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    New BB and crankset installed, should the crank spin easier than this?

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    15 Comments

    2. FootballMinimum1472 on

      Just got back from my lbs, and the most I can get it to spin is 1.5 rotations. This is a brand new wheels manufacturing BB. I realize it’s not a ceramic bearing that will spin forever, but shouldn’t it spin a little more freely?

    3. ajs432 on

      This is normal as long as it spins smoothly when applying constant pressure you are good. The person mentioning grease is because grease is stopping it from spinning (but also preventing it from siezing).

    4. lucamarxx on

      probably yes, may get better over time. the amount of force needed to overcome that tho even compared to a ceramic bearing is extremely small, like you probably wouldn’t notice it small. I totally get the frustration tho and had the same issue with a dub bb and just kinda accepted it. honestly forgot about it after a week or so

    5. kickingrocks28 on

      It’s not the BB. That crankset is know for eating up bearings. After 3 BBs my friend swap his Easton cranks out for Shimano and hasn’t had an issue.

    6. soaero on

      No, that’s fine. As long as it spins smooth you’re golden. The amount of drag that’s going to cause is literally going to be imperceptible.

    7. RokenIsDoodleuk on

      Drag on any new, not wrongly installed crankset is always variable on the type of oil/grease in there. I bet this one is greased. Grease heats up over time and becmes softer and even slippier, so when you are riding it might soften up a little bit.

      However, this doesnt matter. Think of a smooth metal wall and a smooth metal brick. Imagine a scenario with oil and another with grease in between. Put a lot of pressure on the brick and squish it against the wall. Now slowly tilt that pressure, so that the brick is still pinned but starts sliding. it will slide just about as easy because there is some sort of lubricant between, and the amount of force put on the brick much moreso defines how fast and easy it slides. It’sthe same with the bottom bracket; you will put so much force on the BB, that it’s more important that it’s lubed at all.

      In fact, you could probably strap some weights to the pedals to make em spin for longer, because there’s more momentum in them. Less spin would therefore also mean that your cranks and pedals are lighter than most, which is a huge pro.

    9. MrRichardH on

      Unless your bike shop has put too much preload on the BB by over tightening the preload collar (which I doubt) you’re experiencing seal drag. Nothing worry about.

    11. Funkuhdelik on

      This is perfectly normal, at even the highest end. When its spinning a ton of times with little resistance is when you know those bearings are dry and likely close to needing replacement.

    12. Aretoo2738 on

      I wouldn’t guess on it, I take it back to the LBS and see what they say if they say it’s fine and it isn’t after a couple rides you’ve at least registered the problem and given them the chance to correct it. Put the responsibility back on them.

    15. OrmTheBearSlayer on

      I think it depends a lot on the bottom bracket. I had some ceramic bearings that tgw cranks would spin just by looking at them but I also had some Shimano bearings that spun similar to this.

      As long as the bearings are in straight if they are press fit and you haven’t applied to much preload it should be ok.

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