clicking bottom bracket

[John Saxby]

this system is all a load of hassle

That's one way of looking at it, Anto. Another is that all of us have a lot of time on our hands, enough to pitch in to solve the problem of a wee click. Why do we have so much time on our hands? Well, it's crap weather pretty much everywhere just now ('cept in Australia), so we're not out riding. But also, no-one, no-one, you'll have noticed, is wailing about their derailleur adjustment problems, and seeking help or comfort... 

[Danneaux]

Would a laser pen be of any use aligning up the chain with front and back ring/ cog?

Well, sure, but you don't have to go that far. Any straight-edge, be it a piece of cut wood or perhaps a meter stick/yardstick will do to see if you're near the required chainline.

Really, if the bike was setup correctly originally wrt to a Rohloff chainline, then making sure the eccentric is evenly centered in the BB shell will restore alignment.

If your eccentric is offset to one side (say, the left as it appears in the photo), then the chain will run at an angle and if you have a slightly stiff link, that can surely account for the clicking noise. You might even get a click with every link, as the chain will hit the edge of the chainring teeth, rather than square on.

All the best,

Dan.

[martinf]

Would a laser pen be of any use aligning up the chain with front and back ring/ cog?

For chainring/rear sprocket alignment I use a builder's rule. Not bought just for bike maintenance, it gets used for other jobs around the house and outside.

On some bikes I can adjust the bottom bracket (TA Axix with lockrings on both sides) or the rear sprocket (dished sprocket, or move spacers from one side of the sprocket to the other).

 My two Rohloff equipped bikes are pretty much spot on, but I wouldn't worry if the alignment is not quite correct.

Although I try to get chainline as good as possible, in the past I have had it out of alignment on some bikes by up to about 10 mm without noticing any problems. This was with Sturmey Archer or Shimano Nexus 8 hub gears, but I don't see why Rohloff should be different.

[jags]

i just like winding you rohloff boys up John
but saying that i'm not a fan of rohloff or disc brakes no need for them on a bike ,electric bike yes because that a different kettle fish altogether
you  guys hold great faith in the rohloff system until it goes wrong and your left stranded in the middle of nowhere  cold wet hungry mad dogs on your tail get me the hell out of of here, but you can't go anywhere because your stupid rohloff packed in left you stranded and your hands are badly burned  from trying to fix the disc after decending a mountain pass ,
oh yes time to get the brain in motion and sell those bike's get a proper  touring bike  with parts you can fix  without any problems.

anto.

[bobs]

Hands  up all those who have had a rohloff or has heard of one which has failed.

Anyone had a derailleur fail.
I'm with you regarding discs, I really miss drum brakes my car.

Bob

[jags]

utube is your friend Bob 
Bob i hope you never have a problem with your class bike but what if u did, big trouble brother your  left stranded

[John Saxby]

Anto, I've had my fill of wonky derailleurs letting me down in places where I didn't want to be let down -- big hills seemed to be the location of choice, but things went wrong on flat roads in river valleys too. (No ravenous critters a-chasin' me, we don't have those things in Canada, just the wee blackflies in their gazillions.)

So I bought myself a Rohloff--sold my AJS scrambler, couldn't afford the $$ otherwise--and now I don't even think about gear changes, chains, stuff like that. Any time I stop on a hill, it's because I want to, not because my rear derailleur has decided it needs a break from doing its job.

Lots of people have had good success with derailleurs, and I'm happy for them.

Cheers,  J.

PS:  Pls don't stop winding us up -- though I don't want you to feel discouraged if we don't take the bait
 

[jags]

you gotta laugh John 
some guys get really hot under the collor when u  (me) slag there pride and joy  but sure life would be dull in everything or everyone was perfect.
is it still snowing there John.

i hope santa didn't forget me this year.

anto.

[ají]

Hands  up all those who have had a rohloff or has heard of one which has failed.



Bob

ME! but i will deal with that in the appropriate forum once i get this EBB issue sorted.

[ají]

allright lads hope y'all had a good break.

thought i'd include some pics of the EBB, bb shell etc for your perusal.

[ají]

sorry about the grime...

so i pulled the whole thing apart as you can see, added the super duper S&S machine fluorinated teflon grease (which mostly pushed out owing to the flush fit of eccentric into shell) and also removed the UN55 cartridge and lubed that.

and the clicking continues.

[geocycle]

Sorry to hear the clicking continues. Nothing there looks amiss to me.  I think you mentioned that you had already changed the BB, so what about the cranks are they showing any wear where they attach to the tapers -can you put another set on to check? Do you grease the tapers?

[ají]

I changed the un55 cartridge, but the eccentric no.
I'll try greasing the tapers. Could grease lessen movement if the crank is misshapen?

[geocycle]

I changed the un55 cartridge, but the eccentric no.
I'll try greasing the tapers. Could grease lessen movement if the crank is misshapen?

Greasing tapers divides opinion. I do and have never had a problem, others suggest it encourages the cranks to work their way off.  It won't lessen any movement but could hide a noise.  The holes in cranks can sometimes wear a bit as they are under huge pressures. There was a picture of an extreme version of a mis-shapen one on the CTC forum recently if you want to browse http://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=111276&p=1082194&hilit=crank#p1082194

[mickeg]

Did you try the trainer test yet with a friend listening for the exact spot where the click is while you pedaled? 

I really suspect it is something on the frame if you have done as much drivetrain inspection as it sounds like you have.  I made my comment on page one of this thread that one of my bottom bracket clicks was actually a rear rack bolt that needed tightening.

I have heard of seatposts clicking inside the frame as the frame flexed while pedaling to cause a click that sounded like bottom bracket too.

Clicking means movement.  And anything that will make a noise like a click when it is moving is the type of thing that is not supposed to move.  So, my point is that grease might mask a symptom but won't solve a problem.

I changed the un55 cartridge, but the eccentric no.
I'll try greasing the tapers. Could grease lessen movement if the crank is misshapen?

Greasing tapers divides opinion. I do and have never had a problem, others suggest it encourages the cranks to work their way off.  It won't lessen any movement but could hide a noise.  The holes in cranks can sometimes wear a bit as they are under huge pressures. There was a picture of an extreme version of a mis-shapen one on the CTC forum recently if you want to browse http://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=111276&p=1082194&hilit=crank#p1082194

I think that greasing the taper is recommended by some manufacturers but not by others.  If I recall correctly Campy specifically recommended against grease back when they still made square taper cranks.  (I have two bikes with Campy square taper triples.)  But I think others recommended grease.