Hey everyone,
I’ve got myself in a bit of a situation and could really use your help. Before my upcoming Christmas trip, I took my bike into the shop for a service. To make things easier for them, I gave the bike a full wash myself before dropping it off. I picked it up all set and tuned, but on my test ride, I noticed a strange noise when pedaling—especially uphill with force—that was never there before.
Thinking something might have gone wrong during the service, I took it back to the same mechanic. He checked the bottom bracket and said the noise is coming from it being a bit worn out. It’s still useable for now, but he mentioned it might need replacing soon.
So, my question is: could my cleaning have caused this? I used a chain degreaser while using chain washer and washed everything pretty thoroughly—could that have led to the bottom bracket issue if the degreaser would drip into crank area? Would re-lubricating or any other quick fixes help, or am I just stuck with this noise until I can replace the bottom bracket? I’m hoping to avoid any major issues on my trip, so any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
All Good People From This Sub – Last-Minute Help
byu/ElectronicPirate9615 inbikewrench
by ElectronicPirate9615
5 Comments
Yeah spraying degreaser and pressurized (?) water definitely could have accelerated bottom brackets failure. Fortunately they’re like 30 bucks so nbd.
The degreeaser likely stripped away some surface grease from in between the spindle and the bb. If you trust yourself enough, you can remove the cranks pretty easily and regrease the spindle, making sure to reassemble it with the proper torque .
Not related to your post (apologies).
If you place your feet on the pedals so that the ball of the foot is over the pedal axle, you will pedal more efficiently. This will engage the muscles of the lower leg much more.
If you do try this, you may need to raise your saddle height slightly as your legs will effectively become longer levers.
Sorry for the intrusion.
I had microspline xt freehub doing this and had to service it every month or two until servicing didnt work anymore
When i had this noise , it was the rear hub that was fucked .