Ti square taper BB

I have a DA8 crank 7402 mated to a World Class Ti BB. This arrangement
has always creaked, and I suspect it is the arms rocking on the tapers.
I have greased and teflon taped the cups and cup/bearing interfaces
and the creak continues. I tighten the arms to the tapers as tight as
I can, but am limited by the galling of the steel bolts to the Ti or
the Al arms to the Ti tapers. I've tried greasing the tapers without
success. Any other ideas?

Alternatively, I have an Erikssen Ti BB to match the arms. Several
years ago I was told this was unreliable since the spindles were known
to break. Does anyone know about this?

TIA for any suggestions or information!

Cliff

On 18 Aug 2005 16:09:06 -0700, cliff wrote:

I have a DA8 crank 7402 mated to a World Class Ti BB. This arrangement
has always creaked, and I suspect it is the arms rocking on the tapers.
I have greased and teflon taped the cups and cup/bearing interfaces
and the creak continues. I tighten the arms to the tapers as tight as
I can, but am limited by the galling of the steel bolts to the Ti or
the Al arms to the Ti tapers. I've tried greasing the tapers without
success. Any other ideas?

Alternatively, I have an Erikssen Ti BB to match the arms. Several
years ago I was told this was unreliable since the spindles were known
to break. Does anyone know about this?

TIA for any suggestions or information!

Cliff




I have been using an Erikson Ti BB since around 1995. There was a recall in
the late 90's but I don't remember the reason. I sent most everything back
and received "new" stuff in about a week. My spindle was not broken, but
then I weigh about 130lb so I'm as hard on equipment as some others.

I don't believe Erikson is in business anymore selling components. He does
run a bike touring company. I ran into him in France (2001) and he said he
does have a garage full of parts.

If you replace the spindle from him, be sure to also get a bunch of spare
lock rings. The aluminum ones have a square corner cut for the spanner and
they tend to fracture and break in the corners.

BTW, my Topline aluminum cranks don't creak. I put them on dry.

--
Skuke
Reverse the domain name to send email

Cliff Ds? writes:

I have a DA8 crank 7402 mated to a World Class Ti BB. This
arrangement has always creaked, and I suspect it is the arms rocking
on the tapers. I have greased and Teflon taped the cups and
cup/bearing interfaces and the creak continues. I tighten the arms
to the tapers as tight as I can, but am limited by the galling of
the steel bolts to the Ti or the Al arms to the Ti tapers. I've
tried greasing the tapers without success. Any other ideas?

Ti is noted for its fretting noises and its less that infinite life as
a BB spindle. Get a steel one... However, your cranks are probably
ruined anyway by square taper deformation of the spindle you have.

Alternatively, I have an Erikssen Ti BB to match the arms. Several
years ago I was told this was unreliable since the spindles were
known to break. Does anyone know about this?

I have no experience in using Ti parts but my associates have and that
includes fractures and the kind of problem you report.

Jobst Brandt

"cliff" wrote:

I have a DA8 crank 7402 mated to a World Class Ti BB. This arrangement
has always creaked, and I suspect it is the arms rocking on the tapers.
I have greased and teflon taped the cups and cup/bearing interfaces
and the creak continues. I tighten the arms to the tapers as tight as
I can, but am limited by the galling of the steel bolts to the Ti or
the Al arms to the Ti tapers. I've tried greasing the tapers without
success. Any other ideas?

Personally, I'd suggest replacing the BB with a steel spindle unit.
Ti is great stuff, but just not up to the task of being a reliable
spindle. I weigh only about 150, and snapped a ti pedal spindle.
Saving a few grams is just not worth the potential pain, IMHO.

Alternatively, I have an Erikssen Ti BB to match the arms. Several
years ago I was told this was unreliable since the spindles were known
to break. Does anyone know about this?

All ti spindles are suspect, IMHO. The design is based on the
strength you get from a given VOLUME (not weight) of steel. Hence,
when making a dimensionally similar part from ti, it's not as strong.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

In article ,
says...

I have been using an Erikson Ti BB since around 1995. There was a recall in
the late 90's but I don't remember the reason. I sent most everything back
and received "new" stuff in about a week. My spindle was not broken, but
then I weigh about 130lb so I'm as hard on equipment as some others.
I don't believe Erikson is in business anymore selling components. He does
run a bike touring company. I ran into him in France (2001) and he said he
does have a garage full of parts.
If you replace the spindle from him, be sure to also get a bunch of spare
lock rings. The aluminum ones have a square corner cut for the spanner and
they tend to fracture and break in the corners.
BTW, my Topline aluminum cranks don't creak. I put them on dry.

Topline cranks and a Ti BB. I would not want to be riding behind you. Both
items are known to break. Back when the topline cranks were popular, early
90's, I saw a little guy snap a topline crank.
-------------
Alex

on the other foot-could be the pedals. try one foot pedaling each side
only?
insert beer can shims each taper side-see "crank saver" in tech archives

Gene Daniels advised:

insert beer can shims each taper side-see "crank saver" in tech archives

Where are you gonna find titanium beer cans?

Carapace Completed Umber
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
+----------------------------------------------+
| Always store beer in a dark place |
| --Robert A. Heinlein |
+----------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

"Sheldon Brown" wrote in message
...
Gene Daniels advised:

insert beer can shims each taper side-see "crank saver" in tech archives

Where are you gonna find titanium beer cans?


Give new meaning to "Light Beer" wondering if it will be less filling.
-tom

right. drillum. san jose? houston? the hamptons...
when i asked around about the beer can shim idea. i gotta resounding
negative from all lbs.
however, unlike many forays into this area-
the beer can shims worked right off the spindle
and have not failed
this is due to the purchase of three extra left aluminum cranks.

the question remains-is there a can with a thicker wall than standard
american brews?

maybe not as the thinner the wall the less can production cost.
for example the pull top is a ball point technical tour de stamping.

and remember copper anti-seize works - it just doesn't look like it
would

the answer comes from experience with concurrent crank/spindle and
pedal failure. oh, i got it fixed. yeah sure.

right. next thursday.

the shim fix has an extraordinary moment for those previously wandering
into the shimit area
where the fix goes on for four hours or days when the first and only
choice was digging a deep...
butt hear! the beer can wall thickness is unbelievably the correct dead
on finite shim
thickness for getting spindle and crankl back together dead center.