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My First Bike Build pt3 : BB and more

macrophotofly

Maximum Pace
Aug 27, 2012
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In the end a combination of my lack of Japanese and then worrying about someone else mucking my bike up led me down the path of fitting the BB30 myselfo_O
I figured out I needed this Park set (not so much the removal tool, I was really just after the two BB30-size press-ends that mate properly with the bearings). The set cost 5k JPY from Amazon and arrived the following day.
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You are meant to use them with this which costs another 10k JPY....
p1528125798-11.jpg

....for a bolt and two arms welded to nuts?!?! I think I can do better than that from Tokyo Hands (total cost 1400 JPY) and thus the MacFly BB30 fitter was formed;
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(...and before you ask, I've no idea why they attached a cable guide under the bracket given its got no use - another question back to Boardman when I have time to write to them)
I made sure it was all properly greased, square and then gently tightened the nuts up with spanners on both sides. It all went in without too much of a problem! If I was doing it again I would have done one side at a time (and I did have the larger washers to mate up), but at the time applying pressure to both bearings seemed to be a good way to avoid pressure on the frame itself.
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I'd also acquired a second, car, torque wrench from Amazon at the same time - so it was quickly onto the crank itself and all tightened up to the prerequisite 50nm. The SRAM crank has the plastic tension "nut" that you screw against the bearings and then tighten a grub screw, rather than messing around with washers and a curly sprung plastic washer -
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Next up the brakes. Having been spoilt with hydraulic disc brakes on my Boardman Pro for the last year I wanted needed the best road brakes I could get. Owen recommended the DA9000's and although I would be using them with Ultegra shifter's I still felt it was worth the cost. On unpacking the first one, I could not work out why the nut wasn't deep enough for the recess on the rear side of the front fork.
Twenty minutes later:oops: I opened the other box and realised I was trying to fit the rear brake to the front and the other box had all the right parts for the job (multiple depths of nut and the right brake ) ....NOOB mistake no.4!
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One thing does occur to me now, late on this evening; if I mixed up the two brakes units after having taken them both out of their boxes (which I don't think I did!) - how do I tell which is the front and which is the rear?

Next up the rest of chainset, stem, bars and shifters
 
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One thing does occur to me now, late on this evening; if I mixed up the two brakes units after having taken them both out of their boxes (which I don't think I did!) - how do I tell which is the front and which is the rear?

Next up the rest of chainset, stem, bars and shifters

from what I understand, the front and rear brakes are identical, the only thing you have to take in account is with way the brake pads are mounted, so when looking from the side, the pads on the rear and back are suppose to have the breakepad screw pointing to the back of the bike, if that makes sense. like this

Good work on the bearing press! I have that "press" you didn't buy, but not the press ends, so I ended up taking it to the shop instead.
Looking forward on seeing the complete bike.
 
from what I understand, the front and rear brakes are identical

Haha, what!

Dwight-Schrute-False.jpg


Front brake = long axle on back, so it can go through the forks which are deep on modern bikes.

Rear brake = short axle on back, so it is not too long for the rear brake hanger on the seat stays.

2013_03_Shimano_Dura_Ace_9000_Review_24.jpg


In this picture; rear brake left (short axle on back), front brake right (long axle on back)
 
I thought it was only the "nut" in the back that was of different length. Just remembering reading the instructions (that's right I read instructions!) and I said "this is intended for rear use. if using as the front brake, replace both brake shoes blablabla".

But yeah, boxes are labeled rear/front so you are probably right. Still, the above mentioned still stands, brake shoes screw should point towards back of the bike on both rear and front.
 
If you massively can't work it out (which is weird for a person in a position to buy a bike of this value; I mean, you must have managed to get the money somehow, which would indicate a certain level of intelligence), then just fit the back one first; one of the brakes will not fit the back, as the axle will be too long. Once you have the back fitted, the other one MUST be the front.
 
As for choosing the length of the threaded tube you insert in the back of the fork, you want to use the longest one you can, as this fills out the hole drilled in the fork, and gives the brake part of it's bracing strength; if you use a short one, the brake has a small chance of not being so unbelievably rad. It will still be rad, but not at a level you can not believe, which is what you want, even though you will not believe it.

Couple of ways you can find out the longest length usable.

Annoying, trial and error way; Screw one in all the way. If it clamps tight before it bottoms out against the fork, it is either the right one, or too short. If you find one of these, try a longer one using the same method, until you find one that is too long, then use the slightly shorter than too long one. That will be the one you want.

Fancy way; measure the hole depth, then measure the threaded tube nut things until you find the correct length.

Method one is way more BMX, so I approve. Method two is a bit more grown-up, but not as long-winded OCD. Plus gives you less fore-arm pump as it requires minimal screwing in and out loads of times.
 
If you massively can't work it out (which is weird for a person in a position to buy a bike of this value; I mean, you must have managed to get the money somehow, which would indicate a certain level of intelligence), then just fit the back one first; one of the brakes will not fit the back, as the axle will be too long. Once you have the back fitted, the other one MUST be the front.
Nice sarcasm Owen, just hope you are this happy and jolly when some one sends you some your way. Glasshouses and what?
 
Anyway, those SRAM cranks look buff against that matte grey frame. Nice work. When you installed them, are they a bit stiff to turn round at first? When my SiSL2 cranks went in, they felt like the bearings were full of marmite. Sorted themselves out with a few big rides though.

Very important question; what colour cables you going to get for this bad boy? As you have the DA9000 brakes, you might want to get their new DA9000 brake cables with are utterly lush. They bed in a bit weird too, but once done they are so nice.
 
Dunno about that, to be honest. I have seen a few Di2 cable installs and having a BB installed before embarking on that would be bare hassle, fam.
 
