Italian BB keeps loosening

Dax Ford said:

What tools do I need to this myself?

The right crank arms looks like it comes off with an allen head wrench. It's ISIS and is supposedly self extracting.

But what wrench(s) do I need for the BB itself? (It is an ISIS design)

Which way do it tighten it (English is supposed to be the opposite direction)

Shimano cartridge BB tool works on alot of isis stuff. It needs to be extra tight...clockwise.

boudreaux said:

Shimano cartridge BB tool works on alot of isis stuff. It needs to be extra tight...clockwise.

The Shimano tool will work in a pinch, but the grooves are not as deep as on an ISIS tool, making it difficult to tighten properly. If you want to do it right, get the ISIS tool, they only cost about $12 to $15 or so. I also have an Italian bb and use Deda ISIS bb on my Fondriest...same problem, kept loosening up the first couple hundred KMs. Perhaps not coincidentally, I had the same exact problem on an earlier bike (Cinelli); after 2 or 3 times tightening it down it was fine, and didn't budge after that. At least, that has been my experience.

There is a Park BBT-2 BB tool that is supposed to work with ISIS. So that's all I need to tighten this up.

I don't own any bike tools except for some allen wrenchs and assorted socket wrenches for my car.

Nothing else to buy huh?

Dax Ford said:

There is a Park BBT-2 BB tool that is supposed to work with ISIS. So that's all I need to tighten this up.

I don't own any bike tools except for some allen wrenchs and assorted socket wrenches for my car.

Nothing else to buy huh?

That's right, assuming that your socket wrenches will fit on the end of the Park tool, so that you get enough torque to tighten it correctly. Oh...do you have a crank puller and the little plug that goes in to push against? (don't know what it's called) You of course need to take off the crankarms first 😉 I'm sure it's all listed on the Park website. As Boudreaux said, tighten it clockwise both sides. (non-drive is opposite of English threading).