Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club

Dsicovered quite a bit of movement in bottom bracket - simply this should need a tighten up - having recently serviced the Europa I'm a little concerned it may be wear -

Any thoughts - could it be wear - or just needs a tighten up?

thanks

Is it the old square taper bracket or is an ultra-torque?

If it is square taper, I have the appropriate tool.

as far as "is it wear or just loose", no idea.

James

If it's the square taper bracket, then there are 2-3 different types of tools for it, depending on the groupset. I moved a Veloce BB to another frame and ended up paying a few bucks to the LBS. It wasn't worth the cost of investing in a new tool just for that job.

The new UT BB is much easier and I have the tools for it if anyone needs it.

Take a look at what's loose. If it's the spindle, then the BB cartridge is shot. Given the age of your Europa (with Veloce), I suspect the cartridge (not serviceable) is probably due for replacement.

Campag (or 3rd party) BB cartridges aren't expensive if bought online. You can then pay a LBS to install it.

Thanks for the input...
I've discovered I don't even have an allen key big enough to get the crank off to check the taper.
Confirm - spindle is loose, Its Centaur thus I will need to slip down to LBS on Sat I'd say to get a new cartridge.

cheers
Michael

Michael, you need a crank pulling tool. I have one, but don't know if its compatible.

Good news for you Michael. Centaur shares the same fixing cup design as Record and Chorus, so that means JamesC's tools should work for you.

There's a technical document on Campagnolo's site that you can download which contains all the instructions for this job (doc # 7225218).

If you want to do the job, you should also read up Sheldon's write up.
http://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/cotterless.html

Thanks very much for the information Weiyun. I may try the LBS for a quick tighten up - if that fails I'll purchase the part. thanks again for the links and info.

regards
Michael

The Centaur bottom bracket is 111mm - its shot, water has crept in over time - my bike has had a creak for years - its was the bottom bracket all along.

The quick fix was for LBS to insert a Shimano bottom bracket. As Toff kindly outlined to me at RAW, this has led to some other forces coming into play as the Shimano item is wider = approx 140mm and with Centaur cranks fitted it is a different ride.

On our training ride this seemed to open up my hip flexors quite well. However, noticed a little niggle in the left knee. Over time this may work out to be better, need to monitor and also buy the very resonably priced spare campag intem online.

cheers