by Steve ~ August 13th, 2007. Filed under: Maintenance & Repairs.
After two failed attempts to remove the fixed cup of the bottom bracket, I took another stab at it using a 17 inch pipe wrench and Sheldon Brown’s
makeshift fixed cup removal device (a nut, bolt, and some washers.) When the fixed cup moved a single millimeter, I whooped with delight. It took me another 45 minutes to finally get the thing off, but off it came.Thanks to all those who provided advice.
See comments on previous posts. I applied spray lube (liquid wrench knock off) liberally, inside and outside the fixed cup. I whacked it firmly with a hammer a few times. I applied steady force rather than banging the wrench. The only thing I didn’t try was to use a blowtorch to heat the cup. It all seemed to to work, bit by bit.The new cartridge bottom bracket was a VP MODUS model BC-73A. I bought it on eBay for $7.83US (about $8.25 CAD).
The new cartridge bottom bracket, VP MODUS model BC-73A
Getting the cartridge bottom bracket into place wasalso a bit of a challenge. The tack-sharp engineers and manufacturers who designed the SC1800 saw fit to attach a cable guide to the bottom of the bottom bracket with a metal screw that protruded about a quarter inch inside the bottom bracket shell, effectively blocking entry of the sealed cartridge. Some quick work with a hack saw and screwdriver took care of that, and the new sealed cartridge unit is finally in place.
From this angle, you can see the protruding screw inside the shell that needed to be dealt with.
I took the bike for a spin. Very nice. Feels like a completely new (and more expensive) bike. A repair worth making. The knocking, clanking and grinding, even with my recent repairs, was driving me crazy.
The drive side of the new bottom bracket in place. All in all, replacing the standard spindles and bearings bottom bracket was the hardest repair I’ve ever made on a bike. There’s a certain amount of satisfaction in having done it. I hope to never do this repair again.
Related posts:
Bottom bracket redux
Brought low by a bottom bracket fixed cup
Bottom bracket noise
August 13th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
[...] Bottom Bracket — brute force attack [...]
August 23rd, 2007 at 4:10 am
Just in time to ride the Muddy Waters Century. Oh wait - you have another bike.
I don’t think Canadian Tire and Supercycle necessarily see your blog as positive publicity for their Product of Steel (aka a pos).
August 23rd, 2007 at 12:35 pm
I hope they don’t see it as positive. I would only recommend one of these things to somebody who wasn’t going to ride more than a few Km a week, or somebody who wanted to do a lot of repair work. And, yeah, I used the other bike for Muddy Waters, although I do kind of admire the other bloggers who have taken their POS bikes on multi-day road trips. Now THAT’S courage!