Crank & Bottom Bracket tools

sopas said:

Hello all,

I have a 2008 Trek 1.2, and I have a noise problem with the bottom Bracket.
I want to take out the cranks and open the bottom Bracket to clean everything inside, put grease etc, but I have no idea what tools are necesary.

Can anybody help?

This is my bike here:
trekbikes.com12Open ↗

The crank is a double Bontrager Sport 59/39 like this:
bontrager.comenOpen ↗

As far as I understand not all cranks require the same tools, right?

Thanks in advance for any help,

You are correct -- different style cranks use different tools ...

BUT, I guess the real question is why you bothered to buy-and-change cranksets when all you had to do was to buy a new, 53t OUTER chainring (I presume the Bontrager is a 53/39) and/or remove the granny.

Did the shop change the BB, or is it still the original BB?

WHAT noise is your BB making? It could be something else ... hopefully, NOT a loose crank arm.

Most cartridge Bottom Brackets are generally not considered to be serviceable ... that is not to say that you can't remove the BB from the frame and then remove the cartridge bearings from their shell ... replace or service ... and then, reassemble & reinstall.

Most cartridge BBs which have square taper spindles use the same tool that would be used for a Shimano Octalink BB & some ISIS BBs.

If the crank does not have self-extracting bolts, then you'll need a crank remover.

You'll also need an 8mm Allen wrench to remove the crank bolt OR possibly a 15mm socket (unlikely) & wrench.

Hello,

It is the original BB and crank (53/39). I haven't change anything on my bike.
I am pretty sure the noise is comming from the BB. The noise appears when I put hard pressure on the left pedal (not the right one). It doesn't matter if I am on the saddel or out on my feet, the noise is still there. Something like a clonk, clonk, clonk, everytime.

In fact when I pull a crank outside/inside with my hand everything (including the other side crank and 53/39 chainrings) moves about 1 millimiter. So I guess everything came loose a little bit inside the BB. The crank arms and pedals are ok.

I could take the bike to the shop and have it checked, but I want to see for myself first that is why I am interested to know what tools do I need.

I have removed the outer cap of the left crank with an 8 mm Allen, but now I need another tool to take the crank out, a crank remover, puller. The Bontrager Sport crank has a square tappered bottom bracket so I need that tool. Could you attach a photo or something so I know exactly what tool I need?

Next, I need another tool that I think rounded with 20 teeth like this:
sheldonbrown.comtlp02a.jpgOpen ↗
this I know because I counted the number of teeth on the BB of the bike.

Crank pullers are pretty much standard except for aq couple of vintage oddballs.

I believe the Shimano Cartridge BB tool is what you need.

In both cases, the Park tool is typically the standard.

parktool.comdetail.aspOpen ↗

parktool.comdetail.aspOpen ↗

Although for personal use, other brands will work fine for most of us.

As stated, the BB is probably a cartridge on a new bike, so it should just be replaced. Any chance that you should get it replaced under warrantee?

They aren't expensive, and in fact, it may cost you more for the tools than the BB... but still, for a new bike, you would think a BB would at least last the first year.

dgregory57 said:

Crank pullers are pretty much standard except for aq couple of vintage oddballs.

I believe the Shimano Cartridge BB tool is what you need.

In both cases, the Park tool is typically the standard.

parktool.comdetail.aspOpen ↗

parktool.comdetail.aspOpen ↗

Although for personal use, other brands will work fine for most of us.

As stated, the BB is probably a cartridge on a new bike, so it should just be replaced. Any chance that you should get it replaced under warrantee?

They aren't expensive, and in fact, it may cost you more for the tools than the BB... but still, for a new bike, you would think a BB would at least last the first year.

Oh, I see.
Well, the bike is just 3 months old. I will take the bike to the store then and ask if the warrantee covers a new Bottom Bracket. But I dont think it is broken and maybe it just came loose and needs some adjustment.

I will probably get the tools anyway since I want to adquire longer crank arms in the future.

Thanks

sopas said:

Oh, I see.
Well, the bike is just 3 months old. I will take the bike to the store then and ask if the warrantee covers a new Bottom Bracket. But I dont think it is broken and maybe it just came loose and needs some adjustment.

I will probably get the tools anyway since I want to adquire longer crank arms in the future.

Thanks

There probably is nothing wrong with your BB. You probably have a bit of play where the crank fits onto the sqare taper, at least the link that you included says that you have a sqare taper crankset. A slightly loose crank will click if it is not tight. The best solution for this is to remove both cranks, lightly grease the taper shafts, and reinstall the cranks, making sure that they are nicely snug but not too tight. Go to your LBS and they can sell you the correct crank tool for sqare tapers. One note, noises that sound like they are coming from the BB sometimes are actually coming from somwhere else, like from a loose saddle mount or pedal. You probably should try to make certain that it is a BB problem before you pull the cartridge out.

sopas said:

Oh, I see.
Well, the bike is just 3 months old. I will take the bike to the store then and ask if the warrantee covers a new Bottom Bracket. But I dont think it is broken and maybe it just came loose and needs some adjustment.

I will probably get the tools anyway since I want to adquire longer crank arms in the future.

Thanks

I'd have your dealer fix the bike during the warranty period. You paid for a new bike with a warranty, and it's easy to break or mess something up working on it yourself unless you have the correct tools and maintenance procedures. Any damage that you might cause working on the bike isn't covered by the warranty.

