Bottom bracket conversion



D Buck

New Member
Jul 8, 2017
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I have a Cannondale Caad12 with a very creaky bottom bracket. It is BB30A. Is there some sort of conversion BB I can use if I just want to keep the Cannondale Spidering SiSL crankset? I just want to get rid of the creaking. LBS has tried everything they can think of, including calling Cannondale and asking for their suggestions (and then tried everything Cannondale recommended, too). It still creaks, even after a nearly one year saga of trying to fix it/figure it out. Praxis has one that says it only works with BB30, not BB30A, and Wheels Manufacturing makes one that looks like I might have to change the crankset to Shimano to use it. Anyone know of a solution?
 
No advice, but I feel your pain. A creaking BB will drive a man to...buy a new bike!

Maybe your C-Dale regional rep can work on getting you a deal on a replacement frame or bike.

Good luck!
 
No advice, but I feel your pain. A creaking BB will drive a man to...buy a new bike!

Maybe your C-Dale regional rep can work on getting you a deal on a replacement frame or bike.

Good luck!

Thanks for the well wishes. :) The problem is that it is a new bike (well, a year old), and I saved up for three years to buy it and don't have the budget for much of anything right now. We'll see what happens. My LBS owner is personally putting some pressure on Cannondale about it, but he doesn't know how that will go. And I don't know if talking to them myself with do anything (as far as letting them know that I'm not afraid to give them some bad press).
 
I assume C-Dale had the shop mechanics glue the cups in place, shim the spindle, etc.? And they have looked at every other component on the bike that can mimic a BB creak, click or squeak...to include shoes and cleats?
 
Suggest you email Cannondate customer support directly. I wouldn't threaten them at all, but describe the problem clearly and how much it has detracted from your enjoyment of the new bike. Tell them the steps your LBS dealer has taken over the past year, the number of times you've taken it in for a fix, and then ask them to make it right. IMO, a new bike that creaks is a bike that has a manufacturing defect, ie, something is wrong with it. Those defects are covered under the warranty. I'd think C'Dale should fix this problem or give you a new bike. Good luck.
 
I have a Cannondale Caad12 with a very creaky bottom bracket. It is BB30A. Is there some sort of conversion BB I can use if I just want to keep the Cannondale Spidering SiSL crankset? I just want to get rid of the creaking. LBS has tried everything they can think of, including calling Cannondale and asking for their suggestions (and then tried everything Cannondale recommended, too). It still creaks, even after a nearly one year saga of trying to fix it/figure it out. Praxis has one that says it only works with BB30, not BB30A, and Wheels Manufacturing makes one that looks like I might have to change the crankset to Shimano to use it. Anyone know of a solution?
ONCE MORE, INTO THE BREACH ...

Let me begin by noting that most of what CAMPYBOB will say-and/or-suggest is usually pretty worthwhile ... "a new bike" may be an extreme option, however.​

Regardless, with caveat in hand, you may-or-may-not want to run your baby blues over the "10 pages of retarded alf" which CAMPYBOB could-not-AND-can-not wrap his mind around BECAUSE the discourse delves into just what can go wrong with the HIRTH COUPLING as used in a bicycle's crankset spindle and how to "fix" it ...

While I do not know if Cannondale decided to implement the equivalent of a WAVY WASHER in their Hirth Coupling assembly, if they did, then THAT is probably the source of the unwanted noise ...

FYI. The WAVY WASHER is Campagnolo's kluge to compensate for any imprecision in the width of some BB shells ... particularly, if a "custom" frame was prepped by some hamhandedwrench when the use of BB spacers was surprisingly common ...
The Rogue Mechanic remedies the unwanted noise by replacing the WAVY WASHER with "traditional" washers which he fabricated.

On one vintage frame of mine whose English threaded BB shell was 70mm (!) wide (presumably it was intentionally asymmetrically offset on the non-driveside to counterbalance some of the pedaling torque -- in the past few years Pinarello has made the non-driveside chainstay on their hoity-toity frames more robust to compensate for the torque), I was able to get a perfect installation by reducing the shell to a 68.00mm width which allows the two halves of the BB spindle to mesh 100.00% rather than have a 1mm gap between the two halves which occurs through the insertion of the WAVY WASHER on any installation of a Campagnolo Ultra Torque crankset when using English threaded cups ...

Now, I will note that on ONE bike of mine which has an Italian threaded BB shell that I used a flattened WAVY WASHER to take up the unexpected slack which I was able to "measure" by backing one of the cups out of the BB shell until the crank achieved the desired amount of NON-resistance -- the difference turned out to be the thickness of the dreaded WAVY WASHER.

The installation of a "washer" whose thickness matches that of a WAVY WASHER may be necessary for all of Campagnolo's Italian threaded UT installations OR it may be an isolated case with that particular frame (which is to say that I have not tried a UT installation on any of the other three frames which I have which have an Italian threaded BB shell).

Yes, the resultant Q-Factor for the crank in the particular frame which has an Italian threaded BB shell is the ideal (IMO) 144.5mm instead of the 145.5mm 'suggestion' which is stenciled on the Campagnolo UT crankarms.
The possible key, then (IMO), to eliminate the "creaky bottom bracket" (if Cannondale uses their version of the WAVY WASHER) is to determine the ideal Q-Factor for the crankset by mating the two halves together when they are NOT installed in a frame and then matching it when the crankset is installed in the bike WITHOUT the presumed-to-exist WAVY WASHER equivalent.

With a press fit BB you will be able to limit the amount of trial-and-error by determining the ideal Q-Factor when the crank is not installed and then matching that Q-Factor when the crank is installed in your bike.​

BTW. Unfortunately (IMO), the BB30 is pretty much a proprietary design which few have licensed ... that does NOT make it a bad design, per se ...

BUT, I believe that it means that your current crankset can only be used on a bike with a BB30 Bottom Bracket.​

And, whether-or-not the BB30 Bottom Bracket design is good-or-bad is not really a matter for immediate discussion, but let me suggest that the next bike you buy (and there will be another at some point in time) have a more plebeian English threaded BB shell OR even an Italian threaded BB shell ... the two have been around for about 100 years, and will probably still be in used 100 years from now ...

If you feel that a press fit BB is the ONLY way to go, then if you must then you may want to choose a bike whose frame maker has chosen a comparatively generic BB86 shell.​

So,while you may never opt for a Shimano or Campagnolo crankset, you may want to consider one of those as a benchmark for the crankset on your next bike.
 
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Look up "thedarkinstall" on youtube. He's a Brit who lives in Japan and he owns a Cannondale. He made a few videos about Wako's disc brake protector lubricant, which has fixed the creaking on his bike. According to thedarkinstall, Cannondale Japan officially recommends this lubricant for creaky BB's. Unfortunately, this protector is only available in Japan but he can buy it and send it to you. I did and didn't have any problems with the transaction.

Here's a link of his video about Wako's:

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osvv2mh-v5E


I'm not affliated with him in anyway, but I just stumbled on his channel and enjoyed his videos.