Help. Frozen Bottom Bracket

Hi, I'm replacing my shimano lx chartridge bb on my 4 year old Aluminum frame and the fixed cup side
seems to be frozen.

Adjustable cup came out nice and easy. However the fixed cup wont budge at all even with a big
ass wrench.

Perhaps the cup has bonded to the frame. Is that possible?

If so, any suggestions for eventually removing it...

-jason

 

Me <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi, I'm replacing my shimano lx chartridge bb on my 4 year old Aluminum frame and the fixed cup
> side seems to be frozen.

> Adjustable cup came out nice and easy. However the fixed cup wont budge at all even with a big
> ass wrench.

> Perhaps the cup has bonded to the frame. Is that possible?

Yes, it's possible. You know that the fixed cup is a left hand thread (unless it's Italian), no? Try
bringing it to your LBS. In the future, use teflon tape on the threads.

Art Harris

 

"Me" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Hi, I'm replacing my shimano lx chartridge bb on my 4 year old Aluminum frame and the fixed cup
> side seems to be frozen.
>
> Adjustable cup came out nice and easy. However the fixed cup wont budge at all even with a big
> ass wrench.
>
> Perhaps the cup has bonded to the frame. Is that possible?
>
> If so, any suggestions for eventually removing it...
>
> -jason
>
I just had this problem with a frame I acquired. I had to end up putting the fixed cup into a large
bench vise (use something on the jaws to protect the frame) and used the entire frame as a lever...
it loosened up rather nicely at that point.

 

The left-hand thread on the fixed BB cup has sabotaged many an amateur bike repair project. But,
when the fixed cup has a right-hand thread, it throws anyone for a loop. I once had a Japanese-made
bike with right-hand fixed-cup threads (not made in Italy) and it gave me and a few shop mechanics
grief for some time. The odd thing is, that other bikes of the same make and in the same shipment
all had left-hand fixed cups. How and why this one BB got threaded and fitted for a right-hand
fixed cup, is a mystery. After the BB had been thoroughly stripped by repeated attempts to unscrew
it in the logical direction, I finally figured it out. I had ridden it for two years, so no
warranty was in effect. To save the frame, I had to use some metal-mending epoxy to permanently
fuse a new cup in place. I rode it for six more years, before the cup needed replacing and then I
just scrapped the whole frame. I've been told that some older French-made BBs and fixed cups also
used right-hand threads.

Steve McDonald