BB30 question

JBark
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Re: BB30 question

Postby JBark » Wed Nov 26, 2014 1:46 pm

Did a bit of googling, supposedly Pinarello made a MOst -> threaded adapter that could be used to install a regular Shimano threaded BB in place of the pressfit bearings. But man, that's probably harder to find than a NOS MegaTech BB laying around somewhere.

I did find a post on another forum from a couple years ago where a guy said that FSA sent him a box with a bunch of bearings and the threaded adapters they found in the warehouse. Checked his profile, and he's still active. Might be worth checking to see if he still has the stuff laying around, those adapters might do the trick:
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t/470650/s ... st_3917630" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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ldrcycles
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Re: BB30 question

Postby ldrcycles » Wed Nov 26, 2014 8:02 pm

I actually found that post just yesterday, hadn't occurred to me to contact the guy, might be worth a shot if FSA HQ aren't able to help (emailed them the other day too).
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ldrcycles
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Re: BB30 question

Postby ldrcycles » Thu Nov 27, 2014 9:51 pm

You wouldn't believe it, but 5 YEARS after the guy in america got his hands on the box of megatech bits that were obsolete and rare even then, he still has one adaptor left! Thanks so much for the suggestion JBark, it would never have occurred to me :) .
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silentbutdeadly
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Re: BB30 question

Postby silentbutdeadly » Fri Nov 28, 2014 8:36 pm

This is going to be brilliant. Make sure you get that part completely modelled by a machine shop before you use it...
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ldrcycles
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Re: BB30 question

Postby ldrcycles » Tue Dec 09, 2014 9:02 pm

Too dark for photos, but the adaptor is here! All aluminium, so it's incredibly light. I just need to make a tool to tighten the lockring, but it fits in the shell perfectly. And by a stroke of luck i found a broken Scott Sportster a couple of weeks ago which has provided an ideal Ritchey integrated headset :mrgreen: .
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ldrcycles
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Re: BB30 question

Postby ldrcycles » Wed Dec 10, 2014 9:06 pm

Made a very primitive lockring tool this afternoon and the adaptor is now installed :mrgreen: . My "fancy cranks" (Tiagra, but the only hollowtech cranks i have) are on my brother's bike at the moment, so until i get them back further progress will be limited to installing the headset and forks, but there's light at the end of the tunnel now!


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Last edited by find_bruce on Sun Feb 04, 2018 8:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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mitchy_
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Re: BB30 question

Postby mitchy_ » Thu Dec 11, 2014 9:21 am

good to see a solution was found! i cant imagine that FSA adaptor is coming out.. ever. :lol:

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ldrcycles
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Re: BB30 question

Postby ldrcycles » Thu Dec 11, 2014 2:30 pm

Unless it breaks or creaks, no! Fingers crossed there shouldn't be any creaking, i greased the hell out of it first.
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silentbutdeadly
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Re: BB30 question

Postby silentbutdeadly » Fri Dec 12, 2014 5:59 pm

Has been a heck of a journey and many have learned. You've been fortunate but it'll be worth it!
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Re: BB30 question

Postby lunar_c » Tue Feb 09, 2016 3:56 pm

Can't believe I found this thread .. I just picked up one of these frames as a beater to single speed and commute to work on, and stripping it down I found one of the external cups for the Shimano cranks was stuck into the adapter which is spinning around in the frame.

I am going to carefully try and remove the stuck cup and reinstall a Shimano crank after reading this.

Thank you for documenting your experience with this frame! It has been an immense help.

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ldrcycles
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Re: BB30 question

Postby ldrcycles » Tue Feb 09, 2016 6:23 pm

Was that the one in WA with a Tiagra groupset?
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Re: BB30 question

Postby lunar_c » Tue Feb 09, 2016 7:37 pm

Yeah, they're nice frames - I had a Merida matts Comp MTB which was the same era shotgun tubing etc and was always impressed with their frames quality and light weight.

This one has a few dings unfortunately but it's structurally okay, and I am going to set it up as a single speed (47x16 with road components and 3/32" chain) so it should be a really light and simple commuter.

I do love the 90's fluoro Flames also.

Do you know what year these frames were made? I have no idea.

I am hoping I can sort out removing the stuck BB cup from the adaptor very gently with some heat and penetrating oil after work today or it sounds like the frame will become an ornament... I have exactly the same adaptor as your frame so I will make a tool to hold the adaptor like you did

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ldrcycles
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Re: BB30 question

Postby ldrcycles » Tue Feb 09, 2016 10:16 pm

Despite getting mine for $100, and the description of yours as "inexpensive", from my research the Road 906 Pro Issue (to give it's full name) was only ever made as a prototype, initially for the Merida Pro Continental team (hence the Maxxis and Motorex stickers on mine, not sure if yours has them too) and some then found their way to the Estonian Kalev Chocolate team.
I think they were made in late 2002 or early 2003, the Megatech BB standard was announced in September 2002 and as far as i can tell, never made it into any production bikes, the fact it used an ISIS spindle would have been a big factor. The last mention of them is the Kalev Chocolate team of 2004, by then Merida would have been well onto other things, and by 2005 Kalev would have had newer bikes with BBs that could be sourced more easily.

All of the confusion around the BB and the scarcity of fanatical Merida enthusiasts would be the reason we can now get our hands on real life ex pro bikes for stuff all :) .

I should finally have mine built up within a month or two, i just need to get a new cassette and then put all the ingredients together.

EDIT: my best and last XC race bike was an 07 Matts TFS FLX aly hardtail with carbon stays, it was a fantastic bike.
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Re: BB30 question

Postby lunar_c » Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:19 am

Fantastic, thanks again mate.

