Advice: Campy BB 'clicking' sound

[cgolvin]

Last week I noticed a regular click sound, clearly tied to crank rotation, reliably present during greater intensity effort like climbing. SR UT crankset.

As I prepare to remove cranks and examine the BB, beyond planning to re-lube and check for rough spots in the bearings, I'm not really sure what to look for.

I recognize the challenge in diagnosing annoying noises via text, but would very much welcome any suggestions on where to focus my attention.

thanks in advance

[Mark McM]

What kind of BB shell does your frame have?

[cgolvin]

English (d'oh)

[jemoryl]

You have ruled out things like the crank arm brushing against the FD or the end of the FD cable?

[cgolvin]

You have ruled out things like the crank arm brushing against the FD or the end of the FD cable?

Yes. While the cranks do in some circumstances touch the FD cable (overdue in trimming that, thanks for the reminder) the sound also occurs during hard effort in the big ring, when the cable is far away from the crank arm.

[NoMoreParagon]

very rare to have english BB cup system clicking with campy in my experience.
Last time something similar happened to me the culprit were the following
1) skewers
2) seatpost

Since both of them are kind of coming from the rear of the bike they often get confused with BB creaks...

[dddd]

Pedals should be checked for serious torque into the crankarms, and pedals and shoes/cleats should perhaps be ruled out before attacking your bottom bracket or crank assembly.

I would try to stand on the pedals while stationary, turning the cranks to different positions while listening for the noise to occur. This may result in observations that lead to a logical conclusion.

My seatpost in my Colnago CX-Zero was dry enough to make noises that I thought were coming from the bb area, but I realized that I could not make the noise occur while standing off of the saddle!

Rear quick release lever that is not gripping the dropouts tightly enough will also produce those synchronous (with pedaling) clicks that seem to be originating near the bb.

Good luck, and let us know if this resolves.

[jtakeda]

Do the shoes you wear have laces?

[Calnago]

When you remove the cranks, look for signs of wear on the cup surface. Anodization worn through, etc. If you see that, replace the cups. Not that expensive. If you still experience the clicking, your bearings may need replacing although oddly enough, I’ve never had to replace any CULT bearings.
So, here’s what happens... if the cups and/or bearings are worn, the lateral movement of the crank becomes much easier to initiate through pedal forces. When not worn, this lateral movement is virtually nil and preload is always kept in check by the wavy washer. When everything is torqued down properly, there is about 0.2mm of clearance between the drive side bearing and the ends of the C-clip. Those ends protruding are the stops that prevent any excessive lateral movement beyond 0.2mm. But if the cups/bearings get worn, then it is easy for the crank to move laterally with each pedal stroke and cause the drive side bearing to hit up against the C-clip ends, creating the incessant click on each revolution, especially under force.
Here’s an experiment you can do... from the non drive side, push hard and quick against the left crank arm at the center of the spindle area, as if you want to push the whole crank out the drive side. It will compress the wavy washer and stop when it hits the C-clip. Is it fairly easy to push in? Can you make the “clicking” sound by doing so? My guess is new cups as a minimum are in order, maybe bearings, but it’s easy to try out the new cups first. How old is the installation?

And oh yes, I just saw the post before mine, make sure your shoe laces aren’t hitting against something. Ha. Funny as it may sound, sometimes it’s the simplest things that get overlooked.

[Hindmost]

What vintage are your bb cups? Early versions were prone to noise-making.

[josephr]

my suggestion is to clean/regrease pedal bearings and spindles. especially if speedplay or shimano.

[Ralph]

Skewers? A creaking rear skewer will sound like it's coming from BB. Easy to swap a wheel or skewer out to see. Before you tear a BB out.

[oldpotatoe]

Ride bike without Cycling shoes(same pedals)
Swap pedals
Swap rear wheel
Grease QRs
Then open BB

[rousseau]

In my experience this is a clear case of needing to replace the bearings on the crankset.

[cgolvin]

Thanks all. Yet another opportunity to express my love of Paceline. Condensing responses…

- Yes, my shoes have laces but they are well secured.
- I first noticed this last week on my standard wheels, recurred yesterday while testing some carbon tubulars. However, I used the same QR in both cases so will double check tightness.
- Installation is about 6 months old but the groupset was used (bought here) and I don't know the mileage at purchase.
- Not sure exact vintage, it's white label SR and I think it's ~2010 (paging Clean39T).

