One of those days

Ever have one of those prefect rides that suddenly is punctuated by Lady Luck dropping a shit-bomb on you? Yeah, I had one of those today. All was well until about the 32km mark, cruising along in the brisk 30’s when whammo….luckily I managed to stay upright.

The offending piece of rusty metal managed to rip a 3-4 cm hole in my rear tire. It’s one thing to loose a tube, but a tire?

What to do? Given I was at least 30km from nowhere, the only choice I has was improvisation. Looking around, I found a discarded paper coffee cup. I stuffed a large enough piece in the tire over the tear, a few pieces of the original inner tube and inflated. It held, and I limped along.

About 1km away, that familiar POP….and the jig was up. I started to walk. About 5 minutes later, a fellow cyclist happened along. I described my predicament…torn tire, last tube. He lent me his last tube, and offered a ingenious solution – a new Canadian polymer 5 dollar bill in place of the coffee cup.

Riding in unison, things looked good. But again, around the. 1km mark, the now familiar POP suggested it wasn’t. A third cyclist happened along at that point, and offered to swing back in his truck to pick me up. Thankful and grateful for his generous offer, I offered to walk until he arrived.

He never did. I, on the other hand, walked up the road 9 km until I happened upon a local filling station. Im certain that middle aged men in Lycra is not something the proprietors were used to, but they didn’t hold it against me. The friendly woman fetched me a ice cold coke, and I offered my friends 5 dollar bill retrieved from the flat.

Happily forfeited with sugar and caffeine, I waited for a ride home. Looking down, I realized I had walked my cleats right off my shoes.

It was a shit day, but could have been worse. I managed to stay upright, the sun was shinning, and I could have been behind my desk….

Revenge of BBRight

Argh !

Yet another of victim of “wandering cups”.

So, it would appear that regardless of my research,  attention to detail and following Henkel / Loctite instructions to the letter, my Campagnolo Ultra-Torque / BBRight adapter did NOT remain in place.

After 500km, I noted something changed in the sound and function of my Chorus drivetrain when it became noticeably louder on the big ring and lower rear cogs. Removal of the crank and inspection revealed the drive side (DS) cup moved 1 to 1.5mm outboard from the BBRight shell.

As I found it. Note the gap between the BBRight shell and the flange of the Campagnolo cup.

What to do….what to do ? Well, the only alternative was to knock out the offending cup and re-install. Luckily I had the tools and materials on hand to do the job. And I really had planned on riding this day. Damn.

Park Tool makes two specific BB30 bearing removal tools – the BBT-30.3 and the BBT-90.3. Unfortunately, the design of the Campagnolo Ultra-Torque cup does not permit the use of the BBT-30.3 which I would prefer to use. Luckily, my Ice Toolz “XEPERT” headset cup remover (basically a less expensive version of the Park RT-1) and some careful bending of the flared end did the job without any difficulty.

Ta-da ! Knocked out cup, and look at the residual Loctite 609 in the BBRight shell. Removal of said Loctite is a colossal PITA.

Residual Loctite in the BBRight shell. How to remove ? Read on !

I contacted Henkel Canada to inquire as to the best method of removing residual retaining compound. The nice technical service representative filled me on on some interesting details. One, Loctite retaining compounds are not cyanoacrylate based, they are dimethacrylate based. And two, nothing short of methylene chloride is going to soften a cured dimethacrylate easter enough to facilitate easy removal. He recommended a product called Loctite Chisel Paint Remover #135544

As an FYI, I’m from a chemical background so immediately I question the compatibility of methylene chloride on the carbon substate of the BBRight shell itself.

Why ? Because methylene chloride is a strong enough solvent to de-polymerize the epoxy used in the carbon layup. I decided to inquire to Cervelo directly. My hunch was confirmed.

Hi William, 

 Thanks for asking. DO NOT use methylene chloride based solvents on your Cervelo frame. Methylene chloride based solvents can soften the epoxy. Damage due to the use of methylene chloride based solvents is not covered under your warranty.

 

Instead, I recommend mechanical removal methods for cured LocTite. I’ve used an Exacto knife to manually scrape and chip cured LocTite from the bottom bracket shell. Other mechanical removal methods may also work. However, do not heat above ~40 degrees C or ~100 degrees F, which means no powertool-driven wire brushes, etc. 

So, armed with a beer, the radio, heat gun  and a flat razor blade, I proceeded to carefully heat and scrape, heat and scrape, heat and scrape……which is another reason why I like to work on my own bike. What bike mechanic is going to do the same ? I submit unless your name is Chris Froome, nobody.

About an hour and a half later I was done.

Clean !

Next steps: Clean shell with Loctite ODC Free Cleaner and De-Greaser, coat with 7649 Primer and…..wait….Loctite 609 or 680 ? Humm….good question. Originally, I used 609 and the cup moved. So I opted this time to use the higher strength 680….and failed. 680 is a significantly more viscus / thicker liquid. No, and I mean NO reasonable amount of force could seat the cup in the frame with 680 applied. So, whilst the Loctite cured, I scrambled around to knock out the cup jammed part way in the shell. Damn !

Once knocked out, I quickly used Acetone to try and clean up the semi cured Loctite and….you guessed it…..heat and scrape, heat and scrape the remaining material out of the shell. Another 30 minutes of my life wasted.

Some helpful hints for those following: While metal ions are needed for Loctite to cure on passive surfaces (Aluminum, Carbon), you realistically only need to prime one surface unless you want a VERY high cure speed. This could have been why I have had problems in the past – essentially the retaining compound is setting up while I am pressing the cup. I would recommend only priming the shell, letting it dry,and applying the Loctite to the cup.

Third times a charm. Hopefully.