question re: clunking feeling/noise when pedaling....

[Unknown Soldier]

I have this Raleigh M-30 I bought used at a bike store near the braeswood trail at fondren in
Houston texas. Pretty good mountain bike. Good enough for me, anyway.

I am riding to lose weight. I am pretty fat.

I have noticed a slight clunking feeling/sound from the bike when I am pedaling. The sound comes
from the bearing (or whatever it's called) that protects the metal bar/piece (or whatever it's
called) that joins the pedals in the middle where they go into the bike chassis. I have had this
same problem with another bike before. In that case I think that the bearing just wore out, or maybe
I put too much weight on it?

In any event, with that previous bike, I just bought another bike because it seemed too much trouble
to try to replace that bearing and associated parts in the middle of the pedal bar.

But I really like this bike. I have looked at the nut that secures the bearing, and it does not
seem loose.

What can I do to fix this bike? It still rides fine, but I know the problem is not getting any
better. Should I try to tighten the nut? Can I order a replacement bearing (or whatever parts
are needed)?

Thanks in advance....

 

[Werehatrack]

On 28 Jul 2003 14:03:11 -0700, [email protected] (Unknown Soldier) may have said:

>I have this Raleigh M-30 I bought used at a bike store near the braeswood trail at fondren in
>Houston texas. Pretty good mountain bike. Good enough for me, anyway.
>
>I am riding to lose weight. I am pretty fat.
>
>I have noticed a slight clunking feeling/sound from the bike when I am pedaling. The sound comes
>from the bearing (or whatever it's called) that protects the metal bar/piece (or whatever it's
>called) that joins the pedals in the middle where they go into the bike chassis. I have had this
>same problem with another bike before. In that case I think that the bearing just wore out, or
>maybe I put too much weight on it?
>
>In any event, with that previous bike, I just bought another bike because it seemed too much
>trouble to try to replace that bearing and associated parts in the middle of the pedal bar.
>
>But I really like this bike. I have looked at the nut that secures the bearing, and it does not
>seem loose.
>
>What can I do to fix this bike? It still rides fine, but I know the problem is not getting any
>better. Should I try to tighten the nut? Can I order a replacement bearing (or whatever parts
>are needed)?

First, the bearing assembly inside the frame which carries the pedal shaft is called a "bottom
bracket"; I believe that at one time, the word "bearing" was appended to the term, but has since
fallen off. It's quite likely that there's something loose in this area. If the bearing was actually
bad, you'd very likely get more than just a clunk. There's a good chance that all that it will take
to fix this is just a little tightening of the retainer on one side of the bottom bracket. There is,
however, also a possibility that the problem is a loose pedal crank arm; if that's the case, you
definitely do not want to ride it until the problem's fixed.

I'd drop by the bike shop (SW Schwinn?), explain what's going on, and see what they say. They might
just take care of it since you bought the bike there.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy.

 

[Bill Smith]

Had the same thing with my Trek 7500fx, turned out to be a bottom bracket cup was loose. Most of
these today are cartridge types held in by threaded cups on either side of the bottom bracket. Mine
was loose right from the factory. Could be a pedal bearing to, but the clunk sure sounds like a
loose cup. Like the previous responder said, take it back to your dealer, they'll pull the crank
arms and check it out for you, shouldn't take but 15-20 minutes tops, or you could buy the tools and
check it for yourself if your into that sort of thing. You would need to buy a crank puller and a
bottom bracket tool. Check out www.parktool.com for that stuff. Can't speak for Raliegh, but with
trek you can call them and tell them what model you have, and they can reference exactly which park
tool you will need for any given job. Takes the guess work out of it.