I just took Calnago's advice and I am, indeed, able to compress the non-drive side and produce a noise that does sound very similar to what I'm hearing. However, and I should have said this originally, I don't have a big torque wrench so when installing I simply gave it full gas and hoped to get in the vicinity of 45nm. So…

Before disassembling to check the cups, should I first ensure that the cranks are adequately torqued? Or should I go ahead and take it apart?

[rst72]

In my experience this is a clear case of needing to replace the bearings on the crankset.


This.

[Hindmost]

- Not sure exact vintage, it's white label SR and I think it's ~2010 (paging Clean39T)

2010? humm... The current EPS compatible record (silver with a green tint) or super record (black) cups should be considered. There were subtle dimensional changes made over the years.

[cgolvin]

2010? humm... The current EPS compatible record (silver with a green tint) or super record (black) cups should be considered. There were subtle dimensional changes made over the years.

Thanks.

Best practice to replace c-clip and wave washer along with new cups, or can I re-use them?

[choke]

You might want to check to see if the chainring bolts are tight.

[Calnago]

Thanks all. Yet another opportunity to express my love of Paceline. Condensing responses…



- Yes, my shoes have laces but they are well secured.

- I first noticed this last week on my standard wheels, recurred yesterday while testing some carbon tubulars. However, I used the same QR in both cases so will double check tightness.

- Installation is about 6 months old but the groupset was used (bought here) and I don't know the mileage at purchase.

- Not sure exact vintage, it's white label SR and I think it's ~2010 (paging Clean39T).



I just took Calnago's advice and I am, indeed, able to compress the non-drive side and produce a noise that does sound very similar to what I'm hearing. However, and I should have said this originally, I don't have a big torque wrench so when installing I simply gave it full gas and hoped to get in the vicinity of 45nm. So…



Before disassembling to check the cups, should I first ensure that the cranks are adequately torqued? Or should I go ahead and take it apart?


Disassemble them to check the cups at least. At a minimum it will give you an opportunity to apply grease. More torque isn’t going to stop the clicking if it’s from what I’m thinking. By the way, you should be able to do this on a brand new install as well if the cups are aligned and well greased. The difference will be in how worn the cups are. There is still that 0.2mm of clearance between the drive side bearing and the clip. I just suggested doing that to see if it was the same “click” that you’re hearing. If it sounds the same, then proceed to disassemble. Replace the cups if the anodoization is worn off anywhere and reassemble. The cups to the bottom bracket should be 35Nm (pretty tight if using your “I’m a lumberjack and I’m ok” scale of torque. The hirth bolt of 50Nm is pretty close to your “Full Gas” gauge.
The white label SR cranks are first generation 2009-2010. They had the separate male/female chainring bolts.

[Hindmost]

Thanks.

Best practice to replace c-clip and wave washer along with new cups, or can I re-use them?

If you purchase new cups they come with the clip and spring washer.

[BobC]

Check RD pulleys. A cracked pulley will click (ask me how I know).

Good luck.

[Calnago]

Just get the current Super Record cups. As was said, they will come with a new C-clip and wavy washer. Shouldn’t cost more than. $30-$40. The Cult bearings on the other hand... small fortune relatively speaking.

[Mzilliox]

looking forward to what fixes it. Im currently having a sound similar, only when i stop pedalling it continues, so i think i can rule out BB and crank. when i go faster it seems to get worse.

My guess is something in the rear hub or QR. Im about to go put it on the stand and see if i can tell. ill report back as to what i find. please let us know if and how you fix yours...

[Black Dog]

What vintage are your bb cups? Early versions were prone to noise-making.

This is true. The newer greenish cups eliminated the BB clicking syndrome that some people (myself included) were having on english BBs. A second wavy washer can also solve the problem if there is room for one. Better solution is replace the old style cups with the newer style greenish tinted ones.

[thwart]

Ride bike without Cycling shoes(same pedals)
Swap pedals
Swap rear wheel
Grease QRs
Then open BB

This.

