when installing the none drive side crank do the splines fit all the way on the axle before tightening the bolt should i give it them a wack with a rubber mallet?? Currently there is a good 7mm gap between the crank and bb

hit it with a rock!! 😆

The bolt will push the crank onto the axle. It’s not just a hand fit like Hollowtech 2 cranks, more like the original Octolink/ ISIS sort of splined fitting cranks where they have a bit more of an interference fit.

Just be very sure the splines are lined up perfectly – if there is undue resistance then don’t force it.

The guide on park tool website is very clear, better than the Shimano instructions anyway.

**** feel like it

Don’t his it with anything, read the instructions again, M970 installation is a faff and you need to follow the instructions faithfully.

Park Tool FTW

thanks stun very helpful i didn’t realize the amount of force required was so great

Can’t say there is a great deal of faff to be honest. Bolt up crank, turn the bearing collar, nip up collar – job done.

There is only about 2mm of threads on the collar though so you need to get the crank over a bit yet in order to load the bb bearings.

i wouldn’t say its a faff.
piece of piss imo. i prefer that to the proper ht 2

right there on! strange how i’m happy to put a bike through a rock garden yet don’t wanna apply any force when fitting pricey kit. No way a better idea than normal ht2 mind

takes 2 mins to fit/remove.

and more secure in effect. whats not to like?

well if it takes two mins normal ht2 takes one min. whilst the bearing preload may be a slightly better solution I don’t really like applying so much force to mate the spline fitting. I’m sure threads could be stripped. I felt ht2 was a very nice solution and probably the bb bearings are an area in more need of attention from shimano. how often do you here of people wanting to upgrade there bb. Out of interest i’m assuming you use xtr, when you spin your cranks by hand how many revolutions do you get?

i just think its neater/better.
do you mean with no chain on them? quite a few, 6/7 times anyway.
i wore out the shimano, and fitted a hope ceramic. its super smooth, and much nicer than the shimano jobs,

Hmmm I’m getting less than 1, with no chain on them. perhaps i’ll remove them and start again. need to buy a torque wrench.

would expect it to spin a couple times with a normal shimano bb…

okay i’ll have a little play tomorrow evening

430 quid? smack it with a lump hammer. be fine.

When I installed both of mine, I only got 1 or 2 revs when spun by hand (with new BBs’s) but after 1 ride they were also at the 6 or spins.

(I think that is a good sign that the bearings need a little bedding in)