"Werehatrack" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]... On 28 Jul 2003 14:03:11 -0700,
[email protected] (Unknown Soldier) may have said:

>I have this Raleigh M-30 I bought used at a bike store near the braeswood trail at fondren in
>Houston texas. Pretty good mountain bike. Good enough for me, anyway.
>
>I am riding to lose weight. I am pretty fat.
>
>I have noticed a slight clunking feeling/sound from the bike when I am pedaling. The sound comes
>from the bearing (or whatever it's called) that protects the metal bar/piece (or whatever it's
>called) that joins the pedals in the middle where they go into the bike chassis. I have had this
>same problem with another bike before. In that case I think that the bearing just wore out, or
>maybe I put too much weight on it?
>
>In any event, with that previous bike, I just bought another bike because it seemed too much
>trouble to try to replace that bearing and associated parts in the middle of the pedal bar.
>
>But I really like this bike. I have looked at the nut that secures the bearing, and it does not
>seem loose.
>
>What can I do to fix this bike? It still rides fine, but I know the problem is not getting any
>better. Should I try to tighten the nut? Can I order a replacement bearing (or whatever parts
>are needed)?

First, the bearing assembly inside the frame which carries the pedal shaft is called a "bottom
bracket"; I believe that at one time, the word "bearing" was appended to the term, but has since
fallen off. It's quite likely that there's something loose in this area. If the bearing was actually
bad, you'd very likely get more than just a clunk. There's a good chance that all that it will take
to fix this is just a little tightening of the retainer on one side of the bottom bracket. There is,
however, also a possibility that the problem is a loose pedal crank arm; if that's the case, you
definitely do not want to ride it until the problem's fixed.

I'd drop by the bike shop (SW Schwinn?), explain what's going on, and see what they say. They might
just take care of it since you bought the bike there.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy.

 

[Randy]

Is there a good website for pulling apart and fixing the stuff in the bottom bracket?

On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 00:43:53 GMT, "Bill Smith" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Had the same thing with my Trek 7500fx, turned out to be a bottom bracket cup was loose. Most of
>these today are cartridge types held in by threaded cups on either side of the bottom bracket. Mine
>was loose right from the factory. Could be a pedal bearing to, but the clunk sure sounds like a
>loose cup. Like the previous responder said, take it back to your dealer, they'll pull the crank
>arms and check it out for you, shouldn't take but 15-20 minutes tops, or you could buy the tools
>and check it for yourself if your into that sort of thing. You would need to buy a crank puller and
>a bottom bracket tool. Check out www.parktool.com for that stuff. Can't speak for Raliegh, but with
>trek you can call them and tell them what model you have, and they can reference exactly which park
>tool you will need for any given job. Takes the guess work out of it.
>
>
>"Werehatrack" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]... On 28 Jul 2003 14:03:11 -0700,
>[email protected] (Unknown Soldier) may have said:
>
>>I have this Raleigh M-30 I bought used at a bike store near the braeswood trail at fondren in
>>Houston texas. Pretty good mountain bike. Good enough for me, anyway.
>>
>>I am riding to lose weight. I am pretty fat.
>>
>>I have noticed a slight clunking feeling/sound from the bike when I am pedaling. The sound comes
>>from the bearing (or whatever it's called) that protects the metal bar/piece (or whatever it's
>>called) that joins the pedals in the middle where they go into the bike chassis. I have had this
>>same problem with another bike before. In that case I think that the bearing just wore out, or
>>maybe I put too much weight on it?
>>
>>In any event, with that previous bike, I just bought another bike because it seemed too much
>>trouble to try to replace that bearing and associated parts in the middle of the pedal bar.
>>
>>But I really like this bike. I have looked at the nut that secures the bearing, and it does not
>>seem loose.
>>
>>What can I do to fix this bike? It still rides fine, but I know the problem is not getting any
>>better. Should I try to tighten the nut? Can I order a replacement bearing (or whatever parts are
>>needed)?
>
>First, the bearing assembly inside the frame which carries the pedal shaft is called a "bottom
>bracket"; I believe that at one time, the word "bearing" was appended to the term, but has since
>fallen off. It's quite likely that there's something loose in this area. If the bearing was
>actually bad, you'd very likely get more than just a clunk. There's a good chance that all that it
>will take to fix this is just a little tightening of the retainer on one side of the bottom
>bracket. There is, however, also a possibility that the problem is a loose pedal crank arm; if
>that's the case, you definitely do not want to ride it until the problem's fixed.
>
>I'd drop by the bike shop (SW Schwinn?), explain what's going on, and see what they say. They might
>just take care of it since you bought the bike there.

-------------
-Randy