I did more or less a complete bottom-bracket overhaul today. Despite
my best efforts to flush as much crap out of the non-drive-side bottom
bracket bearings, having the left crank still attached just made it
too hard, and I was bothered by the amount of grittiness I could feel.
So, despite my tremendous reservations, I pulled that troublesome left
crank so I could get right into the cup.
I had originally built the Franken-Peugeot up with caged bearings, 9
balls in each cage. The unanimous advice of the internet seemed to be
that replacing this approach with 11 uncaged balls was well worth the
extra effort, so I did this. Being able to do this on both sides at
the same time was another motivation to pull the left crank so I could
service the entire bottom bracket.
With the new, un-pitted drive-side cup installed, and new bearings and
new grease on both sides, my short test ride in the area around the
co-op was nice and quiet. Well, not 100% quiet, but definitely a
total lack of the horrible sound which had been bothering me. The
remaining sounds I can hear are slight and I don't think they're a
cause for major concern. Getting a Franken bike made of random parts
to run totally silently is a big ask. I think the biggest remaining
sources of noise are, one, that I am using a 1/8th inch chain but my
chainwheel is designed for narrower derailleur chains, which permits
some side-to-side movement, and two, that the pedal bearings have a
little play in them.
So, the biggest problem that I've been facing for quite a while now
appears to be solved. I would *love* to immediately embarck on a
really long ride, but naturally I am now once again greatly concerned
about that damn left crank coming off, since it has been reseated.
Before pulling it, I used a permanent marker to put marks on the crank
and on the spindle so I could put it back on in precisely the same
orientation, so that I could hopefully keep the same seemingly secure
fit. I did everything "properly" putting both cranks back on (greased
the splines, and gave the bolts a little extra tightening after an
intial ride to account for the loss of preload), so fingers crossed
it's all good, but I don't want to find myself far from home on this
bike until I have convinced myself that it's staying put. Thus,
relatively conservative riding on the weekend - perhaps to my recent
S24O location for some outdoor coffee and back.
