So, as I believed my hub slippage issue was solved, I began to notice a new fun problem -- a nasty "creak" that occurred about twice per pedal revolution, and grew louder and more consistent as I pedaled harder.
I figured that I was beat, and I took the bike to Continuum, here in NYC.
As I began to describe the symptom to Jeff, he instantly asked me what BB I had installed. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure because when I bought the frame from Yojimbo's, and they had installed the BB for me. A quick phone call to my man confirmed that it was indeed a Shimano, but we didn't know which kind. Amazingly Jeff new what was going on without taking anything apart.
Yojimbo's had sold me the wrong BB, thinking that all "square" tapers were equal. In their defense, we told them that we were going to use this crank, the Sugino 75 Zen Racing Crankset, even though we ended up choosing somethig different later on. They installed the Shimano Square Taper Bottom Bracket (JIS), all 118mm of it.
As it was explained to me, not only was this BB far too wide for my usage, but it was simply the wrong BB for a Sugino 75, let alone the Miche Pista crankset that I ended up using. Basically the tapers are different and wouldn't fit right. At first, you could crank it down, but eventually it would loosen and ruin the BB, and the crankset.
As you can see by these photos, that process had already started -- note the wear on the spindles, and this after say 50 miles of riding at the most. Well, thank you Continuum, and fuck you Yojimbo's. Now I know where my business will be directed.
So, what did I learn? I learned that you have to install the right BB for the right crank. In my case, they installed a Miche BB to work with my Miche Crank -- and, at the proper width.
More gayass photos of the situation, after the jump...
Now, with the right, Miche BB installed, there's way less room between the cranks and the frame, and the chainline is prefectly aligned.
Does this mean your ride is finally tip top?
YES!