It's a Grind

[jabez]

First time poster here. I am a commuter who recently got a modest bike tool set and am interested in learning more about repairs. I have a 2006 Bianchi Brava (thanks Craigslist!) and recently replaced my pedals. In doing so, I noticed that my crank was making a scratchy, grinding noise. I pulled a crank arm but then decided doing anything more was beyond my capability.

I brought it to my LBS hoping that they could do some cleaning or other minor maintenance that would stop the grinding and prolong the useful life of this component. They said that there was nothing that they could do short of a two hour job of replacing the bearings because they are sealed and that is where the noise is coming from. I don't doubt them because they turned down business, but is there anything that I can do to help stave off a future replacement or major repair here? Many thanks for any help and best wishes for a happy New Year.

[Painkiller]

Welcome jabez, It sounds like a new Bottom bracket is in order
snap some pics of that area and we can better advise

[jabez]

(12-31-2012, 02:30 PM)painkiller Wrote:  Welcome jabez, It sounds like a new Bottom bracket is in order
snap some pics of that area and we can better advise

There's nothing much to see. I'm not confident in my ability to pull the bottom bracket, so let me know what else is of interest and I'll post pix. The noise is not egregious by any means, but it definitely sounds like there is damaging grit in there somewhere. According to Bikepedia the bottom bracket is a Tange cartridge and the crankset is a Sugino RD 3000T. Since the bike functions fine for my commuting purposes, I'm not looking at replacement or even repair just yet but am hoping to forestall that. Any helpful maintenance tips that a relative newb such as myself might be able to do would be greatly appreciated. Or perhaps the hard truth that I need to ride it until it breaks or the noise gets really bad and then replace the bottom bracket (which is what my LBS said). Thanks.

[Painkiller]

It is time to add to your modest tool set sir, you could break more stuff if it fails bad at the wrong time! walk a dog not your bike. replacing a cartridge BB is easy and plenty of videos on you tube and tutorials here to guide you.

[jabez]

(12-31-2012, 03:55 PM)painkiller Wrote:  It is time to add to your modest tool set sir, you could break more stuff if it fails bad at the wrong time! walk a dog not your bike. replacing a cartridge BB is easy and plenty of videos on you tube and tutorials here to guide you.

Yeah, you're right. When I pulled the crank arm there were some pins and stuff that reeked of humpty-dumpty troubles if I tried to mess with the existing BB, but just replacing it doesn't look bad at all (can't see it being two hours for my LBS's mechanic). I think I even have most if not all of the necessary tools. Now I just need to be able to get the correct type and size of the replacement. The Bianchi and Bikepedia sites don't have a specified BB shell width for this model, but I expect that a decent parts dealer will be able to hook me up. I'm all ears for any recommendations. Thanks and happy New Year.

[Painkiller]

it may be marked on the shell when you pull it out, or get the part number of your crankset marked behind the crank arms and spec the proper length ( the crank determines this) or give us the info and we can guide you, the shell width is important also. merely measure the BB bracket shell of your frame not including the BB, just the frame. and need to know the threading