Options to replace Niner Biocentric II EBB?

Pampa

Well-Known Member
I'm tired of this BB slipping. I've tried with paste/ without, cleaned it really well, and it still slips a bit. Are there alternatives to replace this EBB with another EBB?
 

JDurk

Well-Known Member
Grease on bolt threads? Little bit of grease on the bolt head? Using a torque wrench?

Just curious, where on the clock do you have the EBB setup, looking from the drive side?

I've noticed I need to re-tension more often running gearing at 32x18 than 32x20
 

1speed

Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
Once I started using blue Loctite on the bolts, I haven't had any issues with it. But I also run my chain with a tiny bit more slack in it than I might otherwise run. I can get away with this because I run a narrow-wide. I occasionally get the single link hop (that annoying ping sound when the lateral movement puts it on the edge of a tooth as it first engages with the front ring), but I can live with that because I almost never drop a chain on that bike and it really doesn't loosen up on me very much at all. So maybe that combination of blue Loctite and a little less torque in the chain itself will help? It's a tricky balance, but I usually decide tension by setting what I think would be perfect, and then backing it off just a couple mm's.
 

Pampa

Well-Known Member
Thank you @1speed! I'm not sure why using blue Loctite on the bolts would make a difference since I don't think the problem is that the bolts get loose (I actually have to loose them up to be able to re-tighten the chain). I'll give it a try it though.

BTW, good thing I read your post twice. I was just about going to remove the BB and put blue Loctite all around the contact surface with the BB shell :)
 

Pampa

Well-Known Member
Grease on bolt threads? Little bit of grease on the bolt head? Using a torque wrench?

Just curious, where on the clock do you have the EBB setup, looking from the drive side?

I've noticed I need to re-tension more often running gearing at 32x18 than 32x20

Yep, I did grease the threads and bolt heads. Honestly, I'm not using the torque wrench any more. I did use it many times but the BB was slipping a lot. I had to put more torque than the recommended, and I know that I may have screwed the BB (or the BB shell?).

The spindle is on the high side, like 11 o' clock I think. Right now it's setup 34-20.
 

1speed

Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
Thank you @1speed! I'm not sure why using blue Loctite on the bolts would make a difference since I don't think the problem is that the bolts get loose (I actually have to loose them up to be able to re-tighten the chain). I'll give it a try it though.

BTW, good thing I read your post twice. I was just about going to remove the BB and put blue Loctite all around the contact surface with the BB shell :)

So are you saying that you lose tension even though the bolts are not coming loose? If that's the case, then I imagine your only option would be to replace it, because that would mean the housing itself is warped enough to be moving even under correct (or greater) load. If both sides are as tight as they should be, it ought to be impossible for the BB to rotate. So if that's happening, it has to be warped beyond fixing. The blue Loctite works to keep the bolts in place assuming they will hold the housing in place. If they can't hold the housing in place, then the housing is probably beyond saving. My shop guy told me that just about everything comes with a torque recommendation and the reality is that many of those aren't 100% necessary, but he said in the case of a Niner EBB, it's absolutely necessary to use the torque specs because the housing itself will warp under extra load almost every time. This is especially a problem on the Carbon frames because even if it's not entirely warped, it stats to make that horrible squeak and you'll never get rid of that. But it's still an issue for the other materials as well.
 

jnos

Well-Known Member
I'm a big fan of the Bushnell EBB. The Cannodale EBB that was on my 1FG was the absolute worst! On the Bushnell, you just have to make sure that the little wedges are evenly spaced from the center. The Niner Biocentric clamps axially across the bottom bracket shell which may be a necessary thing for carbon bikes (I don't know, ask @jdog or @jimvreeland or someone else with the wrench skills). The Bushnell expands outward applies force radially (and more evenly and across a greater surface area).

GOOD!
41LqXQ3XcuL.jpg


BAD!!! (Old Cannondale design)
Rig_wedge_ebb.gif
 

Pampa

Well-Known Member
So are you saying that you lose tension even though the bolts are not coming loose? If that's the case, then I imagine your only option would be to replace it, because that would mean the housing itself is warped enough to be moving even under correct (or greater) load. If both sides are as tight as they should be, it ought to be impossible for the BB to rotate. So if that's happening, it has to be warped beyond fixing. The blue Loctite works to keep the bolts in place assuming they will hold the housing in place. If they can't hold the housing in place, then the housing is probably beyond saving. My shop guy told me that just about everything comes with a torque recommendation and the reality is that many of those aren't 100% necessary, but he said in the case of a Niner EBB, it's absolutely necessary to use the torque specs because the housing itself will warp under extra load almost every time. This is especially a problem on the Carbon frames because even if it's not entirely warped, it stats to make that horrible squeak and you'll never get rid of that. But it's still an issue for the other materials as well.

Thank you. I was anal about using the torque wrench at the beginning, and I installed it according to the instructions that came with it (with Oatey' paste) but it was slipping big time. After a while I tried more torque and that help, but didn't eliminate the problem. Now it doesn't slip too much on any single ride but it does slip just a tiny bit at a time.

Anyway, I'll just ride it like this or might try the Bushnell EBB recommended above.
 

Pampa

Well-Known Member
I'm a big fan of the Bushnell EBB. The Cannodale EBB that was on my 1FG was the absolute worst! On the Bushnell, you just have to make sure that the little wedges are evenly spaced from the center. The Niner Biocentric clamps axially across the bottom bracket shell which may be a necessary thing for carbon bikes (I don't know, ask @jdog or @jimvreeland or someone else with the wrench skills). The Bushnell expands outward applies force radially (and more evenly and across a greater surface area).

GOOD!
41LqXQ3XcuL.jpg


BAD!!! (Old Cannondale design)
Rig_wedge_ebb.gif
Thank you. It looks good. I might give this a try.
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
can you tighten these too much? Mine was slipping constantly this weekend at Allaire. Slipped so much that it would take a few revolutions before the EBB rotated all the way around and caught again. I didn't have a 12Nm torque wrench but one is on order.
 

Magic

Formerly 1sh0t1b33r
Team MTBNJ Halter's
can you tighten these too much? Mine was slipping constantly this weekend at Allaire. Slipped so much that it would take a few revolutions before the EBB rotated all the way around and caught again. I didn't have a 12Nm torque wrench but one is on order.
New bike. EBBs are junk.
 

JDurk

Well-Known Member
Yes, I've tightened more than 12Nm. Ran mine without any paste, grease, etc. I remember @1speed mentioning a number, but I haven't had to do since Feb of last year and don't have that bike anymore. Where is the BB clocked?
 

Dave Taylor

Rex kwan Do
I'm tired of this BB slipping. I've tried with paste/ without, cleaned it really well, and it still slips a bit. Are there alternatives to replace this EBB with another EBB?
I used to clean mine with acetone(no grease or lube at all). It didn’t slip once when torqued to spec and run as ss
 

qclabrat

Well-Known Member
When looking at the drive-side or non-drive side? I always ran mine at btw 5:00 and 6:00 on drive-side.
lemme check when I get home, don't want to misinform you
Location of the spindle could be a culprit. I'm not a big guy so didn't expect it to matter much

I used to clean mine with acetone(no grease or lube at all). It didn’t slip once when torqued to spec and run as ss
going to break it down in the coming weeks, it could use a good cleaning as recommended
Its a ROS9 and needs a fresh coat of framesaver inside anyway
 
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