So today is bottom bracket / crank install day.
Started off a bit rocky because when I attempted to thread in the non-drive side bearing cup by hand.. I couldn't get it to thread into the bottom bracket at all. After having the drive side one thread in with ease until seated against the frame, and then reading that both sides should easily be able to be threaded in by hand with ease.. I was a bit nervous.
Luckily, my tool kit just so happened to arrive today, and when I took the bottom bracket tool to the bearing cup, it went right in. Pretty nice tool kit from what i can tell. Nothing seems overly cheap, but I'm sure if I had a Park set sitting right next to it, the difference would be obvious. Nice starter set, depending on how much i find myself using them, I may want to upgrade.
Not sure what the resistance was from as I cleaned and lubed the bottom bracket threads, but it's in there now, so I'm not going to worry about it. Maybe just some tight tolerances, who knows. But I was super careful to properly thread them in, as messing up the bottom bracket threading was the last thing I wanted to happen. Glad I had the right tool for the job. In hindsight, seems silly that tools were the absolute last thing that I purchased for this build. Should have been one of the first.
Either way.. for now, all is well:
I found this video pretty helpful in understanding the basics of the install process:
This is where I'm at currently:
Turns out that the drive shaft may need some coaxing with a rubber mallet, in order to fully insert. I'm highly uncomfortable with the thought of doing this but according to this MTBR thread that I found, it's a fairly common thing when installing the latest Shimano cranks:
http://forums.mtbr.com/drivetrain-shifters-derailleurs-cranks/how-do-you-install-xt-m770-10-hollow-tech-ii-cranks-740777.htmlA bit of a pain, but at least it'll be pretty when it's done.. I think the Raceface wide narrow chainring matches the SLX crank arms perfectly. Almost like the crank arm graphics fade into the chainring.