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Weird Bottom Bracket

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01 / Original postWeird Bottom BracketEmail address hidden · 4 Aug 2005 02 / This pagePosts 1–7Page 1 of 1 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #7maxo · 5 Aug 2005

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Cycling Equipment
Published
4 August 2005
Last activity
5 August 2005
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Email address hidden
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Topics
Bottom bracketsCranksetsFolding bikesNight ridingSingle-speed and fixed-gearTaper and peakingUrban riding

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  1. Original post
    Email address hidden
    Archived post
    #1

    I have an old folding bike I am working on "hot-rodding", and I am in a
    quandary about the cranks. The bike is a "Unis" brand folding bike,
    similar to the Bianchi Aquiletta pictured here:

    http://www.yellowjersey.org/aq.html

    (thank you Andrew Muzi...)

    The cottered cranks on the bike are very clownish - about 145mm crank
    length. I would like to put on something of a more normal crank length
    - say 170mm. When I pulled the cranks off, I found a very peculiar
    bottom bracket - the inside cups are press fit in, the right side outer
    (ie fixed) cup is fixed to the spindle, and the adjusting cup adjusts
    via threads on the spindle. The bottom bracket shell is a a hair shy
    of 70mm wide, about 40mm inside diameter, and smooth - no threads.
    What options do I have for changing the cranks? Are there any options
    other than to find some old cottered cranks and put them on the
    original spindle? Is there some way to use a more common square taper
    spindle? Anyone have any experences to share?

    Thanks in advance,
    Mark Muller

    Report
  2. maxo
    Archived post
    #2
    Quoted message said:

    Anyone have any
    experences to share?

    Sure, I think...

    My venerable Viscount has a similarly smooth bb shell. I overhauled it
    last fall--you need to get some cartridge bearings (I got mine at an
    industrial supply house, but you might be able to get fancy Phil ones) and
    a bb spindle that'll lock in place with two circlips. Then you can use
    whatever square taper crank you want.

    You can install the bearings with wood block and a mallet, or better yet,
    have a shop with a proper press do it.

    This is what my bb looked like before:

    http://home.earthlink.net/~maxotterland/images/webbike/bb.jpg

    Here's a web page documenting a similar Viscount story:

    http://bikecult.com/works/parts/bbViscount.html

    The bearings are cheap. Hard part is finding the right size. I don't know
    about the spindle. Mine's a nice Campagnolo that came with the bike, but
    there's gotta be something cheaper.

    All in all, pretty straight forward.

    😄

    Report
  3. Tom Reingold
    Archived post
    #3
    maxo said:

    My venerable Viscount has a similarly smooth bb shell. I overhauled it
    last fall--you need to get some cartridge bearings (I got mine at an
    industrial supply house, but you might be able to get fancy Phil ones) and
    a bb spindle that'll lock in place with two circlips. Then you can use
    whatever square taper crank you want.

    You can install the bearings with wood block and a mallet, or better yet,
    have a shop with a proper press do it.

    This is what my bb looked like before:

    http://home.earthlink.net/~maxotterland/images/webbike/bb.jpg

    Here's a web page documenting a similar Viscount story:

    http://bikecult.com/works/parts/bbViscount.html

    The bearings are cheap. Hard part is finding the right size. I don't know
    about the spindle. Mine's a nice Campagnolo that came with the bike, but
    there's gotta be something cheaper.

    All in all, pretty straight forward.

    😄

    Thanks for that trip down memory lane, Maxo. As a teenager, I lusted
    after Viscount bikes. That was silly in retrospect, but they were
    interesting anyway. What do you use yours for now?

    And yours has a Conrad's sticker on it. I remember Conrad and his wife
    Sara. I think Conrad died. Is Sara still around?

    --
    Tom Reingold
    Noo Joizy
    This email address works, but only for a short time.

    Report
  4. maxo
    Archived post
    #4
    Tom Reingold said:

    Thanks for that trip down memory lane, Maxo. As a teenager, I lusted after
    Viscount bikes. That was silly in retrospect, but they were interesting
    anyway. What do you use yours for now?

    It's a solid state single speed. Here's a picture of it (it has a vintage
    Selle Royal black leather racing saddle now, the Brooks was too bouncy):

    http://photos1.flickr.com/2634911_5897979186_o.jpg

    in color:

    http://photos17.flickr.com/20772845_1ede4a8bf2_o.jpg

    I use it for exercise, urban rides, beer runs, and general mayhem. It has
    a Basta dynamo up front now for night rides because of the heat. Rides
    great, if a little whippy--those tubes are thin!! The weight with a sturdy
    Ma3 wheelset, fenders, and other not-so-light doodads comes to around 24
    lbs.

    Before as a Shimano 600 beast:

    http://tinyurl.com/b4qwp

    Quoted message said:

    And
    yours has a Conrad's sticker on it. I remember Conrad and his wife
    Sara. I think Conrad died. Is Sara still around?

    Oops, the second link was from another guys Viscount in NYC. The picture
    of the BB was from mine. If you pay attention you'll see mine has
    different cranks (Suntour) and fancy Campy dustcaps (fell off long ago,
    LOL) So I can't tell ya anything about Sara, you'll have to call her
    yourself. 😄

    Report
  5. Tom Reingold
    Archived post
    #5

    It's beautiful, maxo. You're a good mechanic.

    Tom

    Report
  6. Email address hidden
    Archived post
    #6
    maxo said:
    Quoted message said:

    Anyone have any
    experences to share?

    Sure, I think...

    My venerable Viscount has a similarly smooth bb shell. I overhauled it
    last fall--you need to get some cartridge bearings (I got mine at an
    industrial supply house, but you might be able to get fancy Phil ones) and
    a bb spindle that'll lock in place with two circlips. Then you can use
    whatever square taper crank you want.

    You can install the bearings with wood block and a mallet, or better yet,
    have a shop with a proper press do it.

    This is what my bb looked like before:

    http://home.earthlink.net/~maxotterland/images/webbike/bb.jpg

    Here's a web page documenting a similar Viscount story:

    http://bikecult.com/works/parts/bbViscount.html

    The bearings are cheap. Hard part is finding the right size. I don't know
    about the spindle. Mine's a nice Campagnolo that came with the bike, but
    there's gotta be something cheaper.

    Did you machine the inside of the BB shell - so that it was perfectly
    round, and able to accept the cartridge bearing?

    Any ideas where to look for such a spindle?

    Later,
    Mark

    Report
  7. maxo
    Archived post
    #7
    Quoted message said:

    Did you machine the inside of the BB shell - so that it was perfectly
    round, and able to accept the cartridge bearing?
    ]

    It was intended for a press fit cartridge bearing to begin with, so no
    problem.

    You might have to have it machined. No biggie.

    Quoted message said:

    Any ideas where to look for such a spindle?

    You'll want to carefully measure the inside diameter and width of the
    shell before you do anything. Then contact some place that knows their
    stuff like Harris or Yellow Jersey. They're not the rarest thing on earth.

    Report

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