Chorus Compact not happy w/ Phil?

[dsb137]

I have a Chorus compact crank fitted to a Phil Wood Ti bottom bracket on my bike with ~1K - 1.5K miles on it. Every time I put a torque wrench to the crank bolts they turn a bit before the torque wrench 'clicks'. I seem to be under the illusion (delusion?) that at some point these would settle in and the not turn any more before the torque wrench 'clicks'... Is there a problem, or am I just being paranoid?

Thx,
Dave

 

[alienator]

If they're tightened to the correct torque, why keep tightening them?

 

[dsb137]

If they're tightened to the correct torque, why keep tightening them?

Apparently they are working loose because when I put the torque wrench to them, they tighten before reaching the original torque value... Am I the only one that re-checks the torque/tightness of fasteners after installation?

 

[alienator]

Did you get a bottom bracket with the correct taper? What, if any, prep did you do to the BB before installing the cranks? Did you grease the crank fixing bolt(s)? Is this happening on both ends of the BB?

 

[swampy1970]

Is there a problem, or am I just being paranoid?

Thx,
Dave

A bit of both...

... pop a bit of loctite threadlocker (the blue compound) onto the crank bolt and it'll stay exactly where you tighten it too. The blue loctite is not permanent and doesn't require that much extra effort when you need to undo the bolt. The best place to get it is from the local auto/car parts store.

Are you using an aluminium or titanium crank bolt that are different from the one supplied? If so, seat the cranks with a nice steel one and then swap the bolts out. It could be that your lightweight bolt is stretching...

 

[dsb137]

Are you using an aluminium or titanium crank bolt that are different from the one supplied? If so, seat the cranks with a nice steel one and then swap the bolts out. It could be that your lightweight bolt is stretching...

The crank bolts are the ones that came with the crank from Campy, I'm not sure what they're made of. I guess what I'm concerned about is that the Ti BB is allowing the Aluminum(?) insert in the carbon crank to 'work' on the taper. No lubricant was put on the tapers during installation, but the Ti does have a natural 'lube' property in some instances. I'll try the loctite and see if I can source some other bolts to try.

 

[BikeyGuy]

I had a Phil Wood Ti BB on my record crank. After 2,500 miles...click...click.
I called Phil and they said, bad bearings. I sent it back and they sent me a new Ti BB. First mile, click....click.
Callled them back and the customer service fella said that Ti BB's are having the bearing clicking noise.

A buddy of mine owns a bike shop and told me Ti BB's suck. Why ? He doesn't know but does know he gets alot of them with problems.

Anyway, I had Phil send me a Stainless BB. I now have 18,000 miles on it. After 15,000 miles I took it apart to inspect the bearings. "Like new". Didn't even need grease. Today still operating perfect.

IMO......Go with the stainless. Good luck.

 

[dhk2]

My bike has a ti ISIS spindle, and I did find the alloy crankbolts were loosing torque about twice a year (eg, at 2500 miles). Switching to the steel crankbolts took care of the problem.

Don't know anything about Phil Wood BBs, but can't see why a ti spindle would be an issue; should work as well as steel.....plus ti gives that all important "significant" weight savings

 

[dsb137]

Well... I pulled one of the crank bolts and it passes the magnet test, so I guess it's steel. The bolt had remnants of blue loctite on it, campy must have shipped it with thread locker on it, I didn't put it on... So, I suppose the decision is between a stainless Phil Wood and a Campy BB...

 

[Peter@vecchios]

Well... I pulled one of the crank bolts and it passes the magnet test, so I guess it's steel. The bolt had remnants of blue loctite on it, campy must have shipped it with thread locker on it, I didn't put it on... So, I suppose the decision is between a stainless Phil Wood and a Campy BB...

I also have a Record crank(carbon) with a steel Phil BB, steel Campagnolo bolts and it has gone untouched for almost 2 years w/o any problem. Installed onto DRY spindles, grease onto the bolt threads and around the crank bolt washers, installed to torque(I use 30 ft-lbs, wee bit higher than Campagnolo but easier to read on my beam type torque wrench). No npise, no loosening, no nothing, very smooth.

I'd say go to steel also. BTW, I install the BB cups with GREASE, inside cups and into hub shell. NO loctite(sorry Phil). Use 2 tools to tighten, bobs yer uncle.

 

[dhk2]

I've not an expert on this stuff, aren't there two or three different "standards" for tapers? Does the fit seem right to you? If the Phil Wood Fe spindle is machined to the same spec as their Ti spindle, I can't envision how anything will be different.

 

[dsb137]

I've not an expert on this stuff, aren't there two or three different "standards" for tapers? Does the fit seem right to you? If the Phil Wood Fe spindle is machined to the same spec as their Ti spindle, I can't envision how anything will be different.

I'm with you on that one... The BB I have was ordered specifically for a Campagnolo square taper crank and came with the proper part number as I recall. Nothing during installation would indicate that the taper was incorrect, but perhaps machining tolerance bit me. Or it could be that the insert in the crank just doesn't 'seat' well on the Ti spindle, I dunno...

Thanks for the responses, it's nice to know that this interweb thingy is actually useful...

 

[dhk2]

The other possibility of course is that your crankarm was machined out of spec, or is galled or yielded. Do you know that the crankarm hasn't been installed on another spindle in the past?

As to the internet forum thing, sure it's useful. People here know a lot about bikes. Hopefully you'll find that at least some of what we know is true

 

[dsb137]

The other possibility of course is that your crankarm was machined out of spec, or is galled or yielded. Do you know that the crankarm hasn't been installed on another spindle in the past?

As to the internet forum thing, sure it's useful. People here know a lot about bikes. Hopefully you'll find that at least some of what we know is true

You have a point there... The Crank was new when installed as well as the BB... That doesn't rule out the crank being out of spec... If the crank works with another BB, I'll blame the Phil Wood BB and roll merrily down the road... If not, well I'll have to cross that bridge first.

 

[alienator]

If PW won't exchange BB's with you, buy a steel BB, and sell the Ti on eBay. The Ti will command a pretty groovy price in the eBay universe.