MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Hi all. I've not used my Cube Acid for few weeks, and when I spun the cranks yesterday it felt as if the bottom bracket was really stiff. Not grinding or rough, just a little bit seized up. I gave the cranks a good spin, which seemed to ease it, but it's still not turning as freely as it did before this period of inactivity. Is there anything I can do with lube or spray to free it up a bit, or is it safe to assume it'll ease up further when it gets a good spin on my next ride? Thanks.
Nackered BB would be my guess, the freeing up could be the spindle spinning in the bearing so I'd take it appart and see before riding it and potwntialy wearing out the spindle.
Thanks, what am I looking for if I take it apart? And should I be concerned that it says 'Do not disassemble' round the outside?! 🙂
"Do not disassemble" refers to the bearings, you'll be fine.
Remove the cranks (different brands have different methods, check for a manual online) and turn the bearings with your finger, if it's anything other than perfectly smooth then assume the bearings are goosed.
If it's a normal threaded BB then Shimano/FSA/Race Face all use the same size so Shimano are the best bet on the cheep. With Truvative you can either get Hope with an addapter or BETD refurbish them with better bearings (I've only had cheep truvative and it lasted only a short time).
Thanks very much, will have a look this weekend.
The "do not disassemble" on shimano's isn't strictly true, using this guide http://rothar.com/words/?page_id=279 you can quite often rescue a seized bb, repack it with grease and it'll get you going in the short term. I've had a deore one last another 6 months doing this but that was down to laziness , it's probably best used as a temporary measure