I had a out-of-the-saddle click that I swore was coming from the BB. Titanium frame.

Wrong. Switched wheels and tightened the QR more. Nope, still there... then lubed the internal dropout/hub interface... poof, gone.

Of course this was after changing out the UT crank and BB... to no avail. :crap:

[longlist]

I have a noise that was from my seatpost. It was the bolt that holds the seat on the post. Everyone thought it was the bottom bracket.

[pdmtong]

the similar scenario for me was isolated to the cups...new ones solved the clicking when climbing out of the saddle.

[rustychisel]

I had a 'ping' many years ago (& guessing this is not your situation)...

turns out it was the metal zipper tab on my winter jersey. :mad:

[marciero]

looking forward to what fixes it. Im currently having a sound similar, only when i stop pedalling it continues, so i think i can rule out BB and crank. when i go faster it seems to get worse.


Is it wheel-rotation frequency? Can you narrow it down to one wheel? Still do it when you, eg, unweight the wheel? If it's not coming from a spoke (in which case a little oil on nipple or where it crosses other spoke could fix it) it might be the valve stem moving and clicking against the side of the valve hole. I had this happen once on a tubular tire. At least I think that is what it was. A little electrical tape fixed it. Or I should say it seems to have gone away. If it's a threaded valve stem I would thing a stem nut would at least diagnose the problem.

Nothing to offer the OP, but there is a long thread somewhere on Paceline with lots of potential causes.

[mcteague]

I have had this happen in the past and it always came down to the QR. When riding, I was sure the click came from the BB. I even stripped it down, cleaned and greased only to still have the noise. Cleaned and oiled the QR and all was well. Also make sure the dropouts and fort tips are really clean.

Tim

[oldpotatoe]

Thanks all. Yet another opportunity to express my love of Paceline. Condensing responses…

- Yes, my shoes have laces but they are well secured.
- I first noticed this last week on my standard wheels, recurred yesterday while testing some carbon tubulars. However, I used the same QR in both cases so will double check tightness.
- Installation is about 6 months old but the groupset was used (bought here) and I don't know the mileage at purchase.
- Not sure exact vintage, it's white label SR and I think it's ~2010 (paging Clean39T).

I just took Calnago's advice and I am, indeed, able to compress the non-drive side and produce a noise that does sound very similar to what I'm hearing. However, and I should have said this originally, I don't have a big torque wrench so when installing I simply gave it full gas and hoped to get in the vicinity of 45nm. So…

Before disassembling to check the cups, should I first ensure that the cranks are adequately torqued? Or should I go ahead and take it apart?

Take it apart, check for wear inside the cups..if there is, replace with NON SR, greenish cups(with seal)...LOTSA grease inside BB shell, inside cups. If older frame, maybe some teflon tape around threads of cups. Spin bearings..if there is ANY grittiness at all, replace and use just standard stainless bearings..US made ones are great and not a lot of $(NOTE-They are 6mm in width, not 7mm)..lotsa grease around bearings and onto hirth teeth as well.

BTW-I have the bearings..from Wheels Manufacturing.

[oldpotatoe]

Thanks.

Best practice to replace c-clip and wave washer along with new cups, or can I re-use them?

They come with a new clip and wavy washer..use the new ones.

[Calnago]

I should have also mentioned that when you remove the cups, if you can tell that the BB has never been properly faced, then that would be a good thing to do as it could easily be the cause of wear on the cup surfaces if they’re not perfectly aligned with each other. Proper facing will ensure they are.
Also, SR cups have had seals for some time. If you’re using them with the CULT bearings the seals are easily removeable, or left in, at your discretion. Plus they’re black.

[bikesickness]

I had the same issue recently with a 2010 SR group. The cause in my case was a lack of grease in the BB cups.

[oldpotatoe]

I should have also mentioned that when you remove the cups, if you can tell that the BB has never been properly faced, then that would be a good thing to do as it could easily be the cause of wear on the cup surfaces if they’re not perfectly aligned with each other. Proper facing will ensure they are.
Also, SR cups have had seals for some time. If you’re using them with the CULT bearings the seals are easily removeable, or left in, at your discretion. Plus they’re black.

