How To Remove Stuck/Seized/Frozen Bottom Bracket Fixed Cup 

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5 years after the video was posted and it saved me! This was what finally got my seized cup off! Thank you!!!!! I was about ready to hacksaw the bike in half out of frustration! 😅 You saved me a lot of headache and saved a bike too!

Kudos for the reference to Sheldon...he was a great asset for us basement bike mechanics.

Absolutely superb - thank you, I was working on an old Peugeot frame and used your pipe/bolt technique. Worked a treat. Now properly cleaned, packet with fresh grease and rebuilt ready to ride. Thank you 👍👍

This video is almost 5 years old, but I am new to the world of bike repair so it was new to me. I tried the bolt/pipe procedure and it worked absolutely perfectly for me. What an awesome and practical solution! Thank you for taking the time to make the video.

I had to use the impact method to finally get the fixed cup off of my Raleigh Sport. What I did, in addition to the video, is to use the Park Tool HCW-11 sandwiched between the washer and the fixed cup. This allowed more surface area to grip the washer, and also allowed a visual as to when the fixed cup starts to move. Once the fixed cup begins to move, I stopped using the impact tool and used just the Park Tool to remove the fixed cup the rest of the way off. I was afraid to "spin off" the fixed cup, as shown in the video, as it might strip the threads. Thanks to RJ for developing the tool, and posting this video!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Using your modification of (my late friend) Shelly Brown's friction trick I was able to remove the fixed cup of my 50 year old Moulton Mk III. Raleigh cups are notoriously hard to remove. After a couple of failed attempts your instructions helped me get it out. Now to re-tap it 1.37x24 and install a modern bottom bracket. I added one refinement; I 3D printed sleeves to go between the bolt and the nipple and nipple and the shell to hold everything in close alignment during the removal process.

Sir, you are much appreciated! Thank you for all the bike repair lessons I have learned from you. You have been a tremendous help to this father working on my kids bikes. This "how to" video was really helpful today, worked like a charm after days of failure lol.

Made the the tool in 10 minutes from an old puller rod and part of an old steel hammer handle. Worked well. Tough nut to crack ! Thank you !

I gotta say R.J., I FINALLY GOT MY FIXED CUP OUT! I played with it for two weeks and finally went to the hardware store and got myself a 1/2 inch bolt (wish home depot had 5/8') and washers, penetrating oil, a breaker bar and a long pipe for extra torque; I thought I might break the bolt with how tight I was getting it BUT man did it feel good when it started to move! Now I can install my new Campy record Crank to a new phil wood BB! Thx RJ, use your videos all the time!

Thank you RJ. I used Sheldon's method. I couldn't find the pipe but I found lots of lock washers. It worked! I couldn't have removed that fixed cup without your help.

This video really helped me with removal of the fixed cup on an old Raleigh. I used the Sheldon 5/8 bolt technique. Lessons learned - the washers sold with 5/8 bolts may be too big to fit in the shell. There may not be enough clearance inside the shell for a socket to get over the head of the nut. The lockwasher inside helps a lot (thanks Sheldon). One related lesson learned - The BB shell of older and cheaper bikes may be out of round, complicating the process of installing a cartridge.

My bottom bracket on the drive side was really stubborn, but the pipe and bolt method worked a treat and saved my bike from being scrapped. Thanks for uploading this super video.

Hello from Quebec, Canada , the tip with water pipe and bolt worked perfecttly , tank-you :)

It's so nice to see videos on how to work around problems when stuff just doesn't work. Mille grazie! Vielen Dank! Muito obrigado!

Thank you so much been trying to remove mine for about a week now, didn’t know the name of it so glad I stumbled across this. Got the part tool coming Thursday along with some penetrating oil

RJ's video help me out of a jamb. Almost got the nut in such bad shape that it was never coming out, but once I got the 6" bolt and nut and used a 1/2 break over it came right out. My 95 Schwinn Homegrown lives to ride another day Thanks so much!!

I just used the breaker bar method and it worked great! I put a square of cut up inner tube rubber between the cup and the washer to add some extra grip and hopefully reduce the necessary compression force a bit. I was a little scared to use by impact gun the first time but next time I'll give that a shot. You are a life saveer! This vintage Bianchi will live agian thanks to you 🙂

Thanks for this, RJ. I've got a stuck fixed cup on a mid 90s Giant Acapulco that I'm working on (in my latest videos) and I've been driving myself crazy trying to get it removed. I'm going to try your pipe method tomorrow and upload a video if successful!

Great instructable! I've used the Sheldon method with 100% success. I do like the impact wrench method though 😊

Thank You very much Sir! I broke the bolt the first time because the bearings are still in the cup, but I bought another one and successfully removed the bb cup the 2nd time. Huge fan of this channel!

