# SRAM Force 22 PF30 question



## andy13 (Aug 22, 2008)

I am installing a SRAM PF30 BB/BB30 Crankset into my Focus Izalco PF30 frameset and the non-drive side doesn't look right. The directions appear to state to tighten the preload adjuster against the BB, however, when I do this it leaves a washer loose between the adjuster and the crankarm. When I tighten it against the crankarm (the direction of the + arrow on the adjuster) there is a large gap between the adjuster and the BB/Frame. The drive side is tightened to spec. I can't feel any plan either way. Pictures showing the preload adjuster against spacer which is against the crankarm. Can't be right. So do I remove the spacer. The crank came w/ the spacer and adjuster on the BB spindle w/ no mention of the spacer in the directions. TIA.


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## looigi (Nov 24, 2010)

Is the crank arm torqued onto the spindle? It compresses onto the spindle pretty far when torqued properly. When torquing the crank mounting screw you don't want the adjuster too close and pinch the bearings. The instructions say to turn the adjuster until it contacts the crank. You may need to remove that spacer. 

With it as pictured, if you push on the crank spindle toward the drive side, the spindle will shift over until the adjuster hits the stepped washer that's against the inner race of the beaing. NG. The purpose of the adjuster is to take up that slack and provide a very small amount of preload on the BB bearings. I would either put that a spacer on the other side of the adjuster or toss it. Then tighten the adjuster against the BB away from the crank arm. Just finger tight. You want it just taking up the slack and applying a minimal amount of preload.


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## cliff (Sep 23, 2004)

Did you find the solution to this? compared to other BB30/PF 30 spindles, this is seemingly 2cm too long, correct? I have the same issue and it seems that the spindle is for an EVO386 BB, though it is marked BB30, PF30 right on the spindle. Let me know what you found out. Thanks !


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## andy13 (Aug 22, 2008)

Cliff - yes I did. I measured the crank off the bike and the BB shell/bearings distance and determined that the picture that the directions showed was incorrect for my bike frame. I needed to use the large spacer that the directions indicate is not to be used on red/force cranksets. I used the large spacer on the drive side. I then used a small and a medium spacer on the non-drive side along w/ the preload adjuster. I found you could use the preload adjuster in either position. You just need to pay attention to the '+' and tighten accordingly. It can be set to tighten toward the crankarm or toward the BB. I used a spacer on the BB side and tightened the preload adjuster toward the BB. Without the spacer it would have rubbed on the BB shell. Hope that helps. Sorry I am having trouble uploading pics from my ipad.


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## cliff (Sep 23, 2004)

Andy13-Thanks. Your explanation is clear-no pictures needed! I wonder why SRAM decided to go to the longer spindle and use spacers, but I can only imagine it is so their crank will be compatible with BB EVO386 without producing another SKU or ignoring that "standard" altogether. I liked the ankle clearance of the shorter spindle though.


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## rlsmith (May 12, 2014)

andy13 said:


> Cliff - yes I did. I measured the crank off the bike and the BB shell/bearings distance and determined that the picture that the directions showed was incorrect for my bike frame. I needed to use the large spacer that the directions indicate is not to be used on red/force cranksets. I used the large spacer on the drive side. I then used a small and a medium spacer on the non-drive side along w/ the preload adjuster. I found you could use the preload adjuster in either position. You just need to pay attention to the '+' and tighten accordingly. It can be set to tighten toward the crankarm or toward the BB. I used a spacer on the BB side and tightened the preload adjuster toward the BB. Without the spacer it would have rubbed on the BB shell. Hope that helps. Sorry I am having trouble uploading pics from my ipad.


Andy13. I did the exact same setup but found that when setting up the front derailleur (force 22 yaw) I couldn't align it properly over the large chain ring. Tightening the inner limit screw all the way still left me a few mm short of aligning the marks properly. I thought that was because I used the spacer (which SRAM says isn't required). Did you manage to setup the FD properly without further tweaking?


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## andy13 (Aug 22, 2008)

Yes I was able to adjust the front derailleur to work fine with the spacer setup described. I did not follow the directions w/ tightening the derailleur adjuster screw to line up the cage w/ the big chainring. I played w/ it until I dialed it in. It might depend on frame dimensions, etc.


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## tlman46 (Sep 11, 2007)

*Really?*



andy13 said:


> Yes I was able to adjust the front derailleur to work fine with the spacer setup described. I did not follow the directions w/ tightening the derailleur adjuster screw to line up the cage w/ the big chainring. I played w/ it until I dialed it in. It might depend on frame dimensions, etc.


Guys, why do you think the right thing to do is disregard the Sram installation instructions wrt the 13mm spacer? I am trying to install a Force 22 PF30 cranket on my new Lynksey-made frame, and am struggling with the same issues described. I tried the big spacer, but it seemed to seriously limit the overlap/engagement between the splines of the drive side crank and the BB splines, and the chainrings ended up pretty far out (making FD alignment tough) . . . it just seemed wrong, so the instructions not to use the spacer seem right. NOT using the spacer means the non-drive side seems to be unusally far out, and results in the spacer between the preload adjuster and the crank being free to rattle once the adjuster is snugged up against the BB. Do I just remove that loose spacer? It seems unclear to me why Sram has a loose spacer between the crank and the preload adjuster, when by design the adjuster will be turned away from the crank to take the slack out. I am trying to figure out what I am missing, but I remain confused. Help!


