- I know, I know.
Press fit bottom brackets.
Some of you out there are huge fans of them
and others may be not quite such lovers.
Now I've actually never had any problems with them
on any of my own bikes,
but I am aware that some people that had have.
But let's a look today on how to fit them correctly,
using the correct tools, importantly,
because I do understand that some of you out there
do, in fact, hack or botch your way to fitting them.
So what exactly is a press fit bottom bracket then?
Well, essentially, it's some bearings that house
within an aluminium or plastic cup,
which are then pushed inside
of the bottom bracket shell into place.
Now, on the flip side of this,
is the traditional style bottom bracket,
which is threaded, as you can see here.
And so they've been obviously pushed into place.
It uses a spanner, which interconnects with the notches
and then threads inside of the bottom bracket shell.
Or, in fact, another option is just a simple bearing,
which is pushed into the frame by hand
and then you have a little clip which holds it
inside of the frame.
Now there are some exceptions to the rule.
Take, for example, this one here from Will's Manufacturing,
which is a push fit bottom bracket,
but it threads together.
"Why?" you may ask.
Well, it's actually to stop any creaking of cups
inside of a frame, which some frames do sadly have
a slight problem with.
So if you've got notches on the side
of a press fit bottom bracket,
or any bottom bracket for that matter,
it means you're gonna need to use a spanner to remove it
rather than smashing it out,
which is quite a crude term for what we're gonna do
very shortly.
So what are gonna use them to actually remove
those bearings that I've quite crudely just said,
"smashed out of the frame"?
Well, firstly, you are either gonna use one of these
or one of these.
But more information on these two products shortly.
What about fitting the new bearings then?
Well, a bearing press is definitely recommended.
I cannot recommend it highly enough.
They do come in a huge variety of options,
and also budgets too, so there's no real excuse
out there if you are a particularly competent
home mechanic to get yourself one of these.
(RELAXING MUSIC)
So what are we gonna do then?
Well, let's get into the nitty-gritty of it.
First up, you're gonna want to remove the chain set,
and keep a close eye out, too, for any spacers or washers
in between the cranks and the bottom bracket itself,
because if there are any in there at all,
make sure you lay them out in the correct order,
so that when it comes to refitting,
you're doing it correctly.
Now something to consider, when removing these cups
from the frame, is that the manufacturer of these cups,
in most cases, assumes that they are no longer any good.
So they are gonna get marked internally with the tool
when you remove it.
And if you are botching your way out of it
using a hammer and a screwdriver to smash
that bottom bracket cup out,
well, you're gonna get problems like this.
That's another reason why not to botch it.
(RELAXING MUSIC)
Let's look, then, at how we remove
a press fit bottom bracket from a standard size
axle diameter frame.
When I say, "standard size,"
in this case, smaller than 30 millimeters.
But, as many of you know out there,
the standard of bike components are changing almost daily.
And who knows?
Maybe a 30 millimeter will be the standard
by the time this video comes out.
So, how are we gonna do it?
Well, we're gonna use one of these tools.
So this tool from Park is actually designed to remove
those press fit cups.
How does it work then?
Well, at this end, we've got some sprung-loaded endings
and then at this end we've got a nice flat one.
So, we're gonna push, first of all,
through the bottom bracket hole,
the blunt end.
So, in effect, it's gonna go through like this,
and then these compressed sprung ends,
if you like to call it that,
are gonna slowly compress, and then as you push it through,
they actually go out into position.
Then you can do the magic.
Now using the bottom bracket bearing removal tool,
you're gonna want to thread it through the axle hole.
And then you're gonna find a point where you hear
a satisfying click.
(CLICKS)
That's the one.
Now, with a hammer, you're gonna wanna give that tool
a few sharp blows to remove these cups
from the bottom bracket shell itself.
So make sure that you're either prepared to catch it
or, if not, where it's gonna land is not on something
valuable or fragile,
because, yeah, I know someone who happened to
and they got into a lot of trouble at home,
believe me.
So, with a few sharp blows...
(HAMMERING)
You're gonna start seeing the actual bottom bracket here,
just moving out of the shell,
then you're in a good state of affairs.
Just keep hammering away.
