specialized carve pro, bb issue.

[User19783]

Hi,
I've own this bike for 8 months and only done 1000 miles or so, I used it for the first time yesterday in 3 months, and it was hard going, I thought the the wheels had sized though lack of use, but no, it was the bottom bracket , very stiff to move around, not sure if this is a common fault, with these , also not sure which model it is, it's got , sm bb 51 mountain jl written on it,
also is this a warranty issue?
I have sent an e-mail to Evans but no reply yet,
So I lookin forward to your reply.
thank you in advance.
John

 

[Cubist]

It depends if you put the bike away wet or power washed it last time you used it. Deore Hollowtech BBs are fine if not allowed to get water inside them. They can be "killed" by improper installation methods or by powerwashing the grease out of them and leaving them to rust. It Evans don't sort it out by warranty it'll cost you about fifteen quid plus a tenner for a BB tool to sort it. No major nightmare. If you have killed it by washing then it's a valuable lesson to learn.

 

[User19783]

Thanks Cubist,
yep, I've Never jet washed any bikes, but the last time I vsed the bike was at Cannock chase,last January, were it was very gritty and damp, guess thats the problem. But at the end of the day, I expect more and more hard warning for a mountain bike.

 

[Cubist]

Opinions vary, but so many MTBs come with outboard bearings and people are getting used to them being "consumables". If you do swap it for a new one make sure you don't over tighten the bearing preload and make sure there's a dollop of grease behind the bearings, and liberally smeared across the bearing face so that you create as much of a barrier as you can as you install the cranks.

You could go aftermarket and get one with replaceable bearings Gussett EXT24 about £25, Hope Stainless about £70 and Chris King silly money.

 

[User19783]

Update.
Had a reply from Evans cycle,
they say,
take it to the nearest store, which is an 80 miles round trip, and I know what they are going to say, water damage, so not under warranty,
So I've take the bike to our lbs, and interesting, he said, due to our weather, bb only last a year, if ur lucky.
Well I cycled though all the floods on my road bikes, no problem.
So I am now regretting this bike, a mountain bike is not as tough as they use to be.

 

[Cubist]

Update.
Had a reply from Evans cycle,
they say,
take it to the nearest store, which is an 80 miles round trip, and I know what they are going to say, water damage, so not under warranty,
So I've take the bike to our lbs, and interesting, he said, due to our weather, bb only last a year, if ur lucky.
Well I cycled though all the floods on my road bikes, no problem.
So I am now regretting this bike, a mountain bike is not as tough as they use to be.

So what are you going to ride instead? They need maintenance. If you put the bike away wet or gritty after riding in grim conditions it'll bite you.

You can get a Shimano Octalink chainset... plenty about, or you could learn that outboard BBs are consumables. With the aftermarket one I have I expect to need to change the bearings (if I neglect them that is) as part of the routine maintenance. If that's every year, so be it.

 

[VamP]

It's a consumable. Get over it. As Cubist says, learn to replace it yourself and it will become a pleasure rather than a pain.

As for the aftermarket ones, I had Chris King and managed to slaughter it over one cyclocross season. But it was a very wet season