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How to stop a squeaking PF30 BB


Veebee

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This is starting to annoy me !

 

Had a fsa BB in, after riding through a puddle it starts creaking, a strip and clean and its okay until some water gets in again.

 

Changed it to a Token cermanic bb, was fine for +/- 500km and then it starts.

Definitely the BB area, if I spray some q20 it stops for a short while.

 

What can you guys recommend doing here ?

Some locktite or epoxy but then the issue comes in when it needs to be removed.

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Welcome to Pressfit. grease solved the noise but not the cause. Creaks come from the movement between bearing and frame (or bearing and spindle), grease encourages parts to move. So the movement that caused the original creak is no doubt still there, it's just not making noise. Over time that grease will wear down and you're right back were you started. The problem with this is that you've got a very hard bearing race rocking back and forth inside a soft aluminum shell. You can imagine over a couple of years of regular use this is going to start to deform the BB shell, making matters much worse.

 

The more appropriate way of solving this is to use various bearing retaining compounds to lock the bearing into the BB shell. This solves the movement and the creak in one step. Carbon bikes need a primer, so it's a two step process. While this is a new way of thinking in the bike industry, it's been done for decades in other industry's.

 

Snipped from another forum.

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Usually the issue is between the bearing race and the BB shell. as soon as that gets a bit of water in, then dries you get the clicking and squeaking. the best I've found is to replace with a Token / WheelsMFG sleeve (essentially this is a threaded two piece sleeve which locks tightly into the BB shell and provides a better surface for the race). Note - My experience is more with PF than BB30, but afaik the same principle applies.

 

Also worth checking that the bearings are 100% aligned - if not you'll have all sorts of issues (but the sleeve solution works for this).

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I had the same problem! Get an Enduro BB where the shell threads into each other inside the BB they are big bucks but bearing replacement is cheap. problem solved

torqtite-render-1.png

This... But the wheels mfg one, the retail cheaper than the cost to shops of the Enduro

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the other issue is the bearings run dry very quickly so make sure you regrease them regularly.

I'm using the token Ninja BB4630. It works a tret but be sure to buy the installation tool from Token. The only Parktool that works on the 49mm 16 notch interface is the BBT27 or BBT27.2. all the other tools out there are 48.5mm and won't fit the bb without tearing the interface apart.

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Dick, the second best thing I ever did was install the external threaded cup BB and hollowtech crankset you so generously handed down to me. I can honestly say that looking at pressfit BB's and the tools and nonsense required to install and maintain them, I will probably avoid buying a bike with a pressfit bb system.

 

Welcome to Pressfit. grease solved the noise but not the cause. Creaks come from the movement between bearing and frame (or bearing and spindle), grease encourages parts to move. So the movement that caused the original creak is no doubt still there, it's just not making noise. Over time that grease will wear down and you're right back were you started. The problem with this is that you've got a very hard bearing race rocking back and forth inside a soft aluminum shell. You can imagine over a couple of years of regular use this is going to start to deform the BB shell, making matters much worse.

 

The more appropriate way of solving this is to use various bearing retaining compounds to lock the bearing into the BB shell. This solves the movement and the creak in one step. Carbon bikes need a primer, so it's a two step process. While this is a new way of thinking in the bike industry, it's been done for decades in other industry's.

 

Snipped from another forum.

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Step 1: Take PF frame and burn it.

Step 2: Buy T47 frame.

 

Seriously though my vote goes to the "screw together PF BBs. Wheels Manufacturing and Token are .y two favourite brands.

 

Advice to new PF frame buyers: before you even turn a pedal on your new bike toss out the two PF plasticrap inserts and pop in one of the BB mentioned above.

 

Dear lord - please make the industry adopt T47. Pretty please.

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The screw together type solves a lot of the issues, but it is also a very expensive solution. Since you already purchased the ceramic bearings, I would assume you would want to reuse the bearings.

 

The majority of the time, the creak develops between the nylon cup and the frame where the interface occurs. There is a very fine tolerance there and this often results in slight movement. The only way I have solved this issue with my bikes is using a trick that I learnt from my father-in-law:

 

Remove the bearings, and clean out the BB area, using thinners or similar - really scrub the area to ensure that all dirt etc. is removed. Once dried, apply a thin layer of tubby glue all around the BB shell and leave to dry for 24 hours. Repress your bearings and you will be good to go. The tubby glue remains slightly "moveable" allowing any gaps to be taken up, stopping the bearings from moving.

 

Besides epoxying the bearings into position, this is the only other solution that I have found that appears to work. 

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