Suntour Superbe drive side crank clearance issue #8

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  • Having trouble installing my drive side Sun Tour crank arm. I put Phil's grease on the axle and inside the crank boss, then I install crank arm and then just use a socket wrench to tighten down the axle bolt till crank arm feels securely snug/firm.

    Theres minimal clearance and like 1 to 2 out of the 5 star sprocket arms have issues clearing my chain stay! I actually filed down the single thread poking out from the sprocket bolts that were knocking my frames chain stay.

    Why do I keep having clearance issues with the 5 prong sprocket arms of the drive side cranks?

    Perhaps I'm over tightening the crank arm onto the axle?

  • dont grease axles if you mean the square taper bit, what do you know about the BB? length, iso,jis? maybe its the wrong length or taper and its on too far

  • It says 103 on the taper, and you don't grease the taper? I get creaking sometimes if I don't and generally thought "grease everything" was a good rule to follow?

    I'm learning there really is an art to working on bikes…

    Before I posted this I re-greased the axle and hand tightened it down then lightly but with force torqued the axle nut until the sprocket arm had just enough clearance. Its on fairly good, but skeptical how tight it will be after a days ride…


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  • Whether the taper is greased or not, is a bone of contention with strong opinions on both sides of the argument.

    Outside of cycling the practice is to grease such assemblies, so that's what I do.

    What is in less doubt, is whether you ride your bike without having your cranks torqued up properly: NO. If you do, you will trash the BB and the cranks!

    If your cranks aren't clearing the chain stay, then you need a longer BB.

    Modest cranks and chainrings are rarely flat (or round), so the clearance will vary as the crank spins. This is why some arms clear and others don't.

    Get a longer BB and do it up properly.

  • Sheldon Brown and Jobst Brandt have both written in support of greasing crank tapers.
    That's good enough for me.

    You might find Sheldon's instructions about straightening chainwheels interesting.

    http://www.sheldonbrown.com/straighten-chw.html

  • oh and that bb looks to be jis. suntour superbe is iso.
    you need a 109mm axle or thereabouts. campagnolo 110mm sealed bbs are well regarded and I have 3 on various bikes. veloce is a bit cheaper.

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Suntour Superbe drive side crank clearance issue #8

Posted by Avatar for Tomrides @Tomrides

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