[Lelandjt]

Thought I'd post this up in case it can help someone. The SixC cranks and BB on my V10 never had quite enough bearing preload. When new there was the slightest loose feeling and it got worse with a few month"s use. The bearings feel fine so we determined that the frame was a tad narrow or the axle a tad long. This system assumes everything is to exact tolerances and has no provision for adjustment. Raceface suggested finding a thin spacer to add to the axle but that's not an easily sourced item. I vaguely remembered that freehub bodies and BBs are the same diameter. I've got a few really thin spacers meant for placing behind a cassette if it doesn't stick out far enough for the lockring to cinch it down. I placed one of these between the non-drive BB cup and frame in addition to the normal spacer and.......perfect bearing preload!

 

[boylagz]

How many spacers (ones that came in the box) are you using for both the drive and non-drive sides?

 

[Lelandjt]

2 on drive side, 1 on non-drive. Standard setup for a 83mm BB with ISCG mounted guide. It had the feeling of a Shimano crankset that had too little bearing preload, just a little wiggle if you grabbed the cranks. Recently I was hearing in a slight knocking sound when pedaling hard so I decided to do something about it.
Raceface is sure the axle couldn't be too long so they think the frame is a little too narrow. It could also be that the plastic BB spacers or crank spacers are a hair thin. It's easy to imagine how the combination of so many parts could result in a sum total that's a little out of spec but these cranks offer no way of adjusting for that since Raceface doesn't make any different thickness crank spacers (I suggested they start).
Sourcing a crank spacer would have been tough but these thin cassette spacers are included with lots of hubs and singlespeed kits so it's likely you or your shop have some around. They can be added to the normal 2.5mm spacers to increase bearing preload or stacked and substituted for one to reduce width and preload if your setup is too tight. Easy fix for dialing in crank/BB setups that are sensitive to width but it seemed like a novel idea since Raceface hadn't thought of it.

 

[mtg]

Do you have some calipers to measure the width of the BB shell? Another idea: the 2.5mm BB spacers are compressible, I wonder if your's somehow got compressed too much during BB install.

I've assembled many Race Face cranks, and as long as the BB is the correct width, all of the units I've installed tighten up and don't come loose. It sounds like you have the spacer situation correct...

Sounds like a slick idea to get it working, though.

 

[canadmos]

Race Face wouldn't toss you a couple of them for the cost of a stamp?

 

[VMARTINEZ]

It's the spindle spacer's. Any shop can get them from QBP or BTi.
MFG part# A20111

 

[boylagz]

Dang. Thats weird. I have a V10c and I use 3 spacers total as well. No problems since day1... Im on Atlas, with the newer interface, aka no more squashing the bb bearings, with the stopper built in the crankset...