I finally got around to converting my old road bike to a fixie and was able to squeeze in a quick inaugural ride yesterday in between downpours (I should probably be building an ark instead of screwing around with bike stuff – this rain is unbelievable). Anyway, I noticed that when I applied a lot of back pressure to slow down at stop signs and lights, the bottom bracket felt like it was sort of skipping or loose. The BB seemed fine while riding normally and does not seem loose when you try to shake the crank. Before I bother taking this thing apart and risk making it worse, it occurred to me that this might be a normal phenomenon for fixed gear bikes because of the conflicting pressures being exerted on the BB and cranks. In case it matters, it is a mid-80’s Record BB. Any thoughts?
Could be a couple of things not related to the bb. If the chain is loose there will be a little snap/skip as you change pedal directions. There may be an off round chainring(egg shaped) which could cause the same feeling. However I would think the latter would show up either direction. I don’t think other than the chain looseness you chould get a feel like that except for a bb problem. Hope that helps. G
In addition to the chain thing above, on an inaugural ride, you would have threaded the fixie cog onto the hub much much further than you could have possible threaded it on there by hand (by pedaling). Go out for another quick ride. Step on the pedal forward as hard as you can, then DO NOT decelerate quickly. “coast” to a stop… don’t put any back pressure on the pedal. Dismount, tighten the fixie lockring as tight as you can, and go for a long ride.
Actually, I’ll bet that’s it. THanks. I think the chain length is just right.