Airwolf641

I have a Giant Cypress 2 that is only 2 months old and the bb bearing seal popped out. My lbs replaced the BB with what they said was a higher quality Shimano BB.

The guy who installed the BB is a bike mechanic of 35 years who is very respected.

There may be a reason for this that I'm unaware of, but the drive side of the BB is sticking out about 4mm and the non-drive side is flush.

The old BB was flush on both sides. Is this normal? I know very little about BB installs and the bike shop is closed today so I'm not able to call them yet.

I have pics but not sure how to post em since I'm new to the forum.

brokewheelspoke

Sometimes you have to add spacers to get the chainline centered

3alarmer 

...sometimes, in order to adjust the crank chain wheels and arm clearance, it is necessary to place a spacer or two on the drive side when using a different sealed unit than the original.
Without some photos, it's impossible to speculate on whether this is the case, or there is something else going on. But they are not always flush on both sides when installed.

Airwolf641

Just found out how to post pics, but I guess it's saying i have to have 10 posts first, I'm working on it, hope to have pictures soon

RangerTampa

You can add the photos to your Album (look for your user control panel in your user profile menu).

Iride01 

These pics?


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c4f65715d1.jpg


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c523d9a183.jpg

Might be that the spindle length on the BB is too much. Looks like it's for a bike with a wider BB shell. But that's sort of what you get today with the more limited selection of sizes since square tapers are old tech and only used on the less expensive bikes.

Will it make a difference. Maybe. But if it shifts okay and you don't mind the extra spread on your feet then only your perception of the aesthetics is about all you can fuss about.

Better to go back and have a discussion with the guy that did it so you know what his reasoning is. And not just get a bunch of assumptions and things that might make you more agitated about it.

My wife use to have a Giant Cypress. I think the cranks sticking far out with the spindle exposed was one of the things that always looked funny on it since I was use to road bikes and a very close gap between crank arm and BB shell.

Welcome to BF!

Iride01 

Re-reading your OP, are you talking about the lip on the BB that is beyond the shell? That makes no real difference. Just a different way that some are made. If there is room for it to be there between the ring/crank spider and BB shell, then it's no issue.

Troul 

that NDS being that far out would annoy me. if comfort 7 performance is fine, it's likely A-Ok.

wonder how much weight could be saved by just having it sit more flush...

3alarmer 

...that's the lip on the drive side. It's a normal part of this style of sealed unit, and it's not a problem.

oldbobcat

Shouldn't the professional mechanic at the bike shop have thought of this?

Actually, no. He installed what he had on hand rather than looking up or measuring and ordering the correct unit. That spindle is definitely too long. How much, I can't tell from pictures. But it's wrong. Take it back and insist he either do it right or return your money.

SoSmellyAir

In connection with oldbobcat's comment in post #11 above, Airwolf641 should shift onto the middle cog of the cassette and see if the chain is parallel to the central axis of the bike.

If the cassette has an even number of cogs, do the above for the two cogs at the center of the cassette to evaluate the chain line.

Iride01 

Y'all got to remember that this is one of the least expensive bikes in Giant's line up. They were originally made around a 3x front. That's what my wife's bike had. And even then there was a lot of spindle exposed between the BB and the crank arms. Particularly the left side. Chain line probably is correct or correct enough seeing that this is a 1x front.

If the bike shifts to all the cogs on the back with no issues, then certainly the chain line is decent enough.

Germany_chris

Gents they don’t make as many spindle lengths as they used to.

bboy314

It’s impossible to tell from this picture whether the spindle length is correct. As suggested by others, you should check your chainline.

Airwolf641

Everybody, thanks for all the posts, I could not post more than a certain amount in 24 hrs, per the forum, so sorry for my delayed response.

I have little idea what chainline is, but I've been doing some googling on it and it seems it can get complicated.

I will say that the bike appears to shift just as well with the new BB.

I have 9 cogs on the cassesete, so If I'm understanding this correctly, I should switch to the 5th cog and see if the chain is parallel to I guess an imaginary straight line through the center of the bike?

Is this something I should just eyeball?

thanks again everyone

Airwolf641

I'm going to further highlight my ignorance here, but what part is the spindle? My Google searches on this are less than clear. Would any additional pictures help at all?

Airwolf641

3alarmer, I really considered your post with that picture, the mic drop moment of this thread. That lip looks exactly like what i got sticking out, so that seemed to solve all the questions I had.

But now there's new posts about whether the spindle length and centerline is correct, and if this is the wrong BB for my bike, but unfortunately a lot of this is above my technical expertise, but I'm slowly learning.

This is my first bike since being a teenager, and I'm in my forties now. So I'm slowing trying to get more technically adept with the bike, and I'm fairly handy, just not familiar with bikes and the terminology.

