Mondonico shake down ride report

[jmoore]

The first 4.87 miles were great. Rear end is very stiff. Bike handled well and felt great. Then the Italian bottom bracket unscrewed itself and the cranks would not turn anymore. A SAG ride home later and I'm on the Bedford to finish up a quick 2 hours total.

I pulled the crank and BB and reinstalled with a little blue Loctite. Hopefully that keeps it in place.

Fun times!

[fiamme red]

Yes, I've had that experience before. Not so much fun when you're 40 miles away from home in an area with no mobile phone service. It's what Old Potatoe calls the "far superior Italian threading." ;)

[jmoore]

Yes, I've had that experience before. Not so much fun when you're 40 miles away from home in an area with no mobile phone service. It's what Old Potatoe calls the "far superior Italian threading." ;)


I was lucky that I rode from the house. I had to call a friend of mine to come get me. My wife has a broken foot and was laid up at home. She could not come get me. Worst case was that I had to walk back home 5 miles, so not that awful.


And I kept thinking "far superior Italian threading" my :butt: when I was sitting on the side of the road.

[texbike]

Then the Italian bottom bracket unscrewed itself...

Fun times!

That sucks! I've had that happen before but felt the play starting to develop in the crankset and pulled over a few times during the course of the ride to tighten the BB (an old 7400 series cup and cone) by hand. Not optimum by any means but managed to finish a 40 mile ride and make it back home.

I hope to have the baby brother to yours cleaned up and put together this coming weekend.

Texbike

[oldpotatoe]

The first 4.87 miles were great. Rear end is very stiff. Bike handled well and felt great. Then the Italian bottom bracket unscrewed itself and the cranks would not turn anymore. A SAG ride home later and I'm on the Bedford to finish up a quick 2 hours total.

I pulled the crank and BB and reinstalled with a little blue Loctite. Hopefully that keeps it in place.

Fun times!

Make sure the BB is faced and grease, plumber's tape and TIGHT!!

What crank? Proper tool, locking type for far superior Italian threading and the BB shell must be faced.

[jmoore]

Make sure the BB is faced and grease, plumber's tape and TIGHT!!

What crank? Proper tool, locking type for far superior Italian threading and the BB shell must be faced.

6500 series Ultegra. BB was faced and greased. I used the Park bb tool and a Crescent wrench to install. I thought it was tight. Apparently not.

It's tight now. And blue Loctite'd.

[jmoore]

That sucks! I've had that happen before but felt the play starting to develop in the crankset and pulled over a few times during the course of the ride to tighten the BB (an old 7400 series cup and cone) by hand. Not optimum by any means but managed to finish a 40 mile ride and make it back home.

I hope to have the baby brother to yours cleaned up and put together this coming weekend.

Texbike

It's identical!

[zmudshark]

Jason, I'm with Oldpotatoe, grease, teflon tape, and TIGHT.

[tv_vt]

^^ (and maybe carry a bb tool with you for a ride or two...)

[Ken Robb]

Worst case was that I had to walk back home 5 miles, so not that awful.


And I kept thinking "far superior Italian threading" my :butt: when I was sitting on the side of the road.

Not if you use Speedplay cleats. :):)

[TMB]

Make sure the BB is faced and grease, plumber's tape and TIGHT!!

What crank? Proper tool, locking type for far superior Italian threading and the BB shell must be faced.

Jason, I'm with Oldpotatoe, grease, teflon tape, and TIGHT.

As much as it pains me to agree with one of the above .....


TEFLON TAPE. The magic formula.

[jmoore]

As much as it pains me to agree with one of the above .....


TEFLON TAPE. The magic formula.

blue Loctite ftw


If it backs out again, I'll bust out the teflon tape

[cash05458]

Tex...I see you at last found a Mondonico in your size...nice! That Diamond I got from you last year saw ALOT of miles this year...Mondonico's are such good rides! Man, I love mine.

[FlashUNC]

Touch wood on this, but my Della Santa hasn't had any BB issues with its far superior Italian threading. Just some grease and a lot of torque. Made getting the square taper BB out when I installed the Ultra Torque crank a lot of fun...

[texbike]

Tex...I see you at last found a Mondonico in your size...nice! That Diamond I got from you last year saw ALOT of miles this year...Mondonico's are such good rides! Man, I love mine.

I'm glad that the red Diamond found such an appreciative home and glad to hear that it's getting the miles it deserves! This one isn't in nearly as nice condition as yours, but it's perfect for a bike to leave at the in-laws.

