop in the cranks as I was crossing our new
> > pedestrian bridge:
>
> >http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2281/2252214055_2560f783cb_o.jpg
>
> > so I stopped to make sure it wasn't the obvious, a loose crank arm.
> > Nope. There's play in the entire spindle. Flipped bike, dropped the
> > chain, spun the cranks and found no rumble. Smooth with play. This is
> > new to me. I've never managed to wear out a cartridge BB. Only 1200
> > miles or so on the Dew. Cheap RPM BB--but I've got a cheap RPM on the
> > fixie and it's done five times the miles with more stress and zero
> > play.
>
> > Should I try to get a warranty replacement as the bike's four months
> > old, or should I not molest my LBS and just slap a Shimano U*3 in
> > there?
>
> Never mind, upon close inspection with a strong light, it appears to
> be a loose lock ring. Thanx anyway, guys.

Just about to suggest this. Most of the tendency to loosen is
designed out of English-type bottom brackets but it still happens,
especially if you're big. Less than perfect alignment of the BB shell
faces seems to encourage it. Loctite 242 has always fixed BB cups
that tended to loosen for me.

-yhg