[tatum07]

Anyone have a problem with Shimano bottom brackets unscrewing from the frame such that the drive side crank arm is pulled out awayed from the frame? The non-drive crank arm is pulled towards the frame. I ride a Colnago CT-1 with Italian threaded BB. The frame is Ti, so luckily the bb was not stripped, according to my LBS (i have not picked up the bike yet).

I orginally had a dura ace bb installed, but replaced it with ultegra for durability reasons. I never experinced this problem when the dura ace was installed. So I'm wondering if it has to do with compatibilty issues with the ultegra product line.

BTW my LBS suggested that I consider replacing the group with Campy as Campy might be more compatable as it is Italian made. I find this hard to believe as many of the pro's ride dura ace on Italian frames including Colnago with no problems.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[curlybike]

Anyone have a problem with Shimano bottom brackets unscrewing from the frame such that the drive side crank arm is pulled out awayed from the frame? The non-drive crank arm is pulled towards the frame. I ride a Colnago CT-1 with Italian threaded BB. The frame is Ti, so luckily the bb was not stripped, according to my LBS (i have not picked up the bike yet).

I orginally had a dura ace bb installed, but replaced it with ultegra for durability reasons. I never experinced this problem when the dura ace was installed. So I'm wondering if it has to do with compatibilty issues with the ultegra product line.

BTW my LBS suggested that I consider replacing the group with Campy as Campy might be more compatable as it is Italian made. I find this hard to believe as many of the pro's ride dura ace on Italian frames including Colnago with no problems.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

This is a common occurance on Italian frames regardless of the name on the parts. Yiur Ultegra bb was not installed to the proper torque spec as listed in the Shimano literature and if the LBS did it, shame on them. With their comment on Shimano vs Campy it is obvious where the problem is.

 

[Spunout]

Find a new LBS

BTW my LBS suggested that I consider replacing the group with Campy as Campy might be more compatable as it is Italian made. I find this hard to believe as many of the pro's ride dura ace on Italian frames including Colnago with no problems.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

These guys are on crack. First they can't torque a BB correctly, then they fire the above at you.

 

[terry b]

Yet another reason to love the LBS

That's rich - drop Shimano and replace it with Campy because the Italians know how to make Italian-threaded BBs better.

Go back and tell them to set their torque wrench (assuming they have one) to 70Nm or, if they cannot understand Newton-meters, 50 foot-pounds. You might also suggest they read the installation instructions.

(Note, the same thing happened to me back when I thought all you needed to do was give the BB a good hard twist. Live and learn.)

 

[tatum07]

This is a common occurance on Italian frames regardless of the name on the parts. Yiur Ultegra bb was not installed to the proper torque spec as listed in the Shimano literature and if the LBS did it, shame on them. With their comment on Shimano vs Campy it is obvious where the problem is.

thanks. My lbs cautiously indicated that the problem was fixed. When I pick up the bike today I will ask him about propoer torque.

 

[tatum07]

That's rich - drop Shimano and replace it with Campy because the Italians know how to make Italian-threaded BBs better.

Go back and tell them to set their torque wrench (assuming they have one) to 70Nm or, if they cannot understand Newton-meters, 50 foot-pounds. You might also suggest they read the installation instructions.

(Note, the same thing happened to me back when I thought all you needed to do was give the BB a good hard twist. Live and learn.)

Thanks for the detail information regarding propoper torque. I will be sure to relay this to my lbs.

 

[tatum07]

These guys are on crack. First they can't torque a BB correctly, then they fire the above at you.

I don't have any concerns regarding my lbs' skills (yet). The shop is a pro shop which typically only deals with high-end bikes. The problem may be more a factor of which mechanic corrected the problem last time. I have my doubts about some of the mechanics.

 

[curlybike]

thanks. My lbs cautiously indicated that the problem was fixed. When I pick up the bike today I will ask him about propoer torque.

If they have any scruples at all, there will be no charge. If there is a charge, get them to explain why, especially now that you know the real cause of the problem.

 

[curlybike]

I don't have any concerns regarding my lbs' skills (yet). The shop is a pro shop which typically only deals with high-end bikes. The problem may be more a factor of which mechanic corrected the problem last time. I have my doubts about some of the mechanics.

The shop does nothing except give the mechanics a place to foul up customers's bikes. If you have doubts about the mechanics, you can have no faith in the shop. Please explain why this is not true.

 

[russw19]

It is simply not to proper torque

Thanks for the detail information regarding propoper torque. I will be sure to relay this to my lbs.

Anything else the shop tells you is blowing smoke up your arse. There are a lot of shops around that deal in high end bikes, yet still don't see too many Italian threaded bottom brackets. Only a few companies still use Italian threading. Proper torque on an Italian threaded BB is really high. In fact, it's high enough that most shop guys can't torque it high enough without using some form a leverage bar. And that is the real problem here. Most guys who don't work on Ital. BB's don't know to use a leverage bar and would likely be afraid to use it if they were told to anyways. Proper spec is about 70 N-m or nearly 700 inch pounds (695) which is really tight.

If you install the fixed cup first (as you always should) you really won't be able to hurt your frame (because yours is Ti) by putting the cup in too tight. Just make sure you don't strip the tool indents on the cup. The Ultegra cup you put in is steel so that shouldn't be an issue, but it could be with the Dura-Ace as it's an alloy cup. Torque that sucker to spec and you shouldn't have any problems. If you are unsure, you can always apply a little bit (2 or 3 drops) of blue removeable loc-tite to the cups to make sure they don't come out until you want them out. Just keep in mind that if you use a leverage bar to install your BB, you will need one of equal or longer leverage to remove your BB too.

As for the Campy fitting Italian frames better.... that's crap. I like Campy parts, but they don't fit any differently than the proper Shimano ones do.

Russ