Premature Bottom Bracket Failure

New and exiting causes of bottom bracket failure have been discovered.

Shimano Alfine 11 speed hub.
Alfine Cranks
Hollowtech Bottom Bracket.

The Alfine 11 leaks oil.

Not a lot of oil. The consensus is that "They all do that sir."

It oozes from the seal around the axle and slowly works its way to the
rear cog. From there it travels onto the chain and is deposited on the
front cog. It wends its way lazily down the front cog to drip on the
floor where I park. Maybe a small drip every two days.

As it passed the crank it had obviously been wicked into the small gap
between the crank and the bearing seal thinning and finally rinsing out
all the grease on the drive side bearings.

The good news is that a new bottom bracket has taken three minutes off my
commute time.

Bad news is the rear hub still leaks oil.
--
davethedave

On 18 Nov, 19:37, davethedave wrote:
New and exiting causes of bottom bracket failure have been discovered.

Shimano Alfine 11 speed hub.
Alfine Cranks
Hollowtech Bottom Bracket.

The Alfine 11 leaks oil.

Not a lot of oil. The consensus is that "They all do that sir."

It oozes from the seal around the axle and slowly works its way to the
rear cog. From there it travels onto the chain and is deposited on the
front cog. It wends its way lazily down the front cog to drip on the
floor where I park. Maybe a small drip every two days.

As it passed the crank it had obviously been wicked into the small gap
between the crank and the bearing seal thinning and finally rinsing out
all the grease on the drive side bearings.

The good news is that a new bottom bracket has taken three minutes off my
commute time.

Bad news is the rear hub still leaks oil.
--
davethedave

Make a loop of cord around the crank axle. I had a bike like that 35
years ago, I'd forgotten what the cord was for but can always remember
it being there and I didn't take it off. I now recall, the crank
bracket did not ever get crunchy which I had found on bikes before.
Twiddle's (Lancashire lightweights) (this idea must have come from
him) prices seemed high, but such little tricks can save much trouble
in the long run.

On Sun, 18 Nov 2012 21:37:17 +0200
davethedave wrote:

Bad news is the rear hub still leaks oil.

Perhaps as used to be said about old Brit motorbikes "It's just marking
its territory."



Lay down an old Sunbeam bicycle with "The Little Oil-bath" chaincase
onto its side and watch that oil come out though.....


Mike

another TOTAL LOSS LUBRICATION SYSTEM ?

gonna take it apart ? itsnot gonna stop leakin...

On 19/11/2012 8:13 AM, thirty-six wrote:
On 18 Nov, 19:37, davethedave wrote:
New and exiting causes of bottom bracket failure have been discovered.

Shimano Alfine 11 speed hub.
Alfine Cranks
Hollowtech Bottom Bracket.

The Alfine 11 leaks oil.

Not a lot of oil. The consensus is that "They all do that sir."

It oozes from the seal around the axle and slowly works its way to the
rear cog. From there it travels onto the chain and is deposited on the
front cog. It wends its way lazily down the front cog to drip on the
floor where I park. Maybe a small drip every two days.

As it passed the crank it had obviously been wicked into the small gap
between the crank and the bearing seal thinning and finally rinsing out
all the grease on the drive side bearings.

To the OP, so long as the bearing was wet with clean oil, it would be
fine. The soap in grease doesn't lubricate, it's the oil that does the
work of lubrication in bearings. As thirty-six writes below, it
probably carried dirt in passed the seal which caused the bearing to
fail early.


The good news is that a new bottom bracket has taken three minutes off my
commute time.

Bad news is the rear hub still leaks oil.
--
davethedave

Make a loop of cord around the crank axle. I had a bike like that 35
years ago, I'd forgotten what the cord was for but can always remember
it being there and I didn't take it off. I now recall, the crank
bracket did not ever get crunchy which I had found on bikes before.
Twiddle's (Lancashire lightweights) (this idea must have come from
him) prices seemed high, but such little tricks can save much trouble
in the long run.


Neat. Use the rear hub as an oil reservoir, and let it drip feed the
chain and derailleur, but wipe off before it gets to the BB bearing.

The leaking hub sounds like a Land Rover I once owned.

Do SA hubs have a habit of leaking?

--
JS

On Sun, 18 Nov 2012 21:37:17 +0200, davethedave
wrote:

New and exiting causes of bottom bracket failure have been discovered.

Shimano Alfine 11 speed hub.
Alfine Cranks
Hollowtech Bottom Bracket.

The Alfine 11 leaks oil.

Not a lot of oil. The consensus is that "They all do that sir."

It oozes from the seal around the axle and slowly works its way to the
rear cog. From there it travels onto the chain and is deposited on the
front cog. It wends its way lazily down the front cog to drip on the
floor where I park. Maybe a small drip every two days.

Remarkable! A built in chain oiler :-)

As it passed the crank it had obviously been wicked into the small gap
between the crank and the bearing seal thinning and finally rinsing out
all the grease on the drive side bearings.

The good news is that a new bottom bracket has taken three minutes off my
commute time.

Bad news is the rear hub still leaks oil.
--
Cheers,
John B.

On Sunday, November 18, 2012 6:56:53 PM UTC-5, James wrote:


Do SA hubs have a habit of leaking?

I built my first SA 3 speed into a wheel and a bike last year. (The hub is NOS from 1975, I think.)

Anyway, it seems to sort of seep a tiny bit. It gets a slight film on its exterior, but not enough to drip. However, I suppose there's a chance I'm under-lubricating it.

I don't know about the more modern SA hubs.

- Frank Krygowski

muh Mom n Dad had 3 speed Sears bikes of hmmmm mid 1980's....no leaks

https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&t...bih=512&bs= 1


wither Craftsman when sears goes under ? Sears is always such a nice place to visit. La Hoya superb....quiet peaceful...

On Sunday, November 18, 2012 11:40:50 PM UTC-5, datakoll wrote:
muh Mom n Dad had 3 speed Sears bikes of hmmmm mid 1980's....no leaks



https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&t...0&bih=512&bs=1





wither Craftsman when sears goes under ? Sears is always such a nice place to visit. La Hoya superb....quiet peaceful...



yeah slight film....accumulates fuzzy debris as signaling its presence...not more.

On Sunday, November 18, 2012 11:40:50 PM UTC-5, datakoll wrote:
muh Mom n Dad had 3 speed Sears bikes of hmmmm mid 1980's....no leaks



https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&t...0&bih=512&bs=1





wither Craftsman when sears goes under ? Sears is always such a nice place to visit. La Hoya superb....quiet peaceful...



look thru Hemkel, second page. Henkel sellls the cheap way for mounting your elephant on the ceiling