Teeny, weeny point..SR cups don't have the seals in them but can be added. NO reason to NOT have seals, even on CULT bearing cranks..ceramic can get gunked up just like stainless ball bearings can.

Thing in R cup is wavy washer.

[ultraman6970]

Was the OP i would just take the cranks out, clean and repack with a lot of new lithium grease, reinstall, and test.

[Mzilliox]

I swapped wheels, and i still have my popping sound. It almost sounds like its coming from the front end. I tightened the headset, it was pretty tight, still popping/clicking, rotationally, consistent. fork damage? ill try cleaning the dropouts. it happens whether i pedal or not, so pretty sure its not the bb or crankset.

[Mzilliox]

Is it wheel-rotation frequency? Can you narrow it down to one wheel? Still do it when you, eg, unweight the wheel? If it's not coming from a spoke (in which case a little oil on nipple or where it crosses other spoke could fix it) it might be the valve stem moving and clicking against the side of the valve hole. I had this happen once on a tubular tire. At least I think that is what it was. A little electrical tape fixed it. Or I should say it seems to have gone away. If it's a threaded valve stem I would thing a stem nut would at least diagnose the problem.

Nothing to offer the OP, but there is a long thread somewhere on Paceline with lots of potential causes.

unweighted, on the stand, no sounds, its perfect, nothing from drivetrain, dead silent. as soon as i add 150lbs to the bike, i get the sound. i tried another set of wheels (mavic tubulars then Bora tubulars), also tubular though, maybe it is the valve stems... ill get on that next.

[colker]

Square taper bottom bracket.

[Mzilliox]

Marciero, brother, thanks for restoring my sanity, i now have a quiet bike again!

it was the valve stems knocking, put at tem nut on each one and viola, silent and stealth again.:bike:

[beeatnik]

I've had intermittent clicking/clacking on my C60 since I installed a 2011 Chorus crankset. The clicking actually began as creaking which I was able to isolate to a chainring bolt. Then a week later the bike began to metronomically click during out of the saddle efforts, in every gear. Dead silent in the saddle. So went down the list: skewers (r45 hubs), headset, brake cables and seatpost. It wasn't until reading this thread that I considered bearings. The clicking resonated as previous loose integrated headsets. Short story long, I was ready to replace the 2011 cranks with the current 4-arm (why buy new bearings for a $100 used crankset). Then, yesterday, a moment of divine intervention, a gust of wind knocked over my bike. Hard enough to scuff the right shifter worse than on any of my high speed crashes. At some point on the ride home I realized the clicking was gone. Gracias a Dios!

But

BUT

It came back in the evening. Yet, I began to think the temporary silence was related to the impact. And then it finally dawned on me. The left crank arm had this zip tied to it:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/905/27833491978_976e553a95_c.jpg

Four years ago, when I bought the cranks, the thing was so tight that I couldn't cut the tie without marring the cranks. Last night it was loose enough to move up and down half an inch.

It never stops.

[cgolvin]

Was the OP i would just take the cranks out, clean and repack with a lot of new lithium grease, reinstall, and test.

Thanks for all the advice, took me a while to find the time for disassembly.

I don't know if this is related to the noise, but it took some oomph to pull the non-drive side out, and when the crank came out the bearings dislodged from the crank arm and remained in the cup.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/904/41708190701_2134cfdb8f_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/26xBo1e)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/26xBo1e) by cgolvin (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nivlog/), on Flickr
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/827/41708190601_1d48812255_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/26xBnYv)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/26xBnYv) by cgolvin (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nivlog/), on Flickr

Not sure what the best path forward is here. I have a new set of SR cups (not the green Record ones, got OP's post after I bought these) but I think I need to first remove the bearing from the cup and reattach it to the crank, no?

Your collective wisdom and guidance appreciated.

[Hindmost]

That's interesting. Yes, to proceed you should pull the bearing out of the cup and place it back on the crank arm. I wonder that you would be better off with new bearing(s) and your new cups. The thin seals can be popped out of the old cups and placed into the new ones.

[yashcha]

My SR cranks always clicked when the crank bolt became slightly loose, and they would get loose quite often, which drove me crazy.

