You are reading a single comment by @Soweto888 and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@Soweto888
Well, it seems that I was getting play because of my feeble attempts to tighten the lockring. I've got a lockring tool which sort of fits the Campag lockring. It's useable, but prone to slipping, so I ended up using needle-nosed pliers first time around. This was a mistake. Using the ill-fitting lockring tool has chipped my paintwork into oblivion, however, the ring is now so tight that I don't think I could shift it, even if I wanted to. No more play. Yay!
When I rebuilt the BB on Tuesday, I dispensed with the bearing cages. The difference is incredible. Before yesterday, when the chain was off and the bike was upside down on the floor, you could swing the cranks and they would barely turn one revolution before stopping. If you do the same now, they just spin and spin and spin and spin... So no more bearing cages for me. Sheldon's instructions for installing loose ball-bearings are easy to follow. To be honest, it's not even as awkward as you'd think. The grease in the cups stops the bearings from bouncing about. Just make sure you don't poke one down your seat stay. ;-)