Still having a whale of a time getting the BB sorted as my first attempt at making a fool to hold the adaptor still was a flop.

I shoved a traditional left cup in so I had something to hold onto and managed to get the other knackered Shimano outboard cup out without any damage to the adaptor, but now of course the traditional cup is stuck in the other side as the adaptor just wants to keep spinning.

Very frustrating but I have to tread slowly or risk damaging the adaptor and rendering the frame useless.

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Re: BB30 question

Postby lunar_c » Tue Feb 23, 2016 12:52 pm

All sorted.. Ignore the rag tag selection of parts, they're slowly being swapped out as others become available. Next up is some FSA gossamer cranks and I'll build some nice wheels for it. Running 47x18" as a magic gear at the moment which is too small. Might need to run a tensioner or play around with other chain rings. Or adding a half link might do 47x16. Great fun though, nice frame!

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ldrcycles
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Re: BB30 question

Postby ldrcycles » Tue Feb 23, 2016 9:53 pm

Geez that looks soo good. I really need to get mine built up!
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ldrcycles
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Re: BB30 question

Postby ldrcycles » Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:35 pm

2.5 years later it's finally happening, just needs bar tape and I'll finally find out what this thing actually rides like! Pics in the next day or so.
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singlespeedscott
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Re: BB30 question

Postby singlespeedscott » Wed Jan 31, 2018 6:55 pm

You dont want to rush these things mate
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jackthelad
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Re: BB30 question

Postby jackthelad » Fri Feb 02, 2018 5:08 pm

See, if it has enough alloy shell to be threaded, for a T-47 Chris king Bottom Bracket...
the wholesaler is in melbourne/sydney. so may be able to help you directly, with tools for Job

thats if willing to take a risk, and experiment with bike ..
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ldrcycles
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Re: BB30 question

Postby ldrcycles » Sat Feb 03, 2018 10:46 pm

Worth looking into, but I suspect it wouldn't be a goer due to the ID of the Megatech shell being larger than the BB30 size. If the Megatech adaptor fails for whatever reason, my first thought would be to try a threaded BB30 adaptor like the Praxis unit.
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Kronos
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Re: BB30 question

Postby Kronos » Sun Feb 04, 2018 1:45 am

Oh lol BB30? Reminds me of the fun of CAAD frames sometimes. You might want to speak to a few Cannondale riders also. My go to for all things Canondale is Planet Cycles in Brisbane, but they might be a bit far away for you. It shouldn't be hard to source a BB30 adapter for what you want to run though.

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ldrcycles
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Re: BB30 question

Postby ldrcycles » Tue Feb 06, 2018 10:28 pm

Finally done! Turned out I had the wrong length BB, so had to get another today. Weighs around 8.5kgs with square taper cranks and old 105 parts, not bad for a 15yr old aluminium frame.


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Re: BB30 question

Postby Kronos » Wed Feb 07, 2018 5:44 am

Nice bike, it doesn't really matter the age of things. some people will complain about the age of a bike sometimes, but it's not the age of a bike but how you ride it. You can ride an 8.5kg aluminum bike the same as you would an 8.5kg carbon bike, but probably have more of a smile on your face if you enjoy old bikes. I have two of them, a 2007 Trek SLR aluminum bike in Discovery Channel livery and a 21 year old steel frame Kronos. Neither of them make me any faster or slower or more "aero," It's just fun for me to ride old bike, I don't know what your thoughts are.

As to the groupset, you could put a slightly beter one on if you wanted a nicer shifting experience and you don't have a 10 or 11 speed it might be a little nicer to have one but its really not that necessary in the scheme of things. I run a 52-39 SRAM Rival 10 speed groupset on my steel bike and an Ultegra 10 speed on my aluminum bike, the later of which cost me $300 equipped to the bike due to good fortune and timing. I've though about a 50-34 for some of the bigger grinds in Noosa such as Viewlands Drive, but I'm thinking I just need to get stronger and work on my base level of fitness. These are other thing that really don't matter and are specific to the rider and their interests.

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10speedsemiracer
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Re: BB30 question

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Wed Feb 07, 2018 3:28 pm

ldrcycles wrote:Finally done! Turned out I had the wrong length BB, so had to get another today. Weighs around 8.5kgs with square taper cranks and old 105 parts, not bad for a 15yr old aluminium frame.


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Beautiful bike, and perfect validation for persisting with the BB drama (I won't touch press-fit). Also like that it has older 105 on it. Just finished a 9sp 105 build with NOS bits, works beautifully.,and my daily rider is Rx100 8sp which also works beautifully. Is not as sexy as your Merida though, congrats.
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ldrcycles
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Re: BB30 question

Postby ldrcycles » Thu Feb 08, 2018 10:01 pm

Thanks, took her to the crit track in Noosa last night and she performed beautifully. Remarkably smooth ride for an aluminium frame on 21mm tyres. Lightning response in the corners but no nervousness or twitchiness about it. Got the rear shifting dialled in nicely but the front needs a bit more persuasion.

Most importantly, no creaking from the BB!

@kronos, the oldest of my 25odd bikes is 64yrs old this year :) I'm quite satisfied with the function of Sora components, the only problem with the 105 parts on the Merida is their weight. With higher end parts she could easily be down in the 7s, and light bikes feel good uphill. As funds allow I'll gradually upgrade parts to realise the full potential of the frame.


I'll need to pop up another pic, after setting up at the crit track the seatpost ended up at least 2 inches further out :lol:
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