[oldpotatoe]

I swapped wheels, and i still have my popping sound. It almost sounds like its coming from the front end. I tightened the headset, it was pretty tight, still popping/clicking, rotationally, consistent. fork damage? ill try cleaning the dropouts. it happens whether i pedal or not, so pretty sure its not the bb or crankset.

Take the front end apart, clean and grease..particularly under the bearings if it's a drop-in type Cart bearing HS..Even pry the seals off, grease in there too..(seals back on)...

[oldpotatoe]

Thanks for all the advice, took me a while to find the time for disassembly.

I don't know if this is related to the noise, but it took some oomph to pull the non-drive side out, and when the crank came out the bearings dislodged from the crank arm and remained in the cup.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/904/41708190701_2134cfdb8f_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/26xBo1e)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/26xBo1e) by cgolvin (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nivlog/), on Flickr
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/827/41708190601_1d48812255_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/26xBnYv)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/26xBnYv) by cgolvin (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nivlog/), on Flickr

Not sure what the best path forward is here. I have a new set of SR cups (not the green Record ones, got OP's post after I bought these) but I think I need to first remove the bearing from the cup and reattach it to the crank, no?

Your collective wisdom and guidance appreciated.

Yes, pull the bearing of(remember, there is a clip that holds the RH one on)..but I'm thinking something is corroded, or something otherwise that bearing wouldn't have been stuck in the cup..new bearings? If using the SR cups, take the seals out of the cups now in and use the seals..seals and grease a good thing.

[VC Slim]

My Record BB clicking was silenced by rotating the clip 180 degrees. Good luck with finding a solution. I know how annoying it can be.

[huck*this]

My understanding is that it takes more than 45nm. I think we are aiming for around 60nm. I am 225lbs and built like a line-man haha. I have to put everything I got into it with a large torque wrench.

What I would do. Like Cal said. New cups. Goes in dry. Clean up the threads and torque her down.

Also just looking at the cups. You sure those are Campy cups? Look different to me. Although I haven't seen Eng thread but would assume it looks the same as ITA.

[cgolvin]

Yes, pull the bearing of(remember, there is a clip that holds the RH one on)..but I'm thinking something is corroded, or something otherwise that bearing wouldn't have been stuck in the cup..new bearings? If using the SR cups, take the seals out of the cups now in and use the seals..seals and grease a good thing.

Sorry, but I'm confused by exactly what you mean by "seals" — when I look at the SR cups, both the existing ones and the new ones, I don't see anything I'd call a seal.

I reinstalled the old cups last night just to make sure the threads were well lubricated. Next I plan to reinstall the cranks using the old clip and wave washer, making sure that the insides of the cups are greased. Also, will make sure that the securing bolt's threads are lubed (I think you also said to lube the teeth on the crank axle, if that's what you meant by "hirth teeth".)

[bigbill]

I'm chasing a noise that occurs when I'm standing or torqueing over hard while seated. At speed, no noise. I've cleaned and regreased the bearings and cups, cleaned and lubed the rear QR and hub/dropout interface, and done the same for the front. Still the same. I swapped pedals last night, will see this afternoon. The Ultegra pedals I took off have been on that crankset since late 2012 and they had some play in them. I had a new set of 105's in the travel box.

[cgolvin]

What I would do. Like Cal said. New cups. Goes in dry. Clean up the threads and torque her down.

"Goes in dry"? No lube on the threads? Hmm, at odds with OP I think.

Also just looking at the cups. You sure those are Campy cups? Look different to me. Although I haven't seen Eng thread but would assume it looks the same as ITA.

Yes, they are Campy SR cups.

[Hindmost]

Sorry, but I'm confused by exactly what you mean by "seals" — when I look at the SR cups, both the existing ones and the new ones, I don't see anything I'd call a seal.

If both of your sets of cups are SR you may not have any seals. OP posted some images above, the right-hand image shows white things that are the seals.

[cgolvin]

If both of your sets of cups are SR you may not have any seals. OP posted some images above, the right-hand image shows white things that are the seals.

Now I see -- thanks for clarifying.

[Mzilliox]

Take the front end apart, clean and grease..particularly under the bearings if it's a drop-in type Cart bearing HS..Even pry the seals off, grease in there too..(seals back on)...

thanks brother, ended up being tubular valve stems knocking on the rim because ive been running lower tires pressures lately i guess. put a nut on the valve stem and no more sound! when i swapped wheels, i was still using tubulars, so still had the valve stems a knockin. weird, as they had not done that on other bikes as far as i can recall.

