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15,349 Posts
Ok, it's Monday so let's kick this thing off. This will be mostly advisory stuff, I'll make an effort to make sure no one gets butthurt. I'm reasonably sure you'll see some things in here that you've never seen before.
I'll start off with a bearing from a Trek BB90. It's not just 'worn', it's 'worn the F out'. This is what happens when you ride in all conditions, ignore maintenance, and pay no attention to whatever strange noises are coming from your bike. In this particular case it could have been a click from the bearing race wear or a creak from the corrosion on the outside of the bearing itself moving very slightly against the carbon bb shell. In this case it went wayyyy beyond that and the owner thought the crank was loose because there was so much movement. The crank axle was rusted to the inner race of the non-drive side bearing. Normally you can just take the NDS arm off and pull the DS out (Shimano crank). Not this time. I needed to spray PB Blaster on it daily for 3 days then hammer the crank out, at that time the inner race and balls came out leaving the outer race stuck in the frame. Time for more PB Blaster and then a propane torch. I managed to pry it out after a few tries.
Takeaway: Pay attention to maintenance and noises that you haven't heard before. Please.
I'll start off with a bearing from a Trek BB90. It's not just 'worn', it's 'worn the F out'. This is what happens when you ride in all conditions, ignore maintenance, and pay no attention to whatever strange noises are coming from your bike. In this particular case it could have been a click from the bearing race wear or a creak from the corrosion on the outside of the bearing itself moving very slightly against the carbon bb shell. In this case it went wayyyy beyond that and the owner thought the crank was loose because there was so much movement. The crank axle was rusted to the inner race of the non-drive side bearing. Normally you can just take the NDS arm off and pull the DS out (Shimano crank). Not this time. I needed to spray PB Blaster on it daily for 3 days then hammer the crank out, at that time the inner race and balls came out leaving the outer race stuck in the frame. Time for more PB Blaster and then a propane torch. I managed to pry it out after a few tries.
Takeaway: Pay attention to maintenance and noises that you haven't heard before. Please.
