I recently bought a BB30 s975 quarq from ST. It has been upgraded to the SS crank arms by the seller. Everything is great but the spindle is way longer than my previous BB30 crank. Do I need spacers? How does that work? I’ve done some research and have seen these preload adjuster spacers, but cant seem to find any for sale. Anyone else have this issue? Any input would be great.
Yes, you need spacers… no idea where you get those spacers although I imagine Quarq’s amazing customer service will be happy to help you.
Thank you for your quick response. Is this the case with all bb30 frames running a quark? Will quarq help me even though I’m not the original owner and likely no warranty? Can I change the spindle itself? It is on the non drive side…
I will probably get corrected here. the 30 in BB30 refers to the diameter of the spindle.
There are BB30 ‘native’ cranks which is what Cannondale used/originally used. They do not need spacers, but will not work with all frames that use 30mm spindles. Their spindle length is shorter than BB30 compatible cranks.
There are also BB30 compatible cranks, like the one that you have. You need 30mm diameter spacers, generally 1mm wide. Your local shop should have them. You also need a wavy washer. You need enough spacers to compress the washer, but not completely flatten it. There is not an ‘exact’ number of 1mm spacers that you will need.
You cannot change the spindle.
likely need the 11mm spacer on teh drive side as well as a number of spacer on non-drive side. i am sure quarq can get them to you if your shop won’t. I use a quarq bb30 on my bb30 felt frame without issue(2 different frames thus far) both used the 1 piece 11mm spacer on drive side with 8-10mm plus wavy washer on non-drive. i said it twice cuz it takes 3x to sink in…
The Quarqs have longer spindles for sure, I had the same problem with my Quarq on my S-Works Tarmac SL4i. The 10-11mm spacer took up the space as well as adjusting the pre-load adjuster (plastic thing with a small grob screw) the non-drive side crank arm.
I am guessing what you need is the spacer pictured on the NDS side here:
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What everybody else said. The Quarq BB30 cranks have a longer spindle than “classic” BB30. They are made to fit a narrow BB30 shell by way of the ~10mm spacer on the drive side and the similar width preload adjuster on the non-drive side. The advantage to this is that they can work with other BB standards, for example I have a BB30 S975 which I use on my Cervelo P3 with Rotor BSA30 adaptors. Even though the spindle diameter is 30mm rather than standard 24mm, it still fits inside a BSA shell and by using external bearings - made possible with the wider spindle - you can put it on a “standard” BSA frame. Strange but true. I guess they did this to be able to accomodate BBright without having to hold a 3rd standard.
Edit: the bloke/lady who sold it to you might still have the spacer/preload adjuster in his tool box somewhere?
Thanks for all the input from everyone. I will have to get my hands on a preload adjuster and spacers. Hopefully quarq will hook me up. Strange that the crank didn’t come with them. It was used on a venge before so that could be why.
The Venge would use the same spacers. The seller just forgot to give them to you. You could ask them for the spacers.
The S975 crank is pretty universal. You should be able to use it on just about any bike with the right combination of spacers and BB.
One of the bigger selling points to BB30 originally was the greater ankle clearance which is really helpful for duck-footed folks like me. Unfortunately the S975 platform doesn’t have this. Since the spindle is longer the crank arms have less of a swoop or offset to compensate and keep the pedals in more or less the same Q-factor.