Miles2go

I've had my 2020 Cervelo R5 for a couple of great seasons and just started getting some pinging noises coming from the BB area.
I removed the chain and left R9100 crankarm, but even smacking the spindle sharply with a mallet won't release the drive line/right side.
BB is a Kogel Ceramic, installed by Competitive Cyclist.

Any ideas?

Andrew R Stewart 

Metal headed hammer. shock is a friend and doesn't need to be big to be effective. Andy

Miles2go

Thanks. Before your reply I put a 2x4 against the spindle and hit it with a mallet hard enough to leave some pretty good impressions in the wood. Switched to a standard hammer onto the spindle and it made one heck of a racket, but still no movement, moved up to a 5lb sledge, same.
Why and how would the crankset spindle be so hard bound into the BB?

Rolla

Try riding it one-legged for a block or two; might wobble it loose.

cxwrench

Try some penetrating oil and then hit it harder. It's no doubt got a bunch of rust and that's making it tight.
ETA: Be prepared for removal to ruin your bb bearings.

Miles2go

That would produce some interesting power readings....but it ain't gonna happen.

Miles2go

Thanks. Does it matter what oil? I don't think I have any around, maybe WD40, so I'd be buying something. And I guess I'm not worried about the bearings, since it has to be them making the newly arrived popping racket.

Andrew R Stewart 

There are some combos of bearings and crank spindles that are almost but not quite compatible. What's a few thousandths of an inch between competing brands? (Borrowed from the story of the Browning front gear system and how it didn't find a brand to adopt it). Andy

Miles2go

I'll add here that person that built my bike up smoked that cap down inside the left crank arm, which pulls the spindle/right side tighter. Everything I saw said this should be finger tight, but it was cranked down, which probably set the other side up for this fused-together condition.

squirtdad

try Freeze-off, (penetrating oil packed so that spraying it result is super cold liquid)

Put some on, let it sit and then apply again and start whacking on it

Miles2go

Competitive Cyclists warranty rep suggested Finish Line Chill Zone, which appears to be a cleaner/simpler product with the main components being the same, but it also more expensive and hard to locate. Freeze-off can be picked up in nearby auto parts stores.

Competitive Cyclists also said it's recommended to remove your cranksets for inspection every six months. Reeeeeally.

cxwrench

I'd agree w/ that 100%, and depending on your riding conditions maybe more often. I've seen some crank axles w/ tons of rust and had to smack the **** out of them to get them to come out.

Andrew R Stewart 

This is a good point to make. As the weight of bikes has dropped, the complexity has increased and tolerances have tightened the need of proactive maintenance is greater then what many of us do. I consider this a cost few understand or consciously agree to when they buy a bike. Andy

Miles2go

Good to get that feedback. I haven't had this kind of issue in the slightest with my Campagnolo-based bikes, and only pull their cranksets when they start complaining.
Also, I ordered the FinishLine product, and the few tools I don't have to do this myself. Switching from a Kogel ceramic BB to a Wheels Mfg BB.

Polaris OBark

I just did this earlier this morning, with a large rubber mallet. Hold the shell with one hand, and tap the spindle with the mallet with the other. Small rapid repeated taps seem to work better for me than major smacks, but after I replaced the bottom bracket, I had to smack it back in pretty hard. (GRX seem to fit very tightly in Ultegra BB).

cxwrench

Having someone stand on the DS of the bike and hold the frame while you hit the NDS w/ the hammer helps too.

Miles2go

The saga continues! I just got the crankset out with the help of additional bracing, and the drive side bearing extracted, stuck on the spindle. Second photo shows just how tight the pretension was torqued down, twisting the tool I used by that much in getting it to break free. Haven't started, but wonder how hard it's going to be to get that bearing off the spindle, so I can move forward on this.

Miles2go

I tried a few things that didn't work before lining up two big pry bars 180 from each other and applied a boat load of equal force to them. Right about the time I was about to give up, the bearing popped loose and luckily, I didn't damage the $600 crankset in the process.