BIKE: Creaking bottom bracket

[Patrick Goetz]

Robert M Farr wrote:
> 
> Because it's not something the typical prospective buyer looks for, 
> bottom brackets are typically some of the most marginal quality parts on 
> a bike.

A tragedy, since this is one of the 5 friction points you need to worry 
about (the wheel hubs, where the pedals connect to the crank arms, and 
the bottom bracket).


> If you don't already have them, get the appropriate tools necessary for 
> disassembling your crankset and bottom bracket. 

Um, I'm going to 2 cent this one and say that this is bad advice.  If 
you don't already have experience doing this and/or haven't closely 
observed someone else doing this several times, you're just going to 
make a huge mess and will end up having to gather up all the pieces and 
taking them to a trained bike mechanic get it fixed.  Save yourself the 
intermediate headache and just take to the bike to one of the several 
bike shops in Austin that have excellent bike mechanics on staff.

And if you bought an off-the-shelf bike that cost less than $600, 
consider replacing the bottom bracket with one that is slightly higher 
quality.  This is not terriblly expensive and will make a huge 
difference in the performance of your bike.