[Calnago]

"Goes in dry"? No lube on the threads? Hmm, at odds with OP I think.

Yes, they are Campy SR cups.

Hmm... I'm not sure why the whole quote didn't come through, but I don't think I ever said to put the cups in dry, in this case at least. In some pressfit applications you can, depending on tolearances, but not this threaded situation. An antiseize compound all over the threads of the cups and the shell for sure.

And seeing those pics... yeah, toss the cups for sure and replace with the new ones. That bearing has seized itself nicely to the cup. Not sure what kind of shape those bearings are in. The thing with the CULT bearings is that both the bearings and races are specially treated, as opposed to the many "hybrid" ceramic bearings, where the bearings may be ceramic but the races are steel, which still requires grease. As long as there's no huge openings that allow for chunky bits of road debris to get in there, I prefer to remove the seals and just use a couple drops of light synthetic oil in the ceramic bearings. If you have cups that don't have any seals, I suspect those are quite old stock. They all have seals now, and you can simply remove them if you want to use them with CULT bearings. Your choice. Pretty sure that you could run the CULT bearings in a constant stream of water with no rust issues, but no so with the Chorus or Record bearings. You think your bearing is seized?... here is a Chorus bearing after a nice wet winter (albeit abused I'm sure)... not fun when they get to that shape.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5257/5469855204_12ba6c5779_b.jpg

Chorus cups used to be pewter, then that greenish color, but I think now they're all just the same (black) and all come with seals in them. There is no designated SR cups anymore, just RE. I have several sets here, and even the set from 2014 has the seals in it.
Here's a set with the seals removed... these are for a pressfit application, but the insides are all the same, just varies a bit depending on the shell you're installing them into...
Cups before removing seals...
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5472/30264123914_87f39ed1f5_c.jpg

And after seals removed...
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5449/30264124484_c8a89648c2_c.jpg

As for the hirth joint bolt torque... I always use 50Nm, dab smack in the middle of their specified range of 40-60Nm. Never been a problem.

Good luck.

[cgolvin]

Thanks much. My comment about dry cups was in response to huckthis, not you.

The bearing came out of the cup pretty easily so my first try is going to be simply cleaning and reassembling everything with additional lubrication and proper torque. I'm most of the way there and will test it out on a not-too-long ride Saturday (since the noise is not necessarily easy to reproduce, really only started with some hard climbing and then came & went). If the noise remains then I'll move to replacing the cups. FWIW, after reassembly (no chain) the cranks turn very smoothly.

However, the cups I purchased don't (best I can tell looking through the plastic) include seals. The package says "SR outboard cups-BC EPS COMPATIBLE".

Update to come once I've done a road test. I really appreciate everyone's assistance here.

[Calnago]

When you cleaned out the cups, did you notice any of the anodization on the inside surfaces being worn off? If not, then maybe just cleaning them up and resintalling everything might work. For the bearings, really flush some degreaser through them, even just hold them under the tap to flush out any chunky bits of debris. Then blow them out with compressed air. They will spin like a dental tool. Get them looking like this if you can...
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5321/30264122674_186501f700_c.jpg

[oldpotatoe]

Sorry, but I'm confused by exactly what you mean by "seals" — when I look at the SR cups, both the existing ones and the new ones, I don't see anything I'd call a seal.

I reinstalled the old cups last night just to make sure the threads were well lubricated. Next I plan to reinstall the cranks using the old clip and wave washer, making sure that the insides of the cups are greased. Also, will make sure that the securing bolt's threads are lubed (I think you also said to lube the teeth on the crank axle, if that's what you meant by "hirth teeth".)

Yup, no seals on SR, yes seals in Record..take those seals out and install in SR cups. Yes, grease on teeth. And for right above, grease inside those bearings!!

[cgolvin]

When you cleaned out the cups, did you notice any of the anodization on the inside surfaces being worn off? If not, then maybe just cleaning them up and resintalling everything might work. For the bearings, really flush some degreaser through them, even just hold them under the tap to flush out any chunky bits of debris. Then blow them out with compressed air. They will spin like a dental tool. Get them looking like this if you can...


