Tig'ed BB30?

[marciero]

I "cured" a creaky bottom bracket on our Cannondale tandem by simply greasing the crankarm spindles, then started hearing very faint creaking again after a few hundred miles, so I took things apart again. Here are photos of the stoker bottom bracket , and what I believe is the "sleeve" referred to by
hollowgram5 in this thread. The standard type of FSA/Shimano outboard bearing cups screw into this sleeve. Not having worked on BB30, the drive side appeared to be as I imagined a press-fit piece would. But the NDS has apparently been welded in a few places. The metal blobs have even bulged the lip of the bottom bracket in places-you can see two small stress fractures in one place, though they do not go all the way through the lip. One of the metal blobs also would impede proper seating of one of the crankarm spacers, though the spacer has eventually worn away in that spot and sits flush. I'm a bit mystified as to how this occurred as the bike was purportedly new. I cant imagine it coming out of the factory like this. Is this sort of thing done? I bought it from a reputable shop and do intend to follow up with them. What are the prospects of cleaning up that mess and installing properly perhaps with loctite? According to hollowgram, there is a tool for removal but again the welds would have to be cleaned out. I'm probably getting ahead of myself-I am pretty optimistic the dealer would assume responsibility for this, or perhaps Cannondale (Dorel ??).

[mgordon]

Wow, never seen anything like that but also never had any tandems when I was working at a cannondale shop.

[hollowgram5]

That seems beyond odd. I can't speak to the manufacturing process, but that doesn't look like previous instances of that adapter I've seen. I'd take it back to the dealership and see what they'd do for you.

[cmbicycles]

That is not a factory (or professional) solution imo, that is a hack job done by somebody and might make me question whether this was in fact new when you bought it. It looks like it deformed the shell slightly, and the (looks like mig welding) weld tacks aren't symmetrical nor flush as would need to be with an external BB which could cause more creaking than it would have solved

The weld tacks might not hold if pressed out using the proper tools, but there is a chance it could damage the shell if the weld tacks on the adapter aren't machined out first. I worked in shops that sold a few Cannondale tandems back before bb30 was more common, and several single bikes that had those FSA adapters both installed and removed. Installation of the adapter uses green loctite, not a welder. Removal is a pair of nesting steel adapters used with the headset press, I have the adapters. Sometimes I applied a little heat on the inside of the adapter to help soften the loctite bond.

This one is odd. I hope the dealer and or cannondale takes care of you on this.

[marciero]

You'd think they would at least evenly distribute those tacks...
I am curious as to how the shell was deformed. Would that happen when it was welded? If it happened over time from flexing and stressing I would expect there to be a gap there.

[dlui]

looks like pins hammered in place, any welding would burn the paint

[zap]

Seeing as there is at least one bulge, you could be right.

Stunning.

Curious what the LBS has to say about this.

[2metalhips]

I agree that's not welded. Some hack hammered/hacked at it. Bizarre.

[54ny77]

good grief that's one serious hack job.

i took my bb30 cannondale frame to a reputable shop and had them insert a bsa threaded sleeve. forget the brand, although i think it was from fsa, perhaps? i opted for that route vs. the all-in-one sleeve and bearing thing. in other words, $30 for a sleeve an the ability to use whatever external bb i wanted (shimano) vs. paying a couple hundred for a proprietary bb sleeve/bearing combo.

the sleeve is in there good, no muss no fuss.

[Timvan]

Thats a poor weld at best. Looks like it has very minimal if any penetration.

[marciero]

Thanks all for the insights. Maybe a quick weld followed by hammering? Inadequate penetration would be a good thing as far as repairing this. The hammering would explain why there are no gaps and also suggests that the bulge and stress marks happened during installation (and are hopefully not worsening)
It may be a little while before I can get to the dealer as I live out of state but can certainly give them a call and email them pictures.

[marciero]

I finally made it to the bike shop during a recent visit to RI. The owner assured me that the bike was indeed new and, as luck would have it, the Cannondale rep was due to visit the following day. He, the C'dale rep, took one look and ruled it a warranty issue, no questions. Apparently it is a lifetime warranty. He thinks it was a deformed FSA sleeve that they, the factory in Asia, tried to reinforce or stabilize. That sleeve is actually epoxied in, he told me. The sleeve sure does not look deformed. It appears round and bearing cups thread in smoothly. In any case we filed a claim through the shop and now is a matter of Cannondale locating a new frame in that size to send. The irony now is that we are experiencing no creaking. Machining the spacer so that it lies flat and/or greasing the spindle and/or replacing the rough bearing seem to have taken care of that.

[blakcloud]

That's great news to hear. I hope they find a frame for you soon.

[Ralph]

I use one of the FSA sleeves in the BB30 BB of a Cannondale CAAD 10. It's a tight fit, and has to be pressed in. Mine is also in with epoxy, although most use green Loctite. Works fine, is square, sleeve was so precisely made didn't need to be faced to tighten BB to recommended TQ and have bearings spin freely. There is a special tool for pressing them in and for pressing them out...used in a vise. Don't see how the sleeve could be be deformed prior to being pressed in. Yours looks like a big hammer was used.

[2metalhips]

That's good news. Providence Bike?