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## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

SRAM instructions are a model of minimalism.

https://sram-cdn-pull-zone-gsdesign.netdna-ssl.com/cdn/farfuture/Qk7wJtb9W691dGKo4VCit9qfr5moI1zdWQ9fRIVBtf0/mtime:1398369777/sites/default/files/techdocs/95-6115-012-000_rev_d_road_cranksets_0.pdf

Obviously there is no need for a washer or spacer behind the preload adjuster. It should not be there. There should be a washer in front of the preload ring as the illustration shows.

I'd turn the preload ring to get it close to the crank on initial installation, install the DS crank, and finally adjust the preload ring by hand before locking it.


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## Sundog (Sep 25, 2013)

I think that I just went through this same issue - with the installation of a SRAM S950 on my Orbea BB30 frame Orca. The LBS guy doing my assembly was about pulling his hair out - and was on the phone with 4 or 5 guys, it seems, at SRAM trying to get things lined up. 

I am not 100% sure - but I think he ended up using a 9mm spacer that he had in the store instead of one of the supplied ones. I am sorry that I didn't follow his explanation very well and was not there to see what came in the box. 

Maybe these pix will help:


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## tlman46 (Sep 11, 2007)

bikerjulio said:


> SRAM instructions are a model of minimalism.
> 
> Obviously there is no need for a washer or spacer behind the preload adjuster. It should not be there. There should be a washer in front of the preload ring as the illustration shows.
> 
> I'd turn the preload ring to get it close to the crank on initial installation, install the DS crank, and finally adjust the preload ring by hand before locking it.


Thanks for your perspective.

I think people are thrown off by the fact that Sram ships the crankset with a spacer behind the preload adjuster, and do not say you should pull the adjuster off, remove the spacer then put the adjuster back - so that seems transgressive.

As well, the crank spindle seems to be wider than my old GXP ones, and with a 68mm shell, there seems to be spidle "left over", which winds up on the non-drive side since that's where the adjustment happens.

All said, I find the Force 22/PF30 setup seems to require more innovation/interpretation/fudging than I have been used to when working with one manufacturer's crank/BB combo. Sram provides these picture diagrams, clear for the information they convey, but lacking any context or discussion of application and typical issues/fixes . . . and the interweb doesn't offer up easy, consistent insight.


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## tlman46 (Sep 11, 2007)

Sundog said:


> I think that I just went through this same issue - with the installation of a SRAM S950 on my Orbea BB30 frame Orca. The LBS guy doing my assembly was about pulling his hair out - and was on the phone with 4 or 5 guys, it seems, at SRAM trying to get things lined up.
> 
> I am not 100% sure - but I think he ended up using a 9mm spacer that he had in the store instead of one of the supplied ones. I am sorry that I didn't follow his explanation very well and was not there to see what came in the box.


Cool! Thanks for the pictures! It's not just me, and other guys posting, your LBS is puzzling th3e same stuff. The last poster suggests there is no reason for the spacers between the non-drive crank arm and the preload adjuster, and functionally I agree. Yet your LBS has packed the space with a collection of spacers. 

The web is also full of conflicting opinions about Sram's direction not to use the 13mm drive-side spacer with Force and Red cranks. It's easy to find people asserting this is a clear error on Sram's part, Lots of confusion!

If someone out there knows all about Force 22 on a PF30 frame, I'd really benefit from your experience and wisdom. Thanks.


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## Sundog (Sep 25, 2013)

If you want the name of the shop that did the install for me and the owner's name - send me a PM. I am sure he would not mind spending a few minutes on the phone with you detailing his experience with my install - and his conversations with SRAM.


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## Enoch562 (May 13, 2010)

I just installed some Force 22 cranks on my Cayo. I ended up adding a 3mm spacer on the drive side side along with the larger one I was allready using. I started with it on the Non drive side but found the cranks to be off center to the left. I measured off the water bottle bolt so I could center the cranks in the bike and shimed accordingly. THe directions are more of a guideline it seems.


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## tlman46 (Sep 11, 2007)

Enoch562 said:


> I just installed some Force 22 cranks on my Cayo. I ended up adding a 3mm spacer on the drive side side along with the larger one I was allready using. I started with it on the Non drive side but found the cranks to be off center to the left. I measured off the water bottle bolt so I could center the cranks in the bike and shimed accordingly. THe directions are more of a guideline it seems.


Out of curiosity, did you install spacers between the preload adjuster and the crank arm? and if you did, was it for esthetics or some other reason?


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## Enoch562 (May 13, 2010)

tlman46 said:


> Out of curiosity, did you install spacers between the preload adjuster and the crank arm? and if you did, was it for esthetics or some other reason?


I put one thin one between the adjuster and arm and one after the preload adjuster. My adjuster was close like the one pictured in Sundog photo. I wanted a little more space between it and the bb cups. And yes, it was about asthetics.

Just in case no else noticed... The preload adjuster on the Force 22 cranks turn oposite from the ones on S 950 series cranks.


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## stuarttx (Jun 25, 2016)

I am having the same problem installing a Force22 crankset on my 2014 Focus Izalco. My crankset seems to have an extra wide spindle so I ordered a pair of 2.5mm spacers to take up the extra space. The same spacers are shown in this diagram, also this diagram shows the wavy-washers instead of the adjuster.


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## scott967 (Apr 26, 2012)

Force 22 is designed to work with BBRight or BB30/PF30. On PF30 (68mm shell width) you need the spacer. If your crankset has the "preload adjuster" you should use this diagram:










scott s.
.


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## stuarttx (Jun 25, 2016)

That's how it worked on my mountain bike but on my road bike there is an extra space that will need to be taken up. I am hoping that the two 2.5 mm spacers are all that is needed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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