BIKE: Creaking bottom bracket

[Kevin Winert]

I appreciate all of the advice.  I took my bike to
Yellow Bike Project last neight and Andrew was very
helpful.  We removed the front bottom bracket, my bike
is a stell Burley Rhumba Tandem.  He recognized right
away that the bottom bracket was worn out.  He also
discovered the rear BB was worn too.  I only have 750
miles or so on the bike but BB was not of very high
quality.  I will be purchashing higher quality BB's to
replace what came with the bike and I will return to
Yellow Bike Project to put them on.

I would like to put in a plug for the Yellow Bile
Project.  I had heard of them but had never been
involved.  The folks there were very friendly and
helpful, especially Andrew.  If you just want to work
on your bike and want to expert help, or if you want
to donate time, money or bike's it is a good
organization.

Thanks for all of the advice.

--- Librik or Babich <info>
wrote:

> Patrick Goetz wrote:
> 
> > 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 terribly expensive and will
> make a huge 
> > difference in the performance of your bike.
> 
> Two good pieces of advice here above.
> 
> For one thing, if you are going to all the trouble
> of extracting the 
> BB, this is a good time to consider an upgrade. Good
> quality BBs do 
> not cost all that much, and it does give you quality
> down deep in the 
> bike. External items like rear derailers and cranks
> are more "sexy" 
> items and are usually from a fancier group than the
> BB. Since the BB 
> is pretty much invisible, it is often of lower
> quality, but it does an 
> important job.
> 
> Also, working with BBs involves high torque, which
> make the process 
> more dangerous without correct preparation and
> technique. The spline 
> tools required to turn these pieces require proper
> technique to avoid 
> tool slippage.
> 
> Following other comments, if by chance the bike
> frame is anything 
> other than steel, it may be a good idea to take it
> to a shop.
> 
> -- 
> Mike Librik, LCI #929
> Easy Street Recumbents
> (512) 453-0438
> 45th and Red River Streets, thereabouts
> Central Austin
> info
> www.easystreetrecumbents.com
> www.urbancycling.com
> 
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> 


Thanks,
Kevin Winert
kwinert1

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