Bottom bracket curiousity

Sounds to me they went and built their equipment using proprietary components. If this is the case you wont have any luck finding it elsewhere.

Good for them bad for you.

It wouldn't surprise me. Usually LifeFitness does proprietary small goods, like belts and panels but generic other things. They get silly with things like charging $1.75 for a 8-32 sheet metal screw because it is painted black[IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif[/IMG]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Conniebiker [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I have a question for my excersize equipment company. There is a spin bike produced under the Lemond Fitness name by the company Life Fitness. The problem I would like to figure out is what source they had for bottom brackets since they want $62 each! It is a mere square taper unit so how expensive need it to be?

The problem is that the square is of a bigger size than the conventional ISO interface by almost 3-4 mm. Is there a cross application where it would have been used, like bmx or track or such? Even if it doesn't prove to be cheaper it is still a curiosity.

First, there is no standard length (which is to what I presume you are referring) ISO BB, per se, so YOUR concern is whether-or-not the shell has English threading (1.37x24) or something that is truly proprietary ...

• having said THAT, the 102mm Campagnolo Record/Chorus square taper BB was the last commonly spec'd-and-available ISO BB that I am aware of ... TOKEN still makes Campagnolo compatible BBs
  
• the JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) & ISO tapers look the same, but the JIS & ISO begin the taper at a slightly different 'place' ... so, a JIS crankset will bottom-out on an ISO tapered spindle & not fit snugly while an ISO crank will sit a couple of millimeters further outboard on the spindle (which will affect where the chainrings are in relation to the bike's centerline) but may be useable if properly selected.
  

Regardless, the odds are that if the square taper is not a proprietary creation then it would probably be JIS & you simply need to find any (e.g., Shimano) aftermarket BB whose cups have the correct threading ...

• you will need to know the spindle length
  
• you will need to know whether the spindle is symmetrical or asymmetrical
  

• eBay is a good source if you know the threading & spindle specifics
  

Of course, if the BB shell is English then you can replace it with any other BB type which uses English threading ... so, if you decide to change crank on one of your bikes, you can install the removed BB-and-crank on your Lemond Fitness exercise bike.

I am not that new to bikes. I know the threading and it is the normal 68x 118 cartridge housing because a Shimano UN-52 fit perfectly into the frame. That is not the issue. The issue is the square of the spindle being significantly larger than the square taper normally used. Not the housing, the spindle. I thought I was clear on that but apparently someone took it the wrong way.

Apart from satisfying your curiosity, what is your goal here? Find a cheaper source of BBs while retaining the cranks?
You may be successful in shimming your wider cranks on to a regular BB. I've used strips of aluminium to get a JIS crank to sit right on and ISO spindle - or possibly the other way around....

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Conniebiker [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I am not that new to bikes. I know the threading and it is the normal 68x 118 cartridge housing because a Shimano UN-52 fit perfectly into the frame. That is not the issue. The issue is the square of the spindle being significantly larger than the square taper normally used. Not the housing, the spindle. I thought I was clear on that but apparently someone took it the wrong way.

Well, no offense was meant in my reply ... as seems to have been how you took my earlier reply ...

Unfortunately, when you tossed in the 'ISO' reference you muddied-the-waters ...

• JIS spindles are larger than ISO spindles ... those are the two commonly available "standards" with regard to the actual taper ... again, there is NO STANDARD SPINDLