Obviously I was late to the party with my reply above. Should've refreshed my page.

Dale, I think it depends on the model with Cannondale. I think you can change out the spider (which is the limiting factor on most cranks) with Cannondale's hollowgram cranks, so could conceivably swap between standard and compact. I think the new FSA stuff (high end 2014 models) also allows the swap, but most everything else will lock you into one or the other.

I'm refurbishing my old bike and am struggling to get the fixed cup out of my BB. I've been hitting the tool with a hammer with no luck. Any ideas? I don't think I have a pipe I can slide onto the wrench arm.

Craig Zolan said:

I'm refurbishing my old bike and am struggling to get the fixed cup out of my BB. I've been hitting the tool with a hammer with no luck. Any ideas? I don't think I have a pipe I can slide onto the wrench arm.

Craig, it's Italian threaded, so are you loosening counter-clockwise?  Just have to make sure.  The second thing is to drip the thinnest oil you have into the threads to see if that helps.  You'd lay the bike on the right side, dribble in from the left, and wait a while.  WD-40 can also work.  

You need a pipe to slide over the wrench arm.
If you see one of those cheap torchiere floor lamps, they come apart into pieces, which make a very nice pipe for this purpose.

WD40 on the threads. But you almost certainly need more leverage.
There is also the LBS (or Ragot's basement)

JP, I'm finding the new Shimano stuff online with, like, a million different chainring combos. Competitive is selling the new Ultegra crankset with your desired 52/36. Haven't checked Dura Ace.

I'm unscrewing the correct way. I like the light idea. I'll go dumpster diving or leave the cup in and clean it in place.

Direction of unscrewing is certainly worth considering.
I always have to look it up.

But you must determine whether it is English or Italian thread or French or Swiss thread. The fixed cup (which you're are trying to remove) has different handedness depending on the provenance (no Jules, not Providence).

Sheldon Brown has a summary.

Joaquin said:

JP, I'm finding the new Shimano stuff online with, like, a million different chainring combos. Competitive is selling the new Ultegra crankset with your desired 52/36. Haven't checked Dura Ace.

Joaquin,

Someone should fire the marketing guy for those last two bullets.

Jules said:

Has anyone on the forum used one of these, branded or otherwise?

http://www.shopslipstreamsports.com/shop-catalog/2013-garmin-sharp-lemond-revolution-trainer.html

Work awesome. Mind blowingly loud. When you get to a decent tempo, say 300w, it sounds like an army of vacuums from hell.

How about this?

http://www.cycleops.com/en/products/trainers/silencer.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=821&category_id=3

jp, that piece of equipment is WAAAAY too inexpensive.  please suggest something less economical.  only freds spend less than $700 on a trainer.  it is known.

Craig Zolan said:

I'm refurbishing my old bike and am struggling to get the fixed cup out of my BB. I've been hitting the tool with a hammer with no luck. Any ideas? I don't think I have a pipe I can slide onto the wrench arm.

The oil suggestions are absolutely necessary.  The other way to get torque on the cup is a bench vise, if you can get access to one.

Just take it to a shop.  I had this very same problem.  Took it to a shop and was assured "We always get BBs off.".  True to his word, he got it off.  Cost a few pennies and saved a lot of time and effort.  Don't be ashamed to admit defeat on this one, it is one of the most common "I do my own maintenance and only take my bike to a shop for a few things" ailments that shops see.  Also, if you fuck up which way the thread is and ruin your frame you will probably cry.

Adam said:

Just take it to a shop. 

I don't know if every shop has one anymore, but there is a tool that can clamp onto a fixed cup giving the user the opportunity to really use leverage.--thinking of this, you can increase your own power by putting wheels on the frame, and then lowering hte stand so the wheels are on the ground.

@aaron - not bb30 at the very least.

@Aaron, for that bike you'll need:

1. Brifters
2. "Modern" rear wheel/hub for 9/10/11spd cassettes
3. New cassette
4. Newer derailleurs (rear might be okay, front will probably rub in certain gear combos)
5. Modern chainrings that are ramped, shaped, and pinned

I'm betting the bottom bracket and cranks will work fine.  Not sure how often you shift the front in CX, but modern chainrings shift infinitely better - especially under load - than the older style ones.  Assuming the Tiagra crankset and stock crankset BCDs match, you can just swap in the Tiagra chainrings.

The largest expense if you're getting the other stuff for free is the rear wheel with a cassette hub.

I'm guessing this would be a better platform to build from

@Aaron Blum

@Dan Reiners - Not saying I'm an expert, but I've done a good number of 126 to 130 conversions to confidently say that there's no functional alignment issues with the rear derailleur unless the hanger is out of wack to begin with.  It's a 2mm difference on each side.

If you get the frame cold-set at a shop, they should realign the drops and hanger anyway.  The biggest bonus to this is slightly faster wheel changes.  I had it done to my original steel race bike, but didn't bother with my current.

Aaron Blum said:

@david Fred moment: Brifters are..shifters? Like the modern road bike shifters? Question #2: the front derailuer will rub in certain gear combos. There's nothing I can do to fix that? If there is rub in any gearing combo, that's the deal breaker for me

Brifters = Yep, brake/shifters

Front rubbing is only with the old derailleur.  New ones (in my experience, starting from the late 90s) are better with clearance.  Older stuff from the 80s seem to be more narrow so cross chaining would create chain rub.

my front derailleur totally rubs when i'm crosschaining.  how embarrassing!

Brendan Rigby said:

my front derailleur totally rubs when i'm crosschaining.  how embarrassing!

on your CAAD10 with SRAM?  on the big ring or small?

in 53x(innermost rear cog).  manufacturer says avoid this combination; it only rubs at certain points in the pedalstroke.

@aaron Be sure to check ebay. I just got a great frame on there for not a lot of money. 

Hey, seeking maintenance advice. So my headset on my cross bike was a little, ahem crunchy from last season. So you know a few days before the first race of the season (which is actually a long lead time for my usual mechanical shenanigans), I think, I'll just take apart the headset, clean out the grit, generously slather Phil Wood on my junk (no, not that junk), and slap it back together. Easy right?

Well, I was feeling all proud of myself having completed the task in less than 3 hours (Peter Brady, bike mechanic, you got nothing on me), until I give it the old tester-roo. Still "gritty/crunchy" feeling. I must own at least one bike without indexed steering please.

HELP! Any ideas on how to remedy this?

it would helpful to know what headset you have.  Internal or external.  I know it's threadless, but after that, I don't recall.

I don't know what the difference between internal/external.

I did take the bearing races out, but mostly just used a rag and some degreaser from a pump spray bottle to clean them.

Marc Bertucco said:

I don't know what the difference between internal/external.

I did take the bearing races out, but mostly just used a rag and some degreaser from a pump spray bottle to clean them.

Sure you do.  are there headset cups outside of the head tube?  If yes, that's external.  If the bearings are sitting inside the head tube, that's internal.  Internals are often easier to find.  FSA makes lots of sizes and lots of shops have them in stock.  If you can pull them off again and bring them in, you'll be set.