No wear that I could feel, the cups seemed in very good condition, which is why I opted to first just clean & reassemble everything.

Unfortunately your note arrived after I'd put it back together so I didn't flush the bearings, but to me they spin very smoothly, couldn't detect any grit. Though, to be fair, they certainly don't look like your picture.

[dogrange]

This exact thing happened to Lionel B. He tried everything for like a year. It ended up being a somewhat loose derailleur clamp bolt! Seems that the frame would flex just enough under moderate to heavy power to click on each stroke. Tightened the clamp bolt and his problem was solved.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Calnago]

Yup, could be a lot of things for sure. I had a buddy who could not figure out an annoying click for the longest time. Turned out to be the tiny screw holding the seatstay to the rear dropout. Removed it, got a new screw, permanently loctited it in and all was good. But certainly not an obvious place anyone would look.

[oldpotatoe]

[QUOTE]There is no designated SR cups anymore, just RE.

As long as there's no huge openings that allow for chunky bits of road debris to get in there, I prefer to remove the seals and just use a couple drops of light synthetic oil in the ceramic bearings. If you have cups that don't have any seals, I suspect those are quite old stock.

2018 still lists 'SuperRecord' and 'Record' cups..Black, no seals, greenish, seals.

Pretty sure. And the Cult bearings, altho 'hardened' steel races, still steel. Gunk in there, very hard ceramic balls, and it will kill the races, even tho hardened steel. I think grease is still a good idea for no other reason to help with 'sealing' the inside from the outside. NO reason to remove seals with Cult bearings, IMHO.

[Mikej]

I just chased down a b.b. click on my MTB, while not Campy, it was the spd plate torque screws. 1/8-1/4 TURN LOOSE. Solved it. Another on my sons bike -rear T/A skewer loose - the DT Swiss type.

[El Chaba]

As a data point..I don't think that the UT design is bad, as it is strong, light and stiff; but its strong suit is not being weatherproof. After any significant use, the bearings always are contaminated by dirt and moisture when opened up for servicing/inspection.

[Mark McM]

As a data point..I don't think that the UT design is bad, as it is strong, light and stiff; but its strong suit is not being weatherproof. After any significant use, the bearings always are contaminated by dirt and moisture when opened up for servicing/inspection.

This is often the case for all the external bearing BB types.

[dddd]

This is often the case for all the external bearing BB types.

For sure, the increased seal drag due to larger diameter parts means that any sealing mechanism will have to be carefully designed and tested to work as well as older bottom brackets.

And as bearings wear, shaft deflection at the seal will further challenge the ability of the seals to keep on chugging.

Shimano's seem to work and last better than most I've found, and are cheap and easy to replace.

[cgolvin]

Always good to have a positive resolution to annoying sounds.

In this case a full teardown, cleaning, lubrication, and proper torqueing seems to have done the trick. Just a 35 mile loop today but some full gas climbing and nary a sound.

Thanks to everyone and I'll once again raise a glass to Paceline, I'm so appreciative. May all your rides once again be undisturbed by annoying sounds from your bikes.

[oldpotatoe]

Always good to have a positive resolution to annoying sounds.

In this case a full teardown, cleaning, lubrication, and proper torqueing seems to have done the trick. Just a 35 mile loop today but some full gas climbing and nary a sound.

Thanks to everyone and I'll once again raise a glass to Paceline, I'm so appreciative. May all your rides once again be undisturbed by annoying sounds from your bikes.

Huzzah!! Great when a noise fix is found...

[Mikej]

For sure, the increased seal drag due to larger diameter parts means that any sealing mechanism will have to be carefully designed and tested to work as well as older bottom brackets.

And as bearings wear, shaft deflection at the seal will further challenge the ability of the seals to keep on chugging.

Shimano's seem to work and last better than most I've found, and are cheap and easy to replace.

For the money, at least. UT B.B. could be made bulletproof- but for the money, they are what they are. I’d say the testing has already been done, think of the amount of high load bearings in use right now in the world, but bicycle riders are pushing engineering and manufacturing tolerances? Hardly.