x-byke bottom bracket

[aseb]

The bottom bracket bearing (the one for the pedals) is starting to click when pedalling, can I ask a few questions before I start any work on it. It has to be 40 years since I last had one stripped down so help please! Is it a ball bearing and race thing, or sealed bearing?
Can sealed bearings be adjusted? And if it is ball bearing/race can it be upgraded to a sealed one, and which?
Is there anything els I should be aware of?
Thanks.

 

[Old Timer]

The bottom bracket bearing (the one for the pedals) is starting to click when pedalling, can I ask a few questions before I start any work on it. It has to be 40 years since I last had one stripped down so help please! Is it a ball bearing and race thing, or sealed bearing?
Can sealed bearings be adjusted? And if it is ball bearing/race can it be upgraded to a sealed one, and which?
Is there anything els I should be aware of?
Thanks.

I had a click from a bottm bearing recently, stripped it down and it was the type with to ball race cages and one had fallen apart, bought new bearing cages from Halfords, packed with grease and reasenbled, all works fine. I think you`ll need to dismantle to find out what you have. Like you it had been years since doing that work.

 

[NRG]

Had the same issue on my Alien, it uses a sealed cartridge design, maintenance free so it had to be replaced, I'm not sure if it's possible to convert to a traditional ball n race arrangement.....

 

[aseb]

Thanks guys, I'll just have a look. If it is the ball bearing type it might be possible to adjust it.

 

[wurly]

I had to change mine recently. Only when i took it apart did i realise and could see what the problem was. Bad design, the sealed bearing race wasn't seating properly on one of the end adjusters, everything was ok when it was tight. I replaced mine with a shimano eqivilent and that fixed it permenantly. I had to buy a couple tools to remove the crank arms and bottom bracket. This was on my Marin bike with a Truevativ bottom bracket.

 

[aseb]

I had to change mine recently. Only when i took it apart did i realise and could see what the problem was. Bad design, the sealed bearing race wasn't seating properly on one of the end adjusters, everything was ok when it was tight. I replaced mine with a shimano eqivilent and that fixed it permenantly. I had to buy a couple tools to remove the crank arms and bottom bracket. This was on my Marin bike with a Truevativ bottom bracket.

This has only done about 1200 miles. Within the first month I felt the 'click' when pedalling and asked the dealer to sort it. I had thought it was pedal bearings but the replacements had very poor movement, like a tight spot, so they were just returned. The click more or less (ie not fully) disappeared after the service but is more noticeable now. I don't think it's something of immediate concern but I want to get it sorted in the next month or so. I've had a quick look at the brackets and it seems I need to strip it to get the length before ordering. Are there any makes of bottom bracket to avoid, or makes to seriously look at?

 

[wurly]

I would strip it down and investigate. Mine was intermittant (and annoying). The bearing housing was not located in position on one end therefore moving up and down with downward pressure, the other end being fixed and part of the assembly.
I can't advise you as to which one is better, except avoid truevativ. I expect there are several different ones available.

 

[aseb]

I would strip it down and investigate. Mine was intermittant (and annoying). The bearing housing was not located in position on one end therefore moving up and down with downward pressure, the other end being fixed and part of the assembly.
I can't advise you as to which one is better, except avoid truevativ. I expect there are several different ones available.

Thanks for your help.

 

[aseb]

I've stripped it down to look, it has a ball bearing each side of the shaft. Is it better to replace with a sealed cartridge unit, or just replace the bearings (if I can find them- first couple of sites don't have the size stocked)?

A note- I've a feeling this bike wasn't assembled with a lot of care- see new thread X-Byke problems from new. The fixed cup was not tight which may have caused the bearing to wear- I believe this has been like it from new as the 'click' feeling has been there from new. I think I got a bad one- see the new thread.

 

[aseb]

Some more help please!

The original bottom bracket is 118mm long, the length from outside of ball race to outside at other side is 65mm. Looking at the sealed unit bottom brackets the shells available are 68mm, and 73mm. I assume that the 68mm will be the size to get but can anyone confirm- or otherwise. I assume that I should stick with 118mm bracket length for chain alignment?

Thanks

 

[NRG]

What are the markings on the bracket?

Here's my solo thread of the markings on mine and the replacement I used

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/6394-bottom-bracket-help-please.html?highlight=Bottom

 

[aseb]

What are the markings on the bracket?

Here's my solo thread of the markings on mine and the replacement I used

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/6394-bottom-bracket-help-please.html?highlight=Bottom

There are no markings on the bracket shaft whatsoever. The only thing marked are on the seals of the bearings- 163110 2RS (size is 31mm OD, 16mm ID, 10mm wide) and I haven't found any bearings of this size so it looks like either Powabyke prices- if they stock them- or trying a wider sealed bearing unit.

 

[NRG]

Looks like a case of trial and error.....beware the threads for these also differ!

 

[aseb]

When I took off the bottom bracket retaining parts (the ones that hold the bottom bracket in) the chainwheel side (which has the shoulder on it) was loose- I assume that this should be tightened all of the way in, and the other side (which is just threaded) used to get the right torque across the inner races. Well it turned out than when it was fully tightened that the chainwheel contacts the rear forks. So maybe the original supplied length is not correct, but the slightly longer sealed bearing will align everything correctly.

 

[aseb]

Ok, little bit more info that may help others in the future.

Powabykes reply- contact Raleigh. Then we are not allowed to help, who is your dealer and we'll talk to them. From past experience contacting Raleigh is a bit like going to Tesco and talking to the cabbages (that's my imagination- I've never tried talking to cabbages but expect a similar level of help from previous attempts at anything beyond 'have you a sales leaflet'). Powabyke seem to be a different organisation to the Powabyke that existed before their dealings with Raleigh.

Anyhow, root cause of this is the screw that holds the gear cable guide in place under the bottom bracket is too long and hit the centre of the sealed bearing unit causing a fairly deep gouge all the way round the spacer on the bottom bracket. Taking the screw out (and shortening it so it was the right length so no problems when re-assembled) allowed the centre portion of the bottom bracket to be removed, and the bottom bracket to be reassembled. The gouging removed some of the bottom bracket identification information (???? for gouged missing info), but it is a:
Chin Haur
CH52-6????
118L
BC 1.37x2????

So I'm guessing/assuming I need a 68mm (from the CH52-6?? marking) unit with 118mm overall length.

All's well that (hopefully) ends well!

If anyone else needs to replace the bottom bracket on an X-Byke unscrew the cable guide a couple of turns first- it may make the whole job easier.

 

[NRG]

118 is the shaft length, the 1.37 the required thread IE British and it looks like 68mm. Also note that the replacement unit may have a different shaft diameter than the original...so if there's a pedelec magnetic disk mounted already it may need modifying to fit the replacement.

 

[aseb]

118 is the shaft length, the 1.37 the required thread IE British and it looks like 68mm. Also note that the replacement unit may have a different shaft diameter than the original...so if there's a pedelec magnetic disk mounted already it may need modifying to fit the replacement.

Thanks.
Re-assembling the existing bracket when that bolt was shortened was different-the locknut side went further in, and there is just enough clearance for the sprocket/fork. Looks like it's been poor component selection and assembly. The unit feels better on a very quick test, and initially is without the bearing click now it's properly assembled. I may try running it for a couple of weeks before buying a replacement bottom bracket, to see if I notice the wear in normal use. If there's any doubt I'll replace it.