Help fixing bike please

[JWC86]

Thanks for the help guys. Just to clear things up a bit on the crank puller. From my research I did today it appears the early versions of this crankset didn’t have the self extracting feature. That came later. This one needs the puller from what I can tell.

I’ll put this MT501 bottom bracket in next week when it arrives along with the tools and I’ll update as to what the problem is, if it’s worn out bearings or cracked or whatever I find. If/when I have to replace the bottom bracket again I’ll upgrade it to something better.

Everything will get cleaned up very good and lubed during reassembly. I’ll likely take all the suspensions components apart and lube the pivot points.

 

[JWC86]

Ok so side question:

I flushed the brakes today. I ASSumed it used mineral oil, I figured all bicycles did. It has Hayes brakes and requires DOT brake fluid…

I flushed it back really good to DOT 5.1 this evening but the mineral oil was in the system for about 12 hrs. How screwed am I? Will I have to rebuild the calipers and masters? Talk about a make work project…

 

[Impatient]

This one?

Shimano XTR SM-BB93 Bottom Bracket

Features: Compatible with all mountain Hollowtech II cranks

fortnine.ca

View attachment 210825

This was the later version with the smaller balls . Again, perhaps it has better seals, or the balls themselves even harder than the sm-bb92. Heck, maybe with smaller balls, they fit more balls in. I would have looked for sm-bb72. That said. I made some assumptions regarding the 501’s.

 

[JWC86]

I liked RaceFace in general, but I always heard the cranks creaked, and people couldn’t get rid of the creak.

This thing creaks like crazy, I never thought of the crankset being the issue.

Sometimes I contemplate upgrading from a 3x9 to a 1x11 but idk if it makes sense to spend much money on a 12 year old 26”er…

 

[oilboy123]

When I was working on bikes a lot the Park bike tool website had procedures for just about any bike. It is what I used when I needed advice etc.

Just checked, still there.

parktool.com

 

[Impatient]

This was the later version with the smaller balls . Again, perhaps it has better seals, or the balls themselves even harder than the sm-bb92. Heck, maybe with smaller balls, they fit more balls in. I would have looked for sm-bb72. That said. I made some assumptions regarding the 501’s.

They claim lower friction, which is a good thing, and at XTR level, durability probably still good. Shimano has totally revamped their numbering scheme, but I still think this is a “Deore” level product. There are definitely worse. That said, 501 is below 800/801, which is older than 8000 (more recent XT),which is below 9000 (current or recent XTR). For some components, XT is more durable than XTR, while XTR lighter; for other, XTR is superior in all aspects, though at higher price. Also, newer versions may be inherently better than older (or not).

If it fits, use it. When it gets funky, replace it. Not sure how long you intend to keep the bike, but there is a point of diminishing returns chasing top-end components on a 10+ yr old frame. MTB’s have changed. If I had $$$, and my body were still buff, I might go for XTR…or I might replace the whole bike.

 

[Impatient]

This thing creaks like crazy, I never thought of the crankset being the issue.

Sometimes I contemplate upgrading from a 3x9 to a 1x11 but idk if it makes sense to spend much money on a 12 year old 26”er…

Impatient: Yeah, lots of pivots. I recently tore my MTB apart, cleaning, regreasing, and in some cases replacing, pivots. I don’t know which effort fixed the problem, nor do I know which I will look to first when the creaks reappear….although, check the bushings on the rear shock itself. They will creak if you look at them funny, let alone if any grit or slop. If Giant provides torque settings on the pivots,pay attention. My bike rode COMPLETELY different / better when I cleaned, regreased, re-torqued the pivots. Gut fill, I think the torquing mattered more than you would have thought…bike waaay more plush!!!

 

[JWC86]

Thanks Impatient, I’ll see if I can find torque specs somewhere for my bike.

 

[oilboy123]

Thanks Impatient, I’ll see if I can find torque specs somewhere for my bike.

parktool.com Should have all specs there. You might have not seen my above post. Good luck.

 

[NYEngineer]

Another thing I like to do is use Tef Gel on bottom bracket threads into the frame instead of grease. Lasts better. Completely blocks out water.
It’s a non metallic marine anti seize. Fantastic stuff.

 

[JWC86]

Anyone have any thoughts on my earlier post about accidentally using mineral oil to flush the brakes? I left the mineral oil in the system for about 12hrs before I flushed it out with DOT.

 

[oilboy123]

Anyone have any thoughts on my earlier post about accidentally using mineral oil to flush the brakes? I left the mineral oil in the system for about 12hrs before I flushed it out with DOT.