"Fun method" worked a treat, thank you for posting this

Perfect! I wrench at a local bike co-op. We find stuck BB fittings all the time. The "normal" Park tool and mallet technique kills the tool fast. I gonna try your impact tool and pipe method today

I want to say thank you for this video i had a stuck fixed cup on the bottom bracket on a old rusted mongoose i did the step you said with a long screw a couple washers and a bolt and it worked for m. I want to say i really appreciate you and your videos thanks so much again Moises Rivera

I used a variation of your tip. I used a large bolt and washers to clamp the correct tool in place and a mallet to loosen the cup. Thanks for the hint!

The Methode is very simple and very effective. This is an excellent solution for this problem and these tools are unexpensive. That is a good idea.

I know this is an old video but just wanted to let you know that this trick worked like a charm for me! Thanks! Keep making great videos!

RJ, Thanks for the useful info! I've been watching your videos as they appear on my recommended feed. I have a GMC Denali 700c 6061 road bike. I've been fighting to removed the fixed cup, and tried the bolt and pipe method. I could not get it to tighten, to the fix cup, it would spin, even though I tighten with an impact gun. Then I was reading in one of the bike forums, one guy used a pipe wrench, to hold down the jaws to the slots. So I that gave me an idea since I have 36mm spanner, from Bike Hand (YC-153-L6). I use the washer to clamp the wrench to with the pipe to hold it down, and it finally worked. FWIW, I used a 3/4 x 3 1/2" black pipe nipple, and it deformed on both ends. I suggest using a harder steel pipe and a 3/4" Grade 8 bolt. Or use my method if you don't mind scratching the paint. I ended up whacking the wrench with a mallet before it broke free. You know the adage, "Every twenty minute job is a broken bolt away from becoming a three day ordeal", well for me it took about a week to get the fixed cup out.

Well. Yet another timely solution - or three - to the exact problem I’m currently up against. My drive side is so jammed on it basically feels like part of the frame. At least I know now that in theory it can be removed. Thanks RJ.

Wow, the part with the bolt and biiig wrenches works! Big thank you! Will save one old found bike before scraping! 😊

well good video its a brilliant way to fix it,shall remember this for sure-after all them years, good old googling it,have messed about with bikes for years would never have dreamed of that

+RJ the bike guy Thanks again, the impact wrench is the best! Two thumbs up.

Great method. Thanks for sharing. Heating up the bracket with a heat-gun before applying this method made a big difference for me. Without applying heat the pipe would deform(!) but the bracket did not move. After heating it up the bracket moved rather easily. It seems not uncommon that some glue is applied to the threads on the right side bracket by the manufacturer. That softens, when heat is applied.

Saludos desde Argentina!! For less than 2 bucks I made the pipe method... Thanks a lot!!

Awesome video. I have an extremely stick fixed cup so I might try bolt method.

RJ your the man 👍👍love the videos plz keep them coming 🤜🤛👍

I had just about given up when I came across this video. One quick trip to the hardware store later (less than $5!), and success! Many thanks!

Thanks for posting this, it really helped

Thank you!! The impact hammer setup did it!

Super useful. Very clever problem solving.

Oh, me of little faith. I watched RJ do it with the bolt-and-pipe method but was skeptical that I could do it that way myself. Hah! Cup loosened in twenty seconds. Another trip to the LBS avoided. Thanks again, RJ.

You're my saviour man, thanks!

I like the fun part a lot. Besides all the other tricks!

Just got the fixed cup off my 1980 Peugeot U0-8 thanks to this video! I used both the water pipe 'tool' and the Park HCW-4 wrench. For anyone wondering: It's a left thread. Got to rotate clockwise to remove the cup.

Another great top tips video on How to, I have confidence sending viewers your way. Big thumbs up Andy

Nice methode, have the same problem, will try it tomorrow, regards from Germany...

Thanks for making this video. I just won a 2 day war with a fixed cup. Seeing that it was possible gave me the will to keep going!

thank you so much. the threading really confused me, the bike I'm working on is an old, possibly late 70s early eighties peugeot leisure bike. I went with English thread as its most common. i almost gave up but used Sheldons bolt/nut tool, and when I connected it correctly to my amazement and joy it came off. I used a breaker bar😊

nice ideas! GRACIAS

Well done great tips Thanks.

very useful method! thanks!

Good job, man!

Park HCW4. Consider that ordered. I normally just use a massive adjustable or a vice but that seems like a more elegant tool 👍

Amazing, thank you

I know this video is over a year old but I wanted to say thanks anyway. My washers were cheap and started to bend. I used my old pedal arm in place of the washer and once it was stuck in there, I hammered it in some more. That allowed me to just loosen the other side and just spin the pedal arm around and spin the cup along with it.

I want to thank you very much for showing me how to repair a sticky rear derailleur.

Very interesting and probably useful! I liked it.

Great job!!

One tip to anyone trying the pipe method, make sure if you've sprayed any pentrating oil in the bb don't let any oil get between the cup and washer.