Given the feedback on this thread, I think I'll use teflon tape on the BB threads when putting it together. ;)

Happy Holidays!

Texbike

[thwart]

Well...

I don't have the years of experience of the esteemed folks above with Italian BB's... but having had teflon tape/grease formula fail on two different bikes (Peg Palosanto and Merckx Corsa 01, both with Campy UT), guess what I'm using now with great, continued success (yep, it's blue and rhymes with Loctite).

Thankfully both of the failures above were slow and gradual (front shifting going off) rather than ride-ending episodes.

Could it be the fact that I had the 92 y.o. woman from across the street tighten down those BB's for me... ?

She eats spinach.

And I give her a beer afterwards.

[bikingshearer]

Yes, I've had that experience before. Not so much fun when you're 40 miles away from home in an area with no mobile phone service. It's what Old Potatoe calls the "far superior Italian threading." ;)

My initiation to the "far superior Italian threading" came on an '86 or so De Rosa about ten miles in on a ride with an alleged "friend" who gave me no end of grief before riding off to get his car and after he came back and got me. I'm not sure you didn't have it better. :p

I can't remember if I used the teflon tape solution or the blue Loctite solution, but I certainly wrenched that sucker to within an inch of its Italian threaded life. Hasn't budged since. I put little magic marker marks on the shell and the cup whee I can see them from the saddle to make sure. I learned from the experience; I've no problems with my (Italian-threaded) Eisentraut. Love both bikes.

[choke]

I guess I've been lucky but almost every bike I've owned has had an Italian BB and I've never had the DS cup come loose - and never used anything other than grease on the threads. I did have a NDS cup come loose once though....

[Nags&Ducs]

I guess I've been lucky but almost every bike I've owned has had an Italian BB and I've never had the DS cup come loose - and never used anything other than grease on the threads. I did have a NDS cup come loose once though....

All but my two Ti and one Al Klein are Italian BBs and I've never had a problem with Italian. Only time I've ever had a BB shell come loose was on my Klein with an English BB after I got it back from a "tune up" at the bike shop I bought it from.

All I ever use is grease and torque it to spec.

Make sure the BB is faced and grease, plumber's tape and TIGHT!!

What crank? Proper tool, locking type for far superior Italian threading and the BB shell must be faced.

All kidding aside, is there anything besides that it's Italian that makes it superior? Width, diameter?? I'll give you that Italian is naturally superior...��

Btw, Mondonico is AWESOME!! I hope I never have to get rid of my bikes, but if I do, the Futura Legerro will be my last bike sold.

Congrats to the OP for the score. It's hard to do much better than a Mondonico.

[bironi]

Nice bike. A buddy loves his ~10 year old frame and fork. Enjoy.

[ultraman6970]

As potato said... " plumber's tape and TIGHT!!!""

Just tight that to death, you wont mess the threads, once it hits bottom the cup wont go nowhere. TIGHT!!!

[oldpotatoe]

I guess I've been lucky but almost every bike I've owned has had an Italian BB and I've never had the DS cup come loose - and never used anything other than grease on the threads. I did have a NDS cup come loose once though....

Me neither, no NDS cup loosening either. Same 'technique' as ever. Grease, teflon tape and some sort of locking tool, to make them tight on a BB prepped frame. Never glued them in. Campagnolo cup and ball thru Campagnolo UT and now PT on my Merckx.

[oldpotatoe]

All but my two Ti and one Al Klein are Italian BBs and I've never had a problem with Italian. Only time I've ever had a BB shell come loose was on my Klein with an English BB after I got it back from a "tune up" at the bike shop I bought it from.

All I ever use is grease and torque it to spec.



All kidding aside, is there anything besides that it's Italian that makes it superior? Width, diameter?? I'll give you that Italian is naturally superior...��

Btw, Mondonico is AWESOME!! I hope I never have to get rid of my bikes, but if I do, the Futura Legerro will be my last bike sold.

Congrats to the OP for the score. It's hard to do much better than a Mondonico.

It's Italia...

[merckx]

I've had a ····-ton of frames with Italian BB's and never had a cup unscrew itself.

[cash05458]

I had it happen One time...was out riding a new build...a MXL...and I was used to english and done the rebuild...I just hadn't tightened it enough...after I walked her home, I put the serious arm torque on it and never happened again...just grease, no tape or anything...and nor on any of the other two "far superior" italian bb set ups I have done since...horrible feeling tho when you are out riding a new build, all loud and proud and feeling chuffed at your work and suddenly you realize your front cranks are coming unscrewed...you feel pretty stupid, which I was on that first build...