FSA mega exo (Gossamer) crankset stuck in Hope BB

[zebedee]

Trying to replace this. Took non-drive side off no probs, as I understand it you are then supposed to whack the spindle out with a rubber hammer. I am increasingly losing temper with this, to the extent I have been whacking it so hard the spindle is cutting chunks out of the rubber mallet. Yet still it won't move. Am I missing something or anyone got any tips for freeing it up? Need to get new compact set up on it ASAP as it is being overhauled this weekend.

cheers

[IroningMan]

Can you unscrew the bearing cups? If one of them is seized onto the spindle then worst case you'll just need a new BB.

[zebedee]

not got the tool. Hope not as Hope BB is about £80. Squirted wd40 through straw at spindle both ends. Will stick 2" wood over spindle and use proper hammer tomorrow I guess.

[IroningMan]

Worth investing in the tool - violence and bearings aren't good friends...

[upsidedownmark]

Am going to take a wild guess at this one..

Shimano spindles are XXmm minus some tolerance, FSA spindles are XXmm plus some tolerance, where XX is the same in both cases. FSA spindles sorta fit in shimano sized BB's with varying degrees of success (depends on tolerance), and having a screwed in (rather than pinch bolt) NDS arm, are really easy to pull in to a somewhat tight BB, and a pain in the ***e to get out. Just don't ask me how I know

BB tool isn't going to help a whole load I'm afraid - it will let you unscrew the BB from the frame, but isn't going to make any difference to the spindle being wedged in the BB. Some kind of puller / press would be better, but I'm afraid the pragmatic solution is most likely block of wood and a rubber hammer.

ETA: If I recall correctly the worst point was the shoulder on the drive side of the spindle being pulled into the drive side cup. My experience was with a shimano BB, not a hope - there's a plastic sleve that sits between the bearing and the spindle (i.e. inside the inner diameter of the actual bearing) which can be 'eased' with a bit of sandpaper to accommodate the megaexo spindle. Correct solution is of course to use a megaexo BB, but they're a) much more expensive than shimano and b) (allegedly) made of cheese.

Edited by upsidedownmark on Saturday 18th July 00:25

[gazza285]

There's no plastic sleeve on a Hope BB, you need to make sure that you grease the spindle before fitting to prevent corrosion from forming between the bearings and the spindle.

If it went in, it will come out, bigger hammer needed. Try not to damage the frame though...

[zebedee]

fsa crankset going in bin, ultegra going in, so if I can get it out then hopefully the new one (greased!) will go in fine! If there are any bearings left by then of course, off to find the hammer

[zebedee]

well all that is doing is putting dents in the wood! This is ridiculous. Taking it back to bike shop that fitted it but no idea how they will get it out either. Might have to replace a totally fine Hope BB (even after the hammering it is spinning sweetly!)

[anonymous-user]

It is definitely the right variant of megaexo chainset isn't it? Just seems odd that it's this much of a struggle.

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 18th July 10:57

[gazza285]

I tend to use a Thor No2 copper faced hammer, which weighs about two and a half pounds. If that doesn't shift it then the No4 does. Bigger hammer required.

[paulmon]

Had a very similar experience myself. It came out in the end but the BB was junk afterwards. I had to use quite a lot penetrating spray, a piece of wood and a heavy metal hammer.

P

[zebedee]

took it to bike shop, one guy took frame off me, other guy a plastic capped heavy looking hammer and took 3 swings at it and it came half way out on 3rd swing, 4th tap was enough to pull it out. Bearings are fine and he said that was pretty normal! Was in and out in 30secs. Good old LBS!