Bottom Bracket Creak/Click

[andyt1980]

However much I try and tighten the expander bung bolt and the top cap bolt I cant completely eliminate the spacer movement, they arent loose as is spinning freely but if I grab the spacers and headset bearing dust cap I can spin them quite easily.
I have exactly 30mm of spacers below the stem which I believe is within the acceptable range and top of stem sits about 5mm above top of steerer tube, so would suggest steerer isnt cut too long?.

 

[Smokin Joe]

5mm is easily enough so that can't be the problem, it must be the bung. Now please don't think I'm talking down to you, but a mistake myself and a few others have made is misunderstanding how you tighten a bung. When I first used one I thought you dropped it into the steerer and tightened the lot up with the bolt through the top cap, as when you use a star nut. The bung needs to be tightened with it's own expander bolt first (Hidden by being recessed in the bung) before putting the top cap on.

Apologies if you know that already.

 

[andyt1980]

5mm is easily enough so that can't be the problem, it must be the bung. Now please don't think I'm talking down to you, but a mistake myself and a few others have made is misunderstanding how you tighten a bung. When I first used one I thought you dropped it into the steerer and tightened the lot up with the bolt through the top cap, as when you use a star nut. The bung needs to be tightened with it's own expander bolt first (Hidden by being recessed in the bung) before putting the top cap on.

Apologies if you know that already.

No apology necessary, I really appreciate the help. I had concluded myself that it must be a problem with the bung so was looking online at alternative/better/longer versions. I believe the one that is currently in will be one of these:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/fsa-compres...|pcrid|67090788902|pkw||pmt||prd|5360470119uk

It seems to get good reviews, so I can only assume it wasnt quite installed properly when the bike was assembled. I presume I can just undo the bungs bolt, take it out and reinstall it myself? - the FSA instructions online arent particularly detailed unfortunately.

Also had another go at getting the non-drive side pedal off with no luck

 

[User6179]

Also had another go at getting the non-drive side pedal off with no luck

If you have a step at your door then sit pedal on the step and put spanner on pedal , stand on pedal with left foot and push spanner with right foot towards back of bike , never failed for me but you need a good fitting pedal spanner .

 

[Smokin Joe]

No apology necessary, I really appreciate the help. I had concluded myself that it must be a problem with the bung so was looking online at alternative/better/longer versions. I believe the one that is currently in will be one of these:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/fsa-compressor-1-18-top-cap-th883/?lang=en&curr=GBP&dest=1&sku=5360470119&kpid=5360470119&utm_source=google&utm_term&utm_campaign=UK_PLA_Components&utm_medium=base&utm_content=mkwid|siwD4cy8F_dc|pcrid|67090788902|pkw||pmt||prd|5360470119uk

It seems to get good reviews, so I can only assume it wasnt quite installed properly when the bike was assembled. I presume I can just undo the bungs bolt, take it out and reinstall it myself? - the FSA instructions online arent particularly detailed unfortunately.

Also had another go at getting the non-drive side pedal off with no luck

To remove the old bung just undo the recessed Allen bolt and it will pull out. Before you buy a new one just re-insert it and torque it up gently but firmly and see if that does the trick. Even a short bung should hold if installed properly.

 

[andyt1980]

If you have a step at your door then sit pedal on the step and put spanner on pedal , stand on pedal with left foot and push spanner with right foot towards back of bike , never failed for me but you need a good fitting pedal spanner .

But how do you simultaneously stop the drive side crank/pedal rotating? - I cant quite picture in my head your scenario but being able to use my foot would greatly improve my chances of getting it off.

 

[User6179]

But how do you simultaneously stop the drive side crank/pedal rotating? - I cant quite picture in my head your scenario but being able to use my foot would greatly improve my chances of getting it off.

Crank still on the bike ?

If you stop the left hand crank from moving by standing on it then the drive side cant move , as long as the step is high enough and the non drive side pedal is at about 4 or 5 oclock or 7 or 8 oclock , will depend on how the spanner fits on which way is easier .

 

[andyt1980]

To remove the old bung just undo the recessed Allen bolt and it will pull out. Before you buy a new one just re-insert it and torque it up gently but firmly and see if that does the trick. Even a short bung should hold if installed properly.

Bung came out quite easily but now I cant get it back in!!. I tried tightening it a bit first, then tried completely slacking it off again so that the gnarled/grooved collar that grips the steerer tube wasnt being expanded at all but it still wont go back in!!, what have I done now! :s

 

[Smokin Joe]

Maybe the expander cone at the bottom is stuck against the body? Try tapping it free, otherwise a photo would help.

 

[andyt1980]

At one point I had managed to push the gnarled sleeve onto the top wedge by accident, perhaps this has opened up gnarled sleeve abit too much. I managed to free the sleeve from the top wedge, so both bottom and top wedges move freely from the gnarled sleeve.
I've tried compressing/closing the sleeve in a bit to squeeze it into the steerer but it still seems about 1 or 2mm too wide.
See photo:

 

[Smokin Joe]

Those segments are definitely too far apart, they should close up when everything is slackened off. Something is sticking or jammed somewhere. Undo the bolt completely, being careful not to lose any bits and see how it is when you re-assemble.

 

[andyt1980]

The silver sleeve is one complete part and there is a lip on the bottom of the bolt preventing the bottom wedge from coming off, the bolt is already completely slacked off. I dont think I lost any part because nothing can completely come off either end of the bolt, I think I must have over tightened the bolt pushing the wedges too far into the sleeve and expanding it too much.

 

[Smokin Joe]

The silver sleeve is one complete part and there is a lip on the bottom of the bolt preventing the bottom wedge from coming off, the bolt is already completely slacked off. I dont think I lost any part because nothing can completely come off either end of the bolt, I think I must have over tightened the bolt pushing the wedges too far into the sleeve and expanding it too much.

Possibly. It might be worth buying a new one, hard to tell from the picture and there isn't much to go wrong with a bung but yours might be the cause of your troubles to begin with.

 

[andyt1980]

It certainly doesnt look like the FSA one I linked to before, infact I cant find any online that look exactly like it

I've tried standing on it to close up the sleeve but it looks like i'll be getting a new one.

 

[andyt1980]

Actually it looks very similar to this one: https://www.bikeonlineshop.net/fsa/compressor-expander-1-1-8-long
Still cant really tell how far apart the ends of the sleeve should be in the pic though.