How tight should the cranks be?

I got caught in the rain, so I cleaned out the water from the bottom
bracket, re-greased, and put everything back together again. If I yank on
the crank arm now, there is a little play in it. Is that normal or should it
be absolutely tight with no give sideways? I looked on the Park website,
but couldn't find where it says how tight to screw on the cranks. I didn't
use grease on the cranks, just the bottom bracket.

Pat in TX

there should be no free play at all.

you dont mention if you're using an old-style BB or a modern
cartride-style BB.



Pat wrote:
I got caught in the rain, so I cleaned out the water from the bottom
bracket, re-greased, and put everything back together again. If I yank on
the crank arm now, there is a little play in it. Is that normal or should it
be absolutely tight with no give sideways? I looked on the Park website,
but couldn't find where it says how tight to screw on the cranks. I didn't
use grease on the cranks, just the bottom bracket.

Pat in TX

"Pat" wrote:

I got caught in the rain, so I cleaned out the water from the bottom
bracket, re-greased, and put everything back together again. If I yank on
the crank arm now, there is a little play in it. Is that normal or should it
be absolutely tight with no give sideways? I looked on the Park website,
but couldn't find where it says how tight to screw on the cranks. I didn't
use grease on the cranks, just the bottom bracket.

Pat in TX


I didn't see where you referenced what sort of componentry is on your
particular bike, but you can find the torque spec here (given as
305-391 in-lbs). At roughly 30 ft-lbs, that's /pretty tight/:

http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/torque.shtml

Pat wrote:
I got caught in the rain, so I cleaned out the water from the bottom
bracket, re-greased, and put everything back together again. If I yank on
the crank arm now, there is a little play in it. Is that normal or should it
be absolutely tight with no give sideways? I looked on the Park website,
but couldn't find where it says how tight to screw on the cranks. I didn't
use grease on the cranks, just the bottom bracket.

I cannot see from your mail if you mean that the bottom bracket axle
has play, or that the cranks are loose on the bottom bracket axle.

If the latter, this you should fix straight away to avoid damage.
Campag's recommended torque is 32-38 Nm. YMMV for other brands but
these values should be pretty close for other square taper designs. No
grease (no troll intended).

But if you mean that the bottom bracket axle shows a bit of play,
adjust LH cup so that it disappears but make sure there is no binding.
It's worth spending the extra minutes to get the adjustment right.

/Robert

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 09:24:47 -0500, Pat wrote:

I got caught in the rain, so I cleaned out the water from the bottom
bracket, re-greased, and put everything back together again.

Makes it seem like an older, cup-and-cone bottom bracket. Right?

If I yank on
the crank arm now, there is a little play in it. Is that normal

No. It greatly depends, though, where the motion is coming from. Is it
the axle moving within the bottom bracket, or the cranks moving on the
axle? If the first, you need to tighten the preload on the bearings. If
the second, you need to tighten the crank attaching bolts. If you do have
a cartridge bottom bracket and it is play in the axle, replace the bottom
bracket. Easy and cheap.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | What is objectionable, and what is dangerous about extremists is
_`\(,_ | not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant.
(_)/ (_) | --Robert F. Kennedy

Pat wrote:
I got caught in the rain, so I cleaned out the water from the bottom
bracket, re-greased, and put everything back together again. If I
yank on the crank arm now, there is a little play in it. Is that
normal or should it be absolutely tight with no give sideways?

Should be no sideways give. A crank would have to be incredibly loose to
have sideways play when pushed/pulled by hand. Test the other crank as
well. The play is probably in the BB. An adjustable type will need
re-adjusting, a cartridge type will need replacing if faulty.

I looked on the Park website, but couldn't find where it says how tight
to screw on the cranks.

http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/torque.shtml

Also look up manufacturer's instructions/site.

~PB

: Should be no sideways give. A crank would have to be incredibly loose to
: have sideways play when pushed/pulled by hand. Test the other crank as
: well. The play is probably in the BB. An adjustable type will need
: re-adjusting, a cartridge type will need replacing if faulty.
:
: ~PB

Thanks all for replying. It looks as if the bottom bracket is bad. It is a
sealed cartridge one that was new in 2001 on my Bianchi Veloce. I guess I
have ascended to a cycling level known as "riders who have worn out bottom
brackets". sigh.

Pat in TX
:
:

"Pat" wrote:

Thanks all for replying. It looks as if the bottom bracket is bad. It is a
sealed cartridge one that was new in 2001 on my Bianchi Veloce. I guess I
have ascended to a cycling level known as "riders who have worn out bottom
brackets". sigh.

Pat in TX

I've only made it to "riders that had theirs recalled"

Wes

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On Fri, 1 Jul 2005 09:24:47 -0500, "Pat" wrote:

I got caught in the rain, so I cleaned out the water from the bottom
bracket, re-greased, and put everything back together again. If I yank on
the crank arm now, there is a little play in it. Is that normal or should it
be absolutely tight with no give sideways?

I assume we're talking about an unsealed BB with adjustable bearing
cups here. My preferred treatment for this is "no slop, no tension".
Some people put just a bit of preload on the bearings, but I haven't
found this to be essential; YMMV.

I looked on the Park website,
but couldn't find where it says how tight to screw on the cranks. I didn't
use grease on the cranks, just the bottom bracket.

There should never be *any* slop between the crank and the BB shaft,
in any direction. If there is, the crank is way too loose. Most
crank bolts need something in the area of 20 to 25 ft-lbs of torque;
see http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/torque.shtml for more info.
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On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 03:48:33 -0400, wrote:

"Pat" wrote:

Thanks all for replying. It looks as if the bottom bracket is bad. It is a
sealed cartridge one that was new in 2001 on my Bianchi Veloce. I guess I
have ascended to a cycling level known as "riders who have worn out bottom
brackets". sigh.

Pat in TX

I've only made it to "riders that had theirs recalled"

That's better than "riders who discovered the defect which led to a
recall."
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.