Pedals feel stiffy and groinchy (is that a word?)

[Panter]

I was doiing the chain lube/clean thing this evening and noticed that it feels a bit stiff and uneven when turning the pedals.

Does that mean that the bottom bracket needs attention or could it be something else?

The pedals themselves seem fine, in fact they're quite new.

The bike is an SCR3 '07 which has done about 2500 road miles and probably another 1000 on the turbo.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[Chrisz]

Certainly sounds like a BB failure - any sideways play in the crank arms?

 

[HLaB]

Sounds like the BB to me, before replacing it the first thing to try is tightening it.

 

[Panter]

Certainly sounds like a BB failure - any sideways play in the crank arms?

No, there's no sideways play at all that I can feel.

Is this with the chain on or off?

That's with the chain on but it feels the same whether I turn the pedals backwards or forwards if that makes a difference.

Funnily enough, after half an hour on the turbo, it now feels fine? is it that the grease in the BB has melted slightly and distributed itself around the BB?

 

[Panter]

Sounds like the BB to me, before replacing it the first thing to try is tightening it.

I'll google that and see what I come up with!



Thanks for the replies all.

 

[jimboalee]

Strangely, with the chain on the big ring, it is more difficult to backpedal.
Shift the chain down onto the small ring and you might be surprised how free the geartrain spins in the backpedal direction.

Its to do with the moment of inertia in the chain on the large diameter ring.

 

[02GF74]

the word you may be looking for is graunchy, but as it is not listed in my distionary, it may not be a word either,