Re: Stuck BB

On 9/16/2024 3:06 PM, AMuzi wrote:

On 9/16/2024 12:57 PM, Mark J cleary wrote:

My Wilier has a stuck right cup BB. At the moment the cranks spin fine. It has an FSA Mega Exp crankset that is the one that is not pinch bolts but uses self extracting allen key to put on drive side crank arm. Has the wavy washer in the set up. I think that is why the bearings went bad because it allows moisture to get in not sealed like a regular shimano crank and external BB.
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The BB is of course and external BB from FSA. The let side cup bearings went bad so I used a Shimano BB60  cup because I had a spare one. The crankset works beautiful now. However I would like to simply try and use the whole Shimano BB60 bracket. I cannot however get the right side cup off. I realize it is left hand threaded but it is really stuck. I tried putting in a vice and using the bike to turn but no luck. I have managed to chew the notches pretty good but it will take the wrench at this point.
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Any suggestions on how to get the cup free. I actually think it would be easier to simply hacksaw the cup and take it out but I don't want to mess up the treads in BB of the bike. I will take any and all suggestions on how to get this cup off. At the moment the cranks spin fine because the bearings are fine on the right side cup but I just don't like the set up. I may even go to a shimano R7000 crankset. ]

 If you cannot remove it with mechanical means, try a heat gun first. Make sure the tool is very firmly secured to the cup and yes mounting the tool in a vise is good technique. If the tool is secure it should not be possible to damage the cup splines.
 Thread lock adhesives break down in the 300F range which is pretty darned hot.
 Failing all that, then yes remove the bearing and slit the cup. Knock the cup in to close the kerf and it will usually spin right out. With two slits absolutely.  At the very worst you could lose a small slit of thread, which is negligible (109mm worth of thread minus 2mm).
 

I think at some point in the future I will hacksaw the cup. Since it is an external bearing BB I don't know how I can remove the bearing without the cup being off too. BB cups are cheap I have no issue cutting the thing out if it would not require a lot of time and effort. The frame is a CF but of course the threads of the BB are metal not sure what type of metal. I have a heat gun but sure if that works with CF frame will get too hot.
I think the problem with this is all the sweating I do inside it just drips down and is corrosive. Riding inside and getting sweat all over bike is way worse than riding outside in almost anything. I am too lazy to wipe it all down everyday and just caulk it up to, it is replaceable. I have already spent more time asking and figuring it out than simply buying a used frame and starting over.
Frankly this is a Wilier Grand Turismo 2013. I have at least 20,000 miles on it with original components and cranks, other than BB. It has the buried cables and while I have a system to change them fast it is still a pain the ass. Frankly the tight bends do not shift as well as the regular exposed cables.
I hate to be a retro grouch but to me your basic frame with exposed cables, BSA BB, and rim brakes is still about the easiest to maintain and work on. Granted not as spiffy and up-to-date as DIY and the rest but not going to change your performance all that much. Especially at my age.
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Deacon Mark