Next up we have a mighty, mighty Pinnacle Ramin. This is one burly bike with full Shimano MTB XT, Shimano MTB SLX hydraulic brakes and Alexrims. New cassette, re-aligned gear hanger, new bottom bracket cups and a trued rear wheel meant it could make it out over the Easter break with accurate, smooth shifting guarantee.
Next up a Canyon in need of new pedals fitting and rear brake adjustment. Although pedals should be easy enough to fit, these 105 items were snug to say the least. Its owner tried to fit them himself, but sensibly, backed off when it felt like they may cross the threads of the lovely Ultegra cranks. A wee bit of grease and a steady hand meant these beauties got fitted in time for the weekend.
Finally we have a couple of Ridgebacks which were a little worse for wear. New Fibrax Limited cabling, a new Suntour chainset, Shimano MTB bottom bracket (as you’ll see, the old bottom bracket had outlived its usefulness) and SRAM MTB twist shifter for the MX24 and new grips meant they were ready to go for a family ride (weather permitting!)
Next up here’s a Boardman that needed a fair bit of work. The bottom bracket was wobbly like a wobbly thing with the bearings having been totally worn out. FSA item fitted and adjusted to get things back on an even keel. A new KMC Chain USA chain helped to get things going again, along with a refreshing Annual Service. Finally, the freehub body had seized solid…no amount of cajoling or adjustment could bring it back to life. Now, this is one of the areas where mid to lower level Boardmans make some concessions to quality to hit a price point, so it’s actually cheaper to replace the whole wheel. On the plus side, the replacement Shimano Road item is 11 speed ready, has silky smooth bearings and an easily replaceable freehub body. Not the best news in the world, but a silver lining could be seen
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This Condor had been in a couple of weeks ago with a very, VERY worn bottom bracket. Its owner needed it in a hurry for a charity ride he was doing the same weekend. Unfortunately, the bottom bracket cups wouldn’t shift as they were corroded tightly in place (not a lick of anti-seize had been applied I assumed). Fast forward a couple of weeks and its owner asked me to try again as it was virtually un-rideable. So, using a slightly Heath-Robinson solution consisting of bolts and thingymajigs, I finally managed to shift it. As you can see the bottom bracket shell was in a state.
Condor non-drive side bottom bracket shell
Once cleaned up, and the threads chased, it was time to fit a new Shimano bottom bracket, re-fit the crankset and double-check the chain line. Result? One very happy owner and a (slightly) relieved bike mechanic.
Condor new bottom bracket