Post by 54roadie on Jun 17, 2015 8:30:43 GMT
I just spent two days overhauling the BB on a friend's Ultegra Octalink 6500 crankset. The crank arm self extracting bolts were aggressively overtightened, IMHO, as I had to use quite the pipe to get them loose. The spindle bearings seemed a little rough, and being curious about this design I went ahead and pulled the left cup and spindle.
1) Not an easy job. Highly torqued lock nut on a CF frame - I was a bit worried about damaging something, but got it loose.
2) The spindle pops right out with the left cup assembly. But on this one at least the inner sleeve stayed inside and looked all the world to be a thin wall aluminum job that was meant to stay in place. it wasn't and didn't.
3) Cleaning the bearings was a task - there are four bearing assemblies on the spindle; each side has one tiny ball and retainer ring and one needle ring that looks much like a Viscount /Lambert needle bearing, except the needles are also in a retainer. They are held into the cup with a labyrinth rubber seal on the outside, and a small seal held in with a very thin C-clip on the inside.
4) removing the C-clip allows you to remove the two retained bearing rings, but I'd only do this again if all else fails. Otherwise, just spray it down with WD40, or soak it in your favorite solvent, such as mineral spirits. I would not remove the drive side cup or bearings except to replace them. In this frame, at least, they are FIXED. So I sprayed it down with WD40 and wiped it out a few times before lathering the whole thing up with a decent lube.
5) As you've probably gathered, I had to clean and repack the left side bearings, into those tiny cages, with enough grease to hold everything in place until the spindle was properly seated.
6) This is where the inner sleeve caused problems. My mistake was in thinking it was one piece, and didn't move. it's a loose piece and it did move, causing the spindle to seat a bit short on the drive side. this in turn would not allow the right crank arm to seat without binding. Drove me crazy until after one attempt the sleeve popped out with the spindle, giving me a much needed "Ah-Ha!" moment.
7) Then it all went back together, but setting the preload on the spindle bearings as light as possible is quite the project when the arms need to be so heavily torqued. Tighten, loosen, tighten loosen. etc.
All done. Running smoothly, too.
Whew!
I'm posting this so that any home mechanic who has the opportunity to work on an Octalink set up is fully forewarned. If you have the time and tools it beats spending some princely amount on an assembly that can be overhauled. Just be prepared for the time involved; it's not your usual cup, cone and taper spindle set up.
Good luck.
Frank
1) Not an easy job. Highly torqued lock nut on a CF frame - I was a bit worried about damaging something, but got it loose.
2) The spindle pops right out with the left cup assembly. But on this one at least the inner sleeve stayed inside and looked all the world to be a thin wall aluminum job that was meant to stay in place. it wasn't and didn't.
3) Cleaning the bearings was a task - there are four bearing assemblies on the spindle; each side has one tiny ball and retainer ring and one needle ring that looks much like a Viscount /Lambert needle bearing, except the needles are also in a retainer. They are held into the cup with a labyrinth rubber seal on the outside, and a small seal held in with a very thin C-clip on the inside.
4) removing the C-clip allows you to remove the two retained bearing rings, but I'd only do this again if all else fails. Otherwise, just spray it down with WD40, or soak it in your favorite solvent, such as mineral spirits. I would not remove the drive side cup or bearings except to replace them. In this frame, at least, they are FIXED. So I sprayed it down with WD40 and wiped it out a few times before lathering the whole thing up with a decent lube.
5) As you've probably gathered, I had to clean and repack the left side bearings, into those tiny cages, with enough grease to hold everything in place until the spindle was properly seated.
6) This is where the inner sleeve caused problems. My mistake was in thinking it was one piece, and didn't move. it's a loose piece and it did move, causing the spindle to seat a bit short on the drive side. this in turn would not allow the right crank arm to seat without binding. Drove me crazy until after one attempt the sleeve popped out with the spindle, giving me a much needed "Ah-Ha!" moment.
7) Then it all went back together, but setting the preload on the spindle bearings as light as possible is quite the project when the arms need to be so heavily torqued. Tighten, loosen, tighten loosen. etc.
All done. Running smoothly, too.
Whew!
I'm posting this so that any home mechanic who has the opportunity to work on an Octalink set up is fully forewarned. If you have the time and tools it beats spending some princely amount on an assembly that can be overhauled. Just be prepared for the time involved; it's not your usual cup, cone and taper spindle set up.
Good luck.
Frank
