It's been in since 1996. Has 4 little dimples for a specific tool.
A 3 foot bar couldn't shift it.
What should we try next? The BB is shot so can be sacrificed.
WD40, and boiling water
Bang the BB first, with big hammer
Diesel oil is really great at penetrating between seized parts. Also plus-gas. This is in a spray can like wd40 but in my experience works a lot better.
Isbit just the crank spindle that is titanium, or is it the cups too?
I always check and check again that im turning the correct way. I have also mounted the tool in a big bench vise and turned the frame.
As mentiined above, a couple of days soaking with a proper penetrant (diesel or plusgas, NOT gt85 or wd40) and then some boiling water poured over the BB shell will help you remove it
+1 for plusgas, different league from wd40/gt85
Diesel good too.
Takes time to work, but very effective.
I had a metal BB stuck in an ali frame out.
Got a mate to weld a bar to it and whacked it out. The cup bits were steel obvs.
It's a square taper so I'm assuming I can pour it down the seat tube and lay it over to help penetrate from the inside.
I believe they are ti cups.
Got a mate to weld a bar to it...
Steel is a lot easier, welding anything other than Ti to Ti is beyond the average person, maybe the heat from a weld on its own will break any corrosion??
HSS tools are unlikely to do the job either, carbide tools work better
Nothing to lose from a long soak apart from time
I believe they are ti cups
If they're scrap anyway try an HSS drill bit. If nothing much happens then they're probably Ti
As above, patience is key! The soaking in penetrating fluid is vital from inside the frame or probably the best, outside as the worse corrosion will probably be there, plusgas is good but so is Screwfix penetrating fluid. I’ve fashioned close fitting cups from plastic containers and then sealed with plasticene, top up regularly and leave for days. Make sure the tool is a very good fit and try and secure it in place if possible with a crank bolt if a conventional axle. Breaker bars do work but unless you’re very accurate with your pressure and keep it perpendicular it can pull the tool off. I use either a vice and an assistant to help move the frame, or, my preferred method, a shorter bar and hit with a rawhide mallet or similar. A few taps, soak again and go back after an hour or so, repeat!
Good luck, hope this helps, post up when you’re successful!
Galvanic corrosion between alu and Ti is pretty bad I think.
It's had 26 years to spall together. I reckon your odds of success are lower rather than higher. Probably closer to one unit that two separates now.
Dissolve the whole frame using sodium hydroxide and the Ti bits of the b/b should be left over at the end. It can be a bit explody so do it outdoors.
Cut the cups off at the edge of the BB, stick the frame in a drill press / lathe and mill / drill out the remainder of the BB from the inside, then re-cut the threads to clean them up / remove any bits of Ti stuck in the threads....
I don't remember ti cups ever, tho I imagine someone was stupid enough to do it, Boone?
Is it a Royce? If so the cups are Alu
I think it was made by a company called Zero in Sussex.
It's my friend's bike and now he has started commuting on his nice bike a 96 zasker with rim brakes just feels rubbish. Shame, as it was his first proper mtb and he lavished it with all the trick bits of the day. He should stick it on a wall as a momento of our youth.
Very unlikely the cups are Ti, why would you make something from Ti that would be lighter and more easily made in aluminium? I do remember Declan Hicks Zero Components though as I am old and live in Sussex. Someone in this retro bike thread had one too…
Not wishing to doubt the OP who obviously knows the provenance of their bike, but I can't think of a reason why a BB of any type would have Ti cups and - presumably - steel bearings and square tapers.
Watching with interest, hope that the BB can be extracted okay.
Anodised alloy cups on a zero BB iirc?
Wheels still on the frame?
I fix a spanner on the BB put a long seat post over the end of the spanner and jump on it/ hit it with a mallet.
If the cups are Ti then heat will help, as Ti has about half the rate of thermal expansion to Al, so after soaking in penetrating oil etc get the shell hot and that may help. Don’t go so hot as to either damage the Al or set fire to the penetrating oil (I.e. boiling water rather than blow torch).
When trying to turn, as well as the long bar lots of torque approach, impact is very effective. Not sure what the tool you are using looks like but if there’s any way to use an impact driver / windy gun might help and probably have a better chance of not removing the Al threads along with the BB.
Good luck !
To soak the frame externally with penetrating oil from the outside place the bottom of the frame in a bin bag, carefully bury it upright in a sandpit so the BB is under the top of the sand, then pour in the oil. The sand reduces the amount of oil needed and holds it upright, the bag acts as a funnel.
Edit. The impacts applied to the tools don't have to be in the same direction as the force, so load up the tools then tap them with a hammer. Ideally find a way to clamp the tools into position (small ratchet straps etc) then tap away at your leisure.
Would it be possible to redo the bearings in the BB (sealed by all accounts) with it still in the frame?
Dobwe jave an update? Im hoping that prudence means its still soaking in diesel
To be fair I haven’t touched the bike just asked for advice over a curry.
Armed with all the above advice I shall get him to soak the bb and I’ll bring the bike home next visit and give it a go.
Always assumed the cups were ti but in this case glad to be proved wrong .
Have found a specific zasker bolt on rear disc mount in America so we might yet give the old girl a new lease of life!
I always check and check again that im turning the correct way.
I'm pretty sure Zaskars weren't Italian thread...? What other weird ones could it be?
If the cups are steel they should be magnetic, unless theyre stainless
Whos heard of AC50?
Is that good for this?
Some stainless is magnetic
If it’s got a really really short head tube, I’ve got some pace carbon forks he could have with disc mounts if the project is go.
No, shorter!
