Bottom Bracket gone?

[Joe24]

I think the bottom bracket on my fixed is gone, after 1513miles
Riding home from work and heard some clicking, thought nothing of it, had it before and it was the pump. So moved the pump, and went on club ride today.
Coming home up Bank Hill(steep-ish hill) and i stood up to power up. Heard what sounded like metal not running freely/scratching from the ottom bracket area. I sat down and it went to clicking. Decided to carry on and the clicking kept going when i was putting in power, then whilst trackstanding i found a place where i can get it to click, theres a few other places it does it aswell. So i came home and my dad came out t look. He could get the cranks moving slightly(very slightly) then i got them moving side to side.
Got on it to trackstand on the patio and it just doesnt feel right, got it clicking again and when i put pressure on when trackstanding it clicks, doesnt feel like its running that smooth either.
So has my BB gone already? Or could it be something else?

 

[Milo]

Try tightening your pedals and all that game.
Oh and what worked for me once was running rag down the gap between the cranks and the bike if you know what I mean.

 

[Joe24]

Pedals tight, gonna put some more tension on the chain, but i can feel the slack being tacken up on the chain, and the other feeling thats coming from the bottom bracket.
Going to give it a wash and get right in all the gaps, see if that makes any difference.
Pedals are tight
I thought it was the pump hitting the crank at first, but the crank is no-where near the pump

 

[peanut]

not sure what type of BB and chainset you have but if its the square taper type I'd recommend you remove the cranks and check the axle taper and inside face of the crank taper holes.

I removed mine and found some slight rust . I very carefully filed the internal faces of the crank fixing holes just enough to clean them up. cleaned the axle tapers and applied a tiny smear of grease to the tapers. Refitted everything and my clicking has now disapeared.
It would be worth checking the BB cup adjustment to take up any slack or wear in the bearings .

 

[02GF74]

I had same symptom on my Bianchi; search my thread. Turned out it was the cranks coming lose, well even if it wasn't, removingthem, dabbing a tiny amount of grease and tightening them up properly made the noise go away. 1.5 k miles is a bit low for a BB, I would expect 5 k miles more out of one

 

[mickle]

Don't grease your tapers there is no need.

What kind of BB is it? Sounds like a loose crank or loose BB cup.

 

[peanut]

Don't grease your tapers there is no need.

There should normally be no need to grease your tapers Mickle agreed

There are two schools of thought about this however.

I worded my suggestion very very carefully.

I proposed a smear which is basically put a bit of grease onto a finger then wipe it off leaving a trace with which to smear on the taper.
It is simply enough to prevent rusting of the steel no more.

Once a taper crank has got loose and the aluminium taper surfaces get ovaled you are on a hiding to nothing trying to rescue them.

 

[mickle]

BB axles are such high carbon steel that the prospect of them rusting is remote.

 

[Joe24]

No idea what type of BB it is
It is square taper though.
I thought 1500miles is too little aswell, the one on my Giant has done 6500miles and its fine. Going into LBS tomorrow before school(start at 12, hard day)
I dont have the tools to do it myself

 

[peanut]

BB axles are such high carbon steel that the prospect of them rusting is remote.

don't be silly..billy all steel rusts otherwise they wouldn't be supplied with a protective coating

 

[spandex]

don't be silly..billy all steel rusts otherwise they wouldn't be supplied with a protective coating

Sorry but mickle is right the carbon stops it rusting Yes if you take it and but it in the ground and go back 10years later it will have some rust on but not that much.

 

[peanut]

Sorry but mickle is right the carbon stops it rusting Yes if you take it and but it in the ground and go back 10years later it will have some rust on but not that much.

Don't apologise Spandex .Just show us the evidence you have found to prove that carbon steel doesn't rust

we are not tallking about the axle rusting right though like a car chassis


we are talking about surface rust on the taper where water gets trapped out of sight. It is the dry surface of the aluminium crank against the dry axle taper that causes the squeaking when there is a minute bit of play. Applying a smear of grease to the axle taper will prevent surface rust forming on the axle taper and the surface of the aluminium from oxidising.

this is an excerpt about preventing rust in hardened carbon steel ball bearings . I'm sure you have seen rust on old ball bearing BB races before ?

Properties

● Corrosion Resistance: Stainless Steel > Chrome Alloy Steel > High Carbon Steel. ● Hardenability: The above high carbon steel are hardenable by heat treatment upto the core. These are generally through hardened upto 58-63 HRC (Rockwell C).
Custom hardness is also possible for bulk orders..
● Magnetism: These are fully magnetic.
● Passivation: Carbon steel balls are prone to atmospheric oxidation and rusting in corrosive or humid environment.
These are protected by rust preventive oils. Hence, oil free balls in carbon steel are not offered.

 

[Joe24]

Took to bike shop today, after he said i should just put it in the skip()he wiggled the cranks and didnt get any play. He tightened up the crank bolt thing(was loose, i think he got about just under half a turn on one side) i went on off. To hear the clunking as i was going up Bank Hill.
Got home and was trackstanding on the patio to see if it clicked then, and the click has changed to abit of a knocking type click
On the way down i stood up to put some power in and it started squeeking and doing the scratching noise

 

[spandex]

Swoop it out mate and if that dose not work at least you have a spear BB

 

[papercorn2000]

You don't want to ride too much (if at all) with a loose BB. Twice I have had to have the BB shell replaced!