External Bottom Brackets

the tolerance shim bb's and cranks are made to is tight

first face chase the bb

degrease the threads

antiseize all threads

install bb with correct spacing and to the right torque ~40nm drive side tightend first

clean of exess antiseize

film of grease all over crank axle

push crank through bb should go through by hand ... no hammering, even by hand!

retract crank slightly and wipe of lip of grease between bb seal and spider ... stops crap biulding up

push crank back in

install non drive side checking that saftey tap is in position

tighten plastic or ali end cap into axel by hand.

back it off

use torque wrench to tighten it to 2.5-3nm usualy off the scale of most home torque wrenches. might also need an icetools tool which uses a 8mm allen key to drive it.

tighten the pinch bolts evenly to 12-14nm

evenly means tigthtening progressivly there is no need to half a turn on each

wipe of an mis grease / antiseize

check pinch bolts and gunk biuld up every 2 weeks - month
dependant on how much riding / dirt you get up to.

my sram cranks:

bit of grease on threads

screw the cups in by hand

tighten the cups with the tool as much as you can by hand

put on the cranks