Campa Ultratorque issue

[marshalus]

Hi to all

I would like to ask for an advice to solve a problem,

I used power torque system and recently switched to record ultra torque. Brand new with new cups. But it doesn't spin freely, there is resistance. it doesn't make even 1 full revolution freely, in fact power torque was much more smoothly.

According to the manual there are 2 options to install. I chose the one without the loctile but also I did not re-thread the bottom bracket as they recommend as I don't have the tool. Is it the problem? If I reinstall with loctile will it help? or maybe sth else should be done?

Any ideas?

[Daniel1975]

I think it is because of the amount of grease in the bearings. I installed a Chorus crank last week and I felt the same. But in my case I'm sure it's because of the grease.

[Calnago]

Your BB is threaded and you're using Campy cups right? Is the BB shell faced? This could certainly have an effect if it's not. As could a lot of grease in the bearings as just mentioned. Facing the shell edge is more critical than chasing the BB threads, as the cups will use the faced edge to settle themselves when all is tight. And it sounds like you've already had something installed in there before, so threads are probably fine. But if the shell faces aren't square then neither will be the cups once installed. Also, there is a seal in the cups that create a bit of drag. You should be able to tell by feel if the drag is due to grease and seals versus something misaligned. When you see Ultratorque Super Record cranks spin effortlessly it's because there is no grease in the bearings (just a very light oil) and no seals in the cups and, of course, everything is aligned. Also, don't use extra loctite on the threads of the cups. I say "extra" because they come with some thick dried compound already on them, which I usually like to remove and use a liberal amount of antiseize. Not to be confused with how you might install Campy cups in a Pressfit application with no threads. The original "preferred" method of using loctite and hand tight was just dumb and only in the instructions because early on too many cups were getting all marked up from using improper tools on them, and no one liked to see their Campy cups with marks on them. Lol. Use a proper tool, and torque down to 35Nm.

[fitty4]

Is the new cups, ultra torque cups?

[Miller]

You can test for whether it's just seal/bearing drag or whether the cups are distorting because of poor BB shell face alignment.

(a) you've done a full install with the cups done up tight; remember the feeling of turning the cranks
(b) remove chainset, loosen both cups by say 1/4 of a turn or so, re-install the chainset.

If the chainset spins significantly more freely with situation (b) then that would point to the faces of the BB being irregular.

[jmagoulas]

Maybe just an oversight but was the wavy washer installed on the non drive side? This can cause excess torque on the crank arms that the washer usually takes up.

[Calnago]

Wavy washer omission would make things sloppier if anything. The hirth joint would be locked solid but there would end up being some loose lateral play in the whole system without the wavy washer, and assuming the BB shell is not wider than 68.8mm (if English), and 70.8mm (if Italian).

[marshalus]

It was new and it was likely the issue. Now I have put over 1500 km and it spins much batter. By the way how freely should it spin? How many revs if you spin with moderate force?