Question about the right way to face a bottom bracket shell

I spent 8 years just cranking down on the cups and hoping for the best until a customer's frame started creaking after 200 miles. An old shop guy saw me working and pointed out I was skipping the facing step, showed me the tool, and it was night and day. Has anyone else had a moment where you found out a basic prep step you'd been ignoring was the fix for your biggest headache?

2 comments

2 Comments

holly_young3521d ago

That facing tool made a huge difference for me too on a personal build. Creaking drove me nuts for months until I tried it on my own frame and the noise just disappeared. Trust me, it's worth borrowing or renting the tool before you install new cups.

lily51120d ago

One guy at my local shop told me he actually measures the frame with a dial gauge before he even pulls out the facing tool. He said a lot of frames look fine but are off by 0.5mm or something tiny like that. @holly_young35 mentioned the creaking and I bet that's exactly what was happening on yours. It's wild how such a small gap can make that much noise.