I would flush it probably 3 times if I had done the wrong fluid. Then run with it.

 

[853okg]

The official line would call for a rebuild and new hoses. Unofficially I don’t think you need to. You made a mistake, but it would have been worse to put DOT in a mineral oil brake (greater danger of seal damage due to over swelling). I’m a pretty cautious guy but I would either flush it again or just ride it and monitor it. I’m 90+ percent sure it will be fine.
As for your BB a good grease or Teflon tape or pipe dope, anything like that should work fine. The real headache is the threadless press fit bearing that requires absolute cleanliness with vibra tite or wicking loctite.
I totally agree with the superiority of the 1X over the stupid triple, as well as the foolhardiness of dumping money into a 26er.

 

[Impatient]

The official line would call for a rebuild and new hoses. Unofficially I don’t think you need to. You made a mistake, but it would have been worse to put DOT in a mineral oil brake (greater danger of seal damage due to over swelling). I’m a pretty cautious guy but I would either flush it again or just ride it and monitor it. I’m 90+ percent sure it will be fine.
As for your BB a good grease or Teflon tape or pipe dope, anything like that should work fine. The real headache is the threadless press fit bearing that requires absolute cleanliness with vibra tite or wicking loctite.
I totally agree with the superiority of the 1X over the stupid triple, as well as the foolhardiness of dumping money into a 26er.

Well, All things being equal, bigger wheels, fewer front rings, and perhaps some other so-called improvements are indeed better. However, all things are rarely equal…especially when price is included. Sure, a $10k 29er is probably a fine machine. But let’s say you’re comparing a $1000 29er with a used bike with somewhat smaller wheels. But where does it end? You probably won’t be as fast on a $10k pedal-only bike as you would be on a $10 e-mtb….or for that matter a used $10k motorcycle.

But if you’re going to keep the “old girl” running, be ready to shop Facebook, eBay, other used sources.

 

[853okg]

Let’s get something straight: I’m a cheapskate. You’ve got me dropping 10k on a 29er! I don’t OWN a 29er. And I buy bikes at below dealer cost, if I have to buy one, which I don’t.
And anyone who knows me even a little knows that I’m well aware that the quality and design of bicycles has gotten worse in general. I’m all for keeping your old bike running. But the cheapskate in me knows that converting a triple to a 1x isn’t as simple as unbolting two chainrings. It’s expensive, no matter how you look at it.
Example: I can buy Shimano components at half off. It still costs me more money to buy the components of a new bike than the cost of the entire bike with frame, wheels, saddle, bar and stem, etc. so I stand by my statement. Converting an old triple to a 1x is not cost effective.

 

[NYEngineer]

Cannondale sells a 29er with a 1x8 drivetrain for just over 500 bucks. Just sayin’.

Trail 8

A mountain bike built to raise your game and ignite a passion for the trail. Designed for the mountains and ready for anything.

www.cannondale.com

 

[JWC86]

I’ve been thinking about going to a hard tail on and off over the last few years, might see what the market is like on this one after it’s fixed up and what I can get into for a used but newer hard tail and make a switch. I’m a XL frame at 6’3” and live in a smaller city/town so makes my selection somewhat limited.

 

[JWC86]

Small update: the tools and new bottom bracket showed up today.

The Park tools seem like decent tools for the price.

Took more effort than I would have thought but the crank separated without issue.

What are your thoughts on the condition of the chain rings? The middle one specifically as it’s used 99% of the time.

Unfortunately I don’t have time to dive into this any further until later. Next will be to clean things up a bit and remove the bottom bracket.

 

[JWC86]

The actual bearing in the bottom bracket seemed fine but this plastic bushing was broken to bits, I don’t know anything about mountain bikes but it seems like a weak design to have a plastic bushing here, why not just have the crank just be a slip fit in the bearing?

Cleaned up the frame where the BB threads in, everything looks good.

However, as you can see in the above picture the bearings are in rough shape, I was planning to pop the dust seals and re-grease them anyways but unfortunately most are beyond that. They are all dried out and some are rusty and gritty inside.

So I got the bearing puller kit out and went to work.

Got 8 of the 10 bearings pulled tonight. Will pull the last two in the morning and hopefully I can source some Japanese NSK or SKF bearings locally so I can keep this project moving along.

Still need to give everything a good cleaning before installing new bearings and reassembly.

 

[JWC86]

Another probably dumb question. Is this play in the free hub normal or is this a worn out bearing?