(HAMMERING)
Now if you've got a sleeve inside
of the bottom bracket shell,
it's worthwhile just picking that out and removing it.
That way you can give it a good clean up
as well as it makes the next part of the job
just a little bit easier to get in behind the bearings.
(RELAXING MUSIC)
So, before we go ahead and actually fit in
the replacement bottom bracket,
what we're gonna do is just clean that up a little bit.
So spray some degreaser in there, get yourself some cloths,
and wipe away any grease, dirt, grime, stones,
anything like that, which could, in fact, have got in there.
That way, putting in the new bottom bracket
is gonna be a lot easier and also it's gonna go in
a lot straighter.
What about, then, if you've got a PF30,
or PressFit-30 style, bottom bracket?
It's loosely the same principle as what we've just done,
but you use a different tool,
so something like this one here from Park.
And it would thread through the bearing, like so,
and then, you imagine that this is the other side,
it just sits up against the inside housing there.
And then, technical term coming up,
a few sharp whacks with your hammer and bang!
It's at that bottom bracket shell.
As easy as that.
Now, like I said earlier on, you could risk botching this,
but it's really not worth it.
How would you botch it?
Well, you'd use a hammer and a punch, or a screwdriver,
and, essentially, you would hit those cups out
one side at a time.
And because you're not hitting them out evenly,
you risk distorting the actual shell of the bottom bracket.
Which, in the process, could actually destroy your frame.
Doesn't sound quite so...
Appealing now does it, I guess,
if you could ruin that frame.
No, use the correct tools.
Now, when it comes to fitting or re-fitting
that press fit bottom bracket into the shell,
this is where a little bit of extra time could make
the world of difference for you.
So if you're the person out there who claims
to have had a creaky press fit bottom bracket,
then think about applying some adhesive primer
and then some retaining compound,
allowing them both to dry, of course,
before fitting the bottom bracket,
therefore taking up some of the tolerance and differences
between the two components.
And then if you're fitting a press fit bottom bracket
into an aluminium-lined shell,
then think about using some grease.
It's gonna make it going in a little bit easier
as well as reducing the possibility of any creaks out there.
Then, finally, if you've got yourself a carbon-lined shell,
then the general consensus is actually to not use
grease at all, because many people think
it's gonna swell the carbon,
when, in fact, that carbon shell is actually covered
in epoxy, so it shouldn't be...
Having the opportunity to even swell that carbon.
So I'm a little bit on the fence with that one.
Personally, I don't bother applying any grease to it.
And then if you've got titanium,
then yet you could use some anti-seize
or you could use, in fact, some grease.
(RELAXING MUSIC)
Now to install a BB86 or PressFit-30 bottom bracket
is exactly the same process.
And every mechanic I know out there actually does it
the same way.
So they install both cups into the frame at the same time.
Ultra important here is to use the correct size drifts
to actually press those bottom bracket cups into the shell.
Why to use those?
Well, you're gonna get them evenly going in,
so, potentially, if you don't use that,
you could well destroy the bottom bracket,
and then, even worse, destroy your frame.
And nobody wants to do that, do they?
Nobody.
You want to, now, actually start pressing
the bottom bracket cups into the shell.
So you should be able to get them just gently started
by hand, and make sure they're not going in lopsided at all.
And then with your bearing press and the drifts,
begin to tighten that bearing press,
so that the cups are actually going into the shell.
If there are any signs of them not going in straight
or lopsided, whatsoever, then remove them
and restart the process.
Because continuing to do so could make the inside
of your bottom bracket shell slightly elliptical
and, well, that's gonna give you that dreaded creak.
Now, once you are satisfied that they're going in
nice and straight, continue just gently turning
that bearing press until the bearing cups
are flush up against the bottom bracket shell.
Once that is done, don't go any further,
because you could risk damaging the bearings
of the bottom bracket.
And if you're really muscly, unlike me,
then you could even, in fact, destroy the shell.
I do know someone who continues to do it
and they wrote off a frame.
So there we are, you've managed to do it.
Now it's just a case of refitting that chain set,
and remember, of course, if you did have any washers
or spacers, make sure you put them on in the correct place.
It will make things much easier for you
when you go out riding, believe me.
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And now for a video on how to give your drive train
a very deep clean, click just down here.