How To Remove A Stuck Bottom Bracket From Your Bike | GCN Tech Monday Maintenance

There's nothing worse than your bottom bracket getting seized in your bike frame. You've tried every trick in the book, but it just won't budge! Well, thankfully, Alex is on hand with a few tips and tricks to help you remove that BB, and prevent it happening again in the future!

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Have you ever had your bottom bracket get stuck in your frame? How did you get it out? Let us know in the comments below!

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[gcntech]

Have you ever had your bottom bracket get stuck in your frame? How did you get it out? Let us know in the comments below!

[Hambini]

HELLO HAMBINI FANS,

Some tips from me for threaded.
1. Run a tap down the threads before you install the BB, bottom bracket threads are fine pitched for their diameter (1.0mm or 24 threads per inch), it's easy to get some cack in there and aluminium is soft so it will deform.
2. Agree with the presenter, use grease. Lithium grease or something with a VERY HIGH NLGI rating, something like a 2 or 3. Grease in this case is not there for lubrication like a bearing, it's there as a static seal and assembly aid.
3. When removing, these open spanner type units are often water cut or laser cut from sheet metal, they are comparatively weak at the tips. The cup type thing he had is much better. Obviously this depends on how seized it is.
4. Although he doesn't recommend heat, I do, I'd heat the entire BB area up with a hairdryer and then spray some freeze spray like loctite onto the axle, Do this a few times and you will usually wonder where the resistance was.

A word on failure mechanisms. The usual method of failure or inevitable problem with these bottom brackets is galvanic corrosion. This is caused by the bottom bracket ending up like a battery and enhancing corrosion. The best solution to stop this happening is to remove your bottom bracket frequently, - you don't necessarily have to replace it.

Some tips for pressfit.
1. Measure the bottom bracket hole and bottom bracket before you install it. The majority of seizures happen because of excessive interference. The recommended interference across the board is 0.05mm. 0.03mm is better and my recommendation.
2. If this type of BB seizes, REMOVE THe bearings before you try to hammer the cups out. The majority of residual stress keeping it in are the steel races. The cups have comparatively little contribution to the retention.
3. if you are still struggling to hammer it out, then take the bearings out, and get a hacksaw and cut a slit into the sides of the bottom bracket. YOU DO NOT Need to go all of the way through, just enough to weaken the side wall.

And the final thing is, your shiny bike with it's brand name is no guarantee of quality. Do your measurements and check for yourself before you buy.

[jackiegammon]

As a shop owner, I've had bikes that would NOT have made this look so easy. NO amount of penetrating fluid helped after a couple of days, and various "cheater" bars did not help either. Older model bike with the threaded BB, so the only option was heat and had no issues getting it out. Now, a carbon frame is a different story, but if you're a trained mechanic, I would not worry about heat as long as it i not held in one spot all the time.

[ChinaCycling]

Option 1: Get a hammer. Doesn't work? Option 2: Phone Hambini. 😎

[rmstucky]

My first question anytime someone mentions a stuck "which way did you try to turn the wrench??"

[docontra]

4:01 Hey! Some of us are just watching because we enjoy GCN content.

(Granted, my BB is most likely seized but I wasn't here for that nor have a pressing need to remove it by myself in the medium term)

[cheesesandwich]

Make sure you know if its english or italian thread !

[SuperNeilB]

Most important for threaded....make sure you are bashing it the right way! Not all threads are lefty loosy, righty tighty.

[Purplepigster]

Alex - soaked the BBR60 twice in 24 hours using WD four zero , then using my wrench, Park tools adapter cap and a spare Brompton seatpost I have removed the BB first go ! (after an epic struggle I lost 2 days ago) Frame only on the kitchen floor for more purchase and able to use my body weight. Thank you for this video . I can now fit the new BB in my ribble CGR ti and crack on .

[dudeonbike]

Pro tip for ya (for older threaded BB shells):
After BB removal and cleaning up with a rag and some solvent, go to the hardware store & get yourself a 1 1/2" round radial wire brush to be used in a drill. You gotta kinda push it into the BB shell, but once you do, it will clean it out like magic. Utilize the drill reverse depending on what side you're doing. You'll be AMAZED at how it scours out and cleans up the threads. Truly amazing. Pretty much equivalent to running a set of taps through it.

[macdontcare]

Thankfully this chore only cost me my marriage. Both our bikes getting upgrades, but her BB seized when we attempted to remove. Threaded square taper Shimano BB removed with the cursed spline removal tool. Used socket spline tool held in place with a carpenter's clamp, then turned using old heavy duty pipe wrench.

[micheldagenais]

I had a bottom bracket really seized, on a 20 years old touring bike that was used twice in Canadian winters through the snow and salt. The proper tool and a 60cm breaker bar did not work. Neither did anti-seize fluid and a big hammer on the breaker bar. Finally my son who has worked on old cars suggested using an impact gun. It worked like magic, instantly. On another cross-country bike, after 5 snowy and salty Canadian winters, before knowing about the impact gun magic, I had an hollotech II bottom bracket (aluminium?) stuck in a steel frame. I carefully cut the bottom bracket cup in three and was able to destructively remove it piece by piece.

[tr]

Oh gosh - had to do this recently on a square taper BB. Ended up having to ask a mechanic friend to help. In the end, he had to use a blow torch 😱

[janwillemkuilenburg]

I had to trash a single speed frame, because the manufacturer did not install the BB with grease. The BB was impossible to remove.
So, after buying a bike or frame, service your BB directly straight away. The same for the seatpost: remove, grease and re install.

[paulhudson]

Kettle full of Boiling water Has helped me out a couple of times loosening A Stubborn BB.

[Trevor-Reed]

Awesome frame. Was it a triangular top and down tube. I have one in blue, 20 years old now.

[nickhumphrey]

There something about those older bikes like the ribble that I love. You don't feel too bad that you use it for errands and the like, because its not your best. Its not gonna crack because its not carbon- they are dependable and reliable

[skydave]

I had one stuck last week... took bike off stand and stood it on the floor in order to apply more pressure.

[borist]

My favorite way -and the one that works when everything else fails - my Milwaukee impact driver

[scottcurda]

I see the piece of pipe you are using as the snipe is branded Park tools. Is it a SN-01?