As kdelong says, it may not be the BB at all....lots of things can sound like they are coming from the BB, from the rear wheel skewer to a stem or even a bottle cage. Let the Trek dealer fix it, then ask them about the tool needed to do it yourself. You'll have plenty of opportunity to service and repair your bike after the warranty.

kdelong said:

There probably is nothing wrong with your BB. You probably have a bit of play where the crank fits onto the sqare taper, at least the link that you included says that you have a sqare taper crankset. A slightly loose crank will click if it is not tight. The best solution for this is to remove both cranks, lightly grease the taper shafts, and reinstall the cranks, making sure that they are nicely snug but not too tight. Go to your LBS and they can sell you the correct crank tool for sqare tapers. One note, noises that sound like they are coming from the BB sometimes are actually coming from somwhere else, like from a loose saddle mount or pedal. You probably should try to make certain that it is a BB problem before you pull the cartridge out.

Yes, there whole thing (bottom bracket, chainring and cranks) have about a 1 millimiter play. I am pretty certain the noise comes from the BB, but I will check saddel and rear wheel skewer too just in case.

By the way thanks a lot guys.
I will take a look again at my bike tomorrow, and take the bike to the store next day.
I will keep you informed.

sopas said:

Yes, there whole thing (bottom bracket, chainring and cranks) have about a 1 millimiter play.

No way would I be riding a bike with any play in the BB let alone 1mm:eek:

Albert 50 said:

No way would I be riding a bike with any play in the BB let alone 1mm:eek:

In fact I have not been riding in 6 days!!

kdelong said:

The best solution for this is to remove both cranks, lightly grease the taper shafts, and reinstall the cranks, making sure that they are nicely snug but not too tight.

There is some disagreement in the industry about greasing of the spindle, some claiming it is helpful, some claiming it is harmful. Parktool.com walks the middle ground and says that it is unnecessary.

parktool.comreadhowto.aspOpen ↗

The bottom line, is that the cranks on a square tapered bottom bracket must be torqued down well enough for them to remain seated...

Also, I have never heard od anyone overtightening cranks, simply because the opportunity for leverage isn't there without getting creative, so don't worry too much about over tightening...

dgregory57 said:

There is some disagreement in the industry about greasing of the spindle, some claiming it is helpful, some claiming it is harmful. Parktool.com walks the middle ground and says that it is unnecessary.

parktool.comreadhowto.aspOpen ↗

The bottom line, is that the cranks on a square tapered bottom bracket must be torqued down well enough for them to remain seated...

Also, I have never heard od anyone overtightening cranks, simply because the opportunity for leverage isn't there without getting creative, so don't worry too much about over tightening...

I would have thought this too until I had to cut off the BB spindles and press the taper out of some nice cranks around 1984. The puller spindle was getting deformed on the end and starting to "thread" into the BB Spindle, and I did not want to risk stripping the threads out of the cranks. A recently dearly departed friend suggested that I use grease and not tighten the cranks so much next time, and I have not had a problem since.

kdelong said:

I would have thought this too until I had to cut off the BB spindles and press the taper out of some nice cranks around 1984. The puller spindle was getting deformed on the end and starting to "thread" into the BB Spindle, and I did not want to risk stripping the threads out of the cranks. A recently dearly departed friend suggested that I use grease and not tighten the cranks so much next time, and I have not had a problem since.

Interesting...

I have read in other forums where machinists have said this type of fitting should never be greased... This is from experience in non-bicycle applications however. And I have taken apart 30+ year old vintage bikes without any apparent grease present.

However, experience in cases like this outweighs theory. 🙂

I have read to grease the washers and bolts to ensure that everything gets torqued down properly... so I suspect I will use a little grease from now on.

Regarding greasing, the pro argument is preventing permanent installation of the cranks and the con argument is that a greased and tapered spindle can burst the crank socket through overinsertion. I've always greased, and had no problems.

sopas said:

By the way thanks a lot guys.
I will take a look again at my bike tomorrow, and take the bike to the store next day.
I will keep you informed.

That's the best thing to do: just show them the problem and they 'should' feel obliged the rectify it.

Hello all,

Yesterday in the morning, I finally took my bike to the store and explained the mechanic my problem with the BB and the noise. He saw the crank play and since the bike is only 3 months old, he told me that the warrantee would cover that. So, I left him the bike and went home. I also told him if he could center the back wheel too. He said: "No problem, I will make a full inspection of the bike". I thought, great! Well, only 4 or 5 hours later he called me back and said that he had fixed the play and everything was ok, the BB was not broken or anything.

So, today I picked the bike and had a 20 mile ride after that. There was no noise from the BB, no play in the cranks. Everything was great! and I am so happy! 🙂

Thank you all guys too for your time replying to this message.

Greetings from sunny SPAIN!!!! Excenllent country to ride!!! 🙂

sopas said:

Hello all,

Yesterday in the morning, I finally took my bike to the store and explained the mechanic my problem with the BB and the noise. He saw the crank play and since the bike is only 3 months old, he told me that the warrantee would cover that. So, I left him the bike and went home. I also told him if he could center the back wheel too. He said: "No problem, I will make a full inspection of the bike". I thought, great! Well, only 4 or 5 hours later he called me back and said that he had fixed the play and everything was ok, the BB was not broken or anything.

So, today I picked the bike and had a 20 mile ride after that. There was no noise from the BB, no play in the cranks. Everything was great! and I am so happy! 🙂

Thank you all guys too for your time replying to this message.

Greetings from sunny SPAIN!!!! Excenllent country to ride!!! 🙂

I was happy to help you until you added the last line! Now I'm jealous😉.

kdelong said:

I was happy to help you until you added the last line! Now I'm jealous😉.

LOL. Well, if you ever come to Madrid, Spain, perharps we can go out and ride togheter 🙂 Not far from where I live there is a nice 9-kilometer climb with slopes up to 10%. Puerto de la Morcuera.
Ragards