Thank you!

I just got a Vitus 979 aluminum frame (French bike) with Shimano 1.37x24T fixed cup. To loosen, should I go CCW or CW? Mahalo for all the helpful videos you put out!🤙🏽

This def worked but it took me a bit. Def need some goood strength to get the nut, bolt and washer on really tight. When you think you cant get it any tighter, try it again. Also used a good amount of wd40 and let it set in with the cup facing down at a slight angle so the rest of the wd40 has time to seap in. Then I put a socket wrench in on the nut and a pipe wrench on the bolt and hit it a couple times with a hammer until it fiiinally got loose just when I thought it wouldnt so thanks for the video!

Nice, mine had some sort of slot instead of something you could put a wrench on so I ended up resorting to driling out some of the cup and using an angle grinder to make the slot a bit deeper give myself a fighting chance with the masonry chisel. The whole bottom bracket was trash anyway so if anyones looking to just get the thing off then the destructive option is always there.

this is perfect for what i needed

This helped thanks

Thanks, this is cool. I'm currently fighting this monster. re: the French Italian Counter-clockwise. All you need to do to trap the Fixed cup, is do most of what you do in the video-- but only to the point you really lock the pipe on, then a lock washer and another nut tightened down on the left side (non-gears), then muscle or impact wrench on the other side should turn it without loosening any of the nuts. Thanks for your help. Wish me luck....

Thank you. I managed to save a vintage marin mtb from the scrap yard as a direct result of this video. 😀

Brilliant!

Great info...

Bracket magician.

thank you!

thats great thank you for the video

Great Idea , thanks :D

Nice new ideas. When the steel bottom bracket was stuck in my alloy frame, the only thing that helped was heat from a heat gun. It didnt even break the paint, like a blowtorch would've.

Thanks! Got it super fast

You can also use your long bolt, over-sized washers and pipe setup to clamp your Park Tools HCW-4 solidly onto the shallow fixed cup so it wont slip off when you use your wooden mallet.

Dirty great pipe wrenches work perfectly to !

excellent !

Awesome!

very useful, I have to try it out on my bike, I have exactly this problem

this was like quasi bike ASMR... nuthin more relaxing than when a seized bb is released...

none of these methods have worked yet on my 1975 peugeot py10e. going to try using some heat next to see if metal expands a bit. Question is it possible to repack cup with bearings with out removing the fixed cup

one of the methods work with me I hope!

What also works everytime is to clamp the thing down on a strong vice with enough space around. Like this the frame can be used as a big lever.

hi, how tight should we go with the fixed cup in the first place, so as not to end up in a situation like this? is hand-tight-with-foot-on-frame-for-leverage enough? or should one tap the spanner with a mallet to tighten it firmly? thank you

If a fixed cup doesn't come out easily with a BB wrench, I go straight to the Seldon tool. No sense busting knuckles, chipping paint or thrashing the cup. It works ridiculously well and has never failed me. Wish I had an impact wrench though.. :)

It cost me $7.00 at Lowe's for all the hardware. This method worked perfect, in less than 3 minutes! If I took it to a bike shop, I would've had to leave it, and it would've cost a minimum of $20.00

Can you do the same with French BB threaded?

I’ve got a Mongoose Hitch Fat Bike. My fixed cup is stuck. I don’t have a tool. I’ve tried a crescent but keeps slipping off. I might try using the pipe method.

I have a stuck bottom bracket in a titanium frame. It is a cup and lock ring type BB I have gotten the nondrive side out and the spindle will not pull to through. Any ideas on how to get it out?

you are genius!

Mine is not coming loose. I have the park tool, it’s a kent GMC Denali, I’m up grading my dads bike. This thing is really really tight. My question is, is it possible a right handed thread???

yes yes veri nice !

I had to use impact screwdriver with Shimano tool on it the first time I removed BB on my MTB.

That's even better than the last two videos. How about placing the HCW-4 sandwiched in there?

this happened to me once.. got a high powered sanding tool and sanded straight through the sucker, then hammered it out when i got close to the threads

What about penetrating spray while the pug is on side to allow some gravity pooling? Early 70s bike boom pugs were sometimes made in Canada with RH BB fixed cup threads? Thought the Canada assembly didn't occur til the 80s?

good one Im trying to convert my bike to an ebike to get to work.......needed that.

Hi @RJ, will a 1/2" bolt work? I can't seem to file a 5/8" bolt that is longer than 3 1/2".

RJ, I don't know if you remember our conversation about my 1980ś peugeot from earlier this winter but a quick update on that; after several weeks, 3 guys helping and 5 of the Sheldon Brown device breaking we finally gave up and someone had a brilliant idea on how to get the rust out of the cup. we made one more Sheldon thing and placed sandpaper through the bold then we cranked on it for a while and it sanded the rust patches out. The fixed cap never moved but the inside is nice and smooth and the bearings spin in there like butter.