The post BAFS teardown/rebuild

[americancyclo]

I’m planning on doing the same with my all-weather beater bike. parts in the mail right now and considering tearing it down to frame and rebuilding with fresh everything.

[Harry Meatmotor]

@dplasters 111025 wrote:

So my bike seems like it deserves a lot of TLC after getting me through this winter. But I’m a DIY kinda guy. I’ve put on drop bars, redone the brakes and messed around with various pedals, but I haven’t yet ever dealt with the bottom bracket.

A few questions for those who are way more experienced than I:
Is a yearly bike teardown/clean/rebuild frequent enough? Too frequent? Its my only bike and I ride in most everything my slicks can handle. Keeping in mind I’m running a 2 speed IGH with a belt drive. My round trip commute is 13 miles. I don’t really do any wild weekend miles.. much to the dismay of my BAFS teammates.

I’ve sent an email to Spot but any guesses on how many miles a stock bottom bracket is good for? If its not creaking on me should I leave it as is and just clean the other parts of the bike?

Frame saver – My bike doesn’t have any. I store it inside, but ride in the wet. I should probably do something about that shouldn’t I?

Thank you for any knowledge/opinions!

So this is probably going to further confuse matters, but with regards to how long a BB should last, there just isn’t an answer. Everything (EVERYTHING!!!) depends on so many variables that it’s nearly impossible to give any amount of time or mileage without getting into the weeds. Some will say 3k miles, some may say 10k. I’ve seen stock dura ace BB’s go for 30k miles, no sweat. But I’ve also seen stock SRAM BB30 bearings last only 1k miles.

The best thing to do is to replace it when it needs to be replaced. The most sure way to tell if the bearings are bad is to remove the crank arms and spin the BB spindle, feeling for any notchy-ness or grinding. if it feels smooth, then keep riding it. If it’s rough, replace it. Also, creaking from that area of the bike usually doesn’t signify a worn out or bad BB.

A complete overhaul of the bike will likely be overkill unless you completely trash the bike. It’s good to check everything on the bike, but that doesn’t mean you need to tear everything down and rebuild it just to make sure everything is ok to ride. Any reputable LBC should be able to take a look at any bike and ascertain what level of service, if any, it may need. I’d also recommend getting a second opinion from a second shop if you think it may need something like a complete overhaul.

[dplasters]

@Harry Meatmotor 111085 wrote:

So this is probably going to further confuse matters, but with regards to how long a BB should last, there just isn’t an answer. Everything (EVERYTHING!!!) depends on so many variables that it’s nearly impossible to give any amount of time or mileage without getting into the weeds. Some will say 3k miles, some may say 10k. I’ve seen stock dura ace BB’s go for 30k miles, no sweat. But I’ve also seen stock SRAM BB30 bearings last only 1k miles.

The best thing to do is to replace it when it needs to be replaced. The most sure way to tell if the bearings are bad is to remove the crank arms and spin the BB spindle, feeling for any notchy-ness or grinding. if it feels smooth, then keep riding it. If it’s rough, replace it. Also, creaking from that area of the bike usually doesn’t signify a worn out or bad BB.

A complete overhaul of the bike will likely be overkill unless you completely trash the bike. It’s good to check everything on the bike, but that doesn’t mean you need to tear everything down and rebuild it just to make sure everything is ok to ride. Any reputable LBC should be able to take a look at any bike and ascertain what level of service, if any, it may need. I’d also recommend getting a second opinion from a second shop if you think it may need something like a complete overhaul.

Its 10% concern for the bike and 90% me wanting to know how to take it all apart and put it back together again for no apparent reason other than… because!

[hozn]

Just be mindful that things *may* not work as well when you out it back together. I apply the same philosophy to taking apart the bike as I do to cleaning it: if it ain’t broke don’t fix it or leave well enough alone. (I do wipe down or brush off my bikes, but generally no washing.)

[vvill]

I don’t think I’ve ever taken apart any of my bikes for anything! I will need a new chain and brake pads for the CX bike though. Ideally I’d replace more (cassette, rotors) due to rusting but functionally it’s okay still.

[APKhaos]

Harry and hozn give wise counsel. It’s almost inevitable that part of any DIY project involves fixing the things you unfixed while fixing the things you were fixing.

[peterw_diy]

@dplasters 111025 wrote:

bottom bracket … If its not creaking on me should I leave it as is and just clean the other parts of the bike?

Most decent bikes for the last 20 years have used cartridge BBs that should only be replaced when showing signs of trouble. Older and cheaper bikes have BBs with replaceable 1/4″ ball bearings. Those BBs should be regularly serviced to avoid cup or spindle wear. My MO for ages has been to replace cup & ball BBs with cartridge BBs, as servicing old-school BBs is not my idea of fun.

[dplasters]

@hozn 111107 wrote:

Just be mindful that things *may* not work as well when you out it back together. I apply the same philosophy to taking apart the bike as I do to cleaning it: if it ain’t broke don’t fix it or leave well enough alone. (I do wipe down or brush off my bikes, but generally no washing.)

This was my guess. But its important that I hear other people who have actually experienced it say it. I’ll probably just give it a good cleaning. I do a wipe down every week or so and do a quick once over of the rims every few days right now.. stupid sand.

[Author]

Posts