Ding Dong Round 1 over...back to your corners please. (what have I started!?!?)
Seriously though I appreciate the help from all of you
I thought it was only the "nut" in the back that was of different length. Just remembering reading the instructions (that's right I read instructions!) and I said "this is intended for rear use. if using as the front brake, replace both brake shoes blablabla".
You are both right on this. I also read the instructions (once I had openned box no.2 and realised my initial error). You can swap them round and there are multiple lengths of nut, but the bolt axle length is a little longer on the front brake. As it was late last night when writing up the build I suddenly worried i might have mixed the brakes up, but clearly not - my little nuts on the blocks are to the rear and the bolt lengths are right. Two things the instructions did not tell me though - what torque to do the brake nuts onto the fork/rear frame (I decided on 6nm) and how to adjust the angle the brake blocks run to the wheel (I'll cover that in next article where I can explain more)
You should have asked Wiggle to fit the bearings. They did mine!
I got my frame driect from Boardman - you can't get the Di Frame from Wiggle or even their elite dealers at the moment
Dunno about that, to be honest. I have seen a few Di2 cable installs and having a BB installed before embarking on that would be bare hassle, fam.
...I to have to agree with Owen that fitting the cables before the BB30 is far easier. Not impossible to do the other way round as my picture shows, but threading the wires, pushing the wires into the junction box and then slotting it back up into frame would have been a right a*** if the bearings were there

Anyway, those SRAM cranks look buff against that matte grey frame. Nice work. When you installed them, are they a bit stiff to turn round at first? When my SiSL2 cranks went in, they felt like the bearings were full of marmite. Sorted themselves out with a few big rides though.
So glad you said this. I spun the cranks after I fitted them and although I could tell the bearings were true, I was really disappointed with gluey resistance (give them a hard push and they only rotated 1.5 times before slowing to a halt). I even walked down to the garage, slipped the chain off my Boardman Pro's crank and spun them (silky in comparison). I decided they and their grease need bedding in but it does unnerve you when you've done the fix yourself

Very important question; what colour cables you going to get for this bad boy? As you have the DA9000 brakes, you might want to get their new DA9000 brake cables with are utterly lush. They bed in a bit weird too, but once done they are so nice.
Thanks for the positive comments on the crank vs frame - the 9.8 has a very "functional" finish which matches the cranks - you can tell you have paid for performance and nothing for a coat of paint. The Ultegra shifters came with the normal (black) road cables which I've already cut to size and will use. I couldn't find the new D-A cables anywhere before I ordered all the parts, but think I have just spotted them today in the Otemachi Bianchi shop of all places (said D-A on the packet and mentioned new friction reducing coating but not explicitly "9000') . Not sure I like how light grey they've made them - my bike is matt black and the black cables go much better. I can easily upgrade later, if I find them in a dark grey or black
 
Ding Dong Round 1 over...back to your corners please. (what have I started!?!?)
Seriously though I appreciate the help from all of you

LOL, just Kiwisimon policing things for you and getting offended on your behalf, despite the fact that you are clearly able to handle the lukewarm banter.

You are both right on this. I also read the instructions (once I had openned box no.2 and realised my initial error). You can swap them round and there are multiple lengths of nut, but the bolt axle length is a little longer on the front brake. As it was late last night when writing up the build I suddenly worried i might have mixed the brakes up, but clearly not - my little nuts on the blocks are to the rear and the bolt lengths are right. Two things the instructions did not tell me though - what torque to do the brake nuts onto the fork/rear frame (I decided on 6nm) and how to adjust the angle the brake blocks run to the wheel (I'll cover that in next article where I can explain more)

Torque sounds about right, although others will no doubt have proper info on what to do it to. Block angling, there are a few tricks you can use, which I am sure everyone will help out with in the next thread.

So glad you said this. I spun the cranks after I fitted them and although I could tell the bearings were true, I was really disappointed with gluey resistance (give them a hard push and they only rotated 1.5 times before slowing to a halt). I even walked down to the garage, slipped the chain off my Boardman Pro's crank and spun them (silky in comparison). I decided they and their grease need bedding in but it does unnerve you when you've done the fix yourself

Yeah, I was the same, and so was Saibot with his SiSL2s. They took me a good couple of hefty long rides to get spinning nice, They are still snug, but definitely more spinny than when initially installed. All part of having finicky top end parts, what what.

Thanks for the positive comments on the crank vs frame - the 9.8 has a very "functional" finish which matches the cranks - you can tell you have paid for performance and nothing for a coat of paint. The Ultegra shifters came with the normal (black) road cables which I've already cut to size and will use. I couldn't find the new D-A cables anywhere before I ordered all the parts, but think I have just spotted them today in the Otemachi Biachi shop of all places (said D-A on the packet but not explicitly 9000) . Not sure I like how light grey they've made them - my bike is matt black and the black cables go much better. I can easily upgrade later, if I find them in a dark grey or black

Yeah, looks excellent. Muted, yet powerful. And yeah, it has a functional paint job, because it has a single task; going as fast as f**k. Looking pretty is an afterthought.

Thinking about it, I remember now that the DA9000 cables might not be available to buy as a separate product yet (I got mine in the box with the shifters). My DA9000 groupset is getting a bit old now (had it on my bike for nearly a month, so will be upgrading soon), but this was definitely the case when I got the gear. The grey of the DA9000 cables that I have is the exact same as the DA7900 cables I had before (if that helps). I wanted black ones too, but they don't do any other colours yet, and the outer is not standard, so you can't swap it out for a Jagwire one (well you can, but you can't, if you get me).

Anyway, sick bike. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the build.
 
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