Hi,
I've got a mountain bike that is a few years old and because I know I'm completely incompetant, I try my hardest to not have to do any work on the bike because I know whatever I do will either not work or will damage the bike in some way.
As a result, the bottom bracket has never ever been maintained or looked at and for a while was making a horrible grinding noise. I'm guessing the bearings have worn out or need a good clean and greasing.
So, as per usual, I go down to the bike store and explain my problem and spend £70 on all the tools I will need (crank puller, park - 20 tooth, bottom bracket removal tool, set of socket spanners, a clamp to hold the bb-tool and socket spanner in place, some wd40 to lube the bb). I get home and actually manage to take the cranks off. Then I proceed to the bb and it won't budge, I apply a five foot long metal pole onto the end of the socket spanner and it won't budge. It will quite happily start to bend the pole but won't budge.
I'm working on the left hand side and, from what the manual says, that comes off in the usual counter-clockwise direction.
According to the advice found on the park tools website, I could try feeding a thin bolt through the axle of the bb. Well mine isn't hollow of course so there is no way of clamping the tool to the bb.
I guess it's back down to a hardware store to order a vice, that's going to look great in the living room, along with all the other junk I've now got in there (bits of disembelled bike and useless tools).
Surely for something that takes as much force as a bottom bracket it might have been a good idea to make the cutouts for the bb tool just that little bit deeper? It might also make a vast amount of sense to actually be able to bolt the tool to the bottom bracket. Would I be right in assuming that the bb is intentionally designed this way in order to force people into buying a new bike when the bb wears out?
My attitude to bike maintenance is don't bother. It is much, much cheaper in terms of time and money to buy a cheapo mountain bike, ride it into the ground and then throw it away and just buy another one after 12-18 months.
Bikes are not trivial, they require lots of specialised and detailed knowledge and a large amount of often expensive tools. Don't even think about maintaining your bike fully unless you've got a large, heavy duty workbench and vice for starters. I would also suggest a degree from a top university in engineering. I'm thinking of buying a car now, much cheaper to maintain and run.
The sad irony for me is that my dad spent years working in a bike shop and was an excellent bike and car mechanic, but he lives 5,000 miles away and isn't too interested in his loser son.