The nature of the suspension design is that it’s not possible to run a plastic center sleeve between the two bottom bracket cups. The nature of the rider is that they’re out on their rig multiple days a week all year round, they clearly own a hose, and when it comes time for a water fight, bikes don’t shoot back so it’s entirely up to the hoser when the battle is over. The bike sports a double-row-bearing bottom bracket because two bearings are, naturally better than one. It’s a recipe for catastrophe, and I’m doing the dishes.
Naturally, the first sign that something is wrong is that the crank doesn’t want to come out of the frame. It’s more firmly planted than me on a rainy Saturday morning when my alarm clock says I have to ride to the shop for work. But, and the parallel continues, after a good thwacking and whacking with the big rubber persuader it comes out, still clinging desperately to one of the press-fit bottom brackets cups like a warm half-finished second mug of coffee.
The real fun starts when the bottom bracket cup is finally convinced to surrender its hold on the crank spindle but decides to leave behind one of the steel double-row inner bearing races. It has two middle fingers in the air screaming “DREMEL THIS!” In the end, there are no cutting tools involved but a selection of punches and pullers and one smashed thumb yield a 30mm aluminum axle devoid of unwanted extras.
Of course, no matter how diligently you make notes there’s no dodging the inevitable riposte “That’s a lot of money for a bottom bracket swap” and, yeah, if things came out and went back in like a YouTube video that would be true. I can parry with a bench stacked with tools that need to be put away, a bag full of shitty broken bits, blood spilled, and the straight time it took but there’s no avoiding the double thrust of the end cost being more than expected and the assumption that there’s a judgment being made over the work that was required.
[Okay, yes, I am judging the people who designed the bike and clearly didn’t consider, or simply didn’t care, what water, steel bearing races, and aluminum axles can accomplish when working together unfettered. But that’s hardly the fault of the person who bought the bike, nor something you’d expect them to check on.]
And so, the shop has been compensated for their time, and the rider has cranks that spin freely along with a preventative level of waterproof grease that will hopefully prevent a repeat of the situation, and no one is happy. Winning?!
Mountain bikes are exposed to a lot and sometimes the level of frontier surgery they require is brutal and time-consuming. It’s not necessarily a knock when they need a knock and fairly often here on the North Shore the work required doesn’t look anything like a how-to video.
Cheers for reading! If you enjoyed this piece please consider buying me a coffee. Any questions, concerns, or comments please feel encouraged to drop me an e-mail, or join us at r/MEATengines.