Airwolf641

Sorry for my ignorance, but when you say the spindle length is too long, are u referring to the silver lip thats exposed?

If that's a lip, isn't that always going to stick out like that?

if this is truly wrong, I will certainly address this with the shop, just don't want to look stupid if it's not.

Iride01 

To guesstimate if the chain line is correct, shift into the middle gear on the rear. Then with your bike on a stand or your head down low, view along the top run of the chain and see if it's fairly straight from front to back or back to front. I find it easier to view from the rear. The chain will have a sideways bend in it were it leaves the cog or ring if the chain line is way off. If the chain is more perfectly straight in the next bigger cog or smaller cog, that's likely okay too and might be intentional because it's assumed that side of the cassette will be used more.

But still, the only big reason to worry about chain line is if the bike is not shifting well. To a lesser extent if affects your chain longevity, but that also is affected by what gears the rider uses the most. So it doesn't do any good to have a chain line that is correct by the specs if the rider is mostly in a gear far from that.

Airwolf641

Might be that the spindle length on the BB is too much. Looks like it's for a bike with a wider BB shell. But that's sort of what you get today with the more limited selection of sizes since square tapers are old tech and only used on the less expensive bikes.

Will it make a difference. Maybe. But if it shifts okay and you don't mind the extra spread on your feet then only your perception of the aesthetics is about all you can fuss about.

Better to go back and have a discussion with the guy that did it so you know what his reasoning is. And not just get a bunch of assumptions and things that might make you more agitated about it.

My wife use to have a Giant Cypress. I think the cranks sticking far out with the spindle exposed was one of the things that always looked funny on it since I was use to road bikes and a very close gap between crank arm and BB shell.

Welcome to BF![/QUOTE]

Thanks for the warm welcome and getting those pics posted!

So are you saying this particular BB, is making my pedals spaced wider, when you referenced the extra spreads on my feet?

Iride01 

Not anymore. After I wrote that I realized this was the same model of bike my wife use to have. It's crankarms were pretty far out from the BB as are many of the lower cost bikes. Back then they used a 3x crank or a crank with 3 chain rings on the front. Yours only has one. So I think that is why there is so much spindle sticking out that has others concerned.

Talk to the mechanic. Even if the BB spindle is a millimeter or two wider, it is unlikely to make a big enough difference in shifting or your stance on the pedals. People themselves can handle a wide range of pedal Q, which is how far apart the pedals are.

jasoninohio

One thing you could do for reference is find out what the old bottom bracket size was vs. the newly installed one; if the old was say, 118mm and the new one is 126mm or something like that then obviously you'll have a difference there

Also just simply look at the cranks in relation to the frame; "Q-factor" is the distance of the pedals from the center of the frame -- too wide and you might feel awkward pedaling, too narrow and you could have clearance problems with the frame; look up what a chainstay is, that's the lower section of the rear triangle of your frame, how close is the end of the crank arm from touching the chainstay? Also how close are your chainrings to the chain stay? If both are roughly an inch or more out you could probably go to a narrower bottom bracket if you feel that the pedals are too wide currently, otherwise you're probably good to go if it feels decent as-is

SoSmellyAir

Bikes are generally, but not aways, setup with the center of the cassette (i.e., center cog) lined up with the center of the crank set (i.e., chain ring in a 1X crank). The distance between the resulting line and the "imaginary straight line through the center of the bike" is the chain line distance, generally measured in millimeters.

Throughout the entire range of the cassette? If so, you are fine.

Yes.

Yes, especially if you are shifting fine through the entire range of the cassette.

2old

For a warranty issue they should be able to provide the original product. I think the well respected mechanic got rid of something they had laying around. I'm with oldbobcat!

3alarmer 

...in truth, the reason I have not commented further is because it will inevitably lead to some long back and forth with people who are telling you this is wrong, when you cannot tell whether it's correct or not from the photos you have provided. My suspicion, given that it seems to be working well for you, is that you have been given a good repair.

There is an unfortunate tendency on this forum, and the internet in general, to presume that when something like this is asked in a forum, the mechanic in question is either incompetent or lazy. You see it in some of the responses. I don't know why it happens, but it does. But yes, if it is working well, the chainline looks reasonably close, and you go in there telling this guy that someone on Bikeforums.net told you he botched the repair, and he should now fix it better....you will look stupid and you'll have effectively alienated this repair resource for the foreseeable future.

I can't tell from the photos whether it's been done correctly, but my tendency is to presume that it has. Bike repair is a tough business, with slow seasons and a bunch of reasons to find some other way to make a living. I always assume that someone who has been doing it long term is not out to screw people. Unless there is clear and convincing evidence to the contrary. Which there is not, in this case. Your feet being farther apart on the pedals is not a big issue, and without a before picture, there's no way to determine how far apart they were on the original spindle.

Good luck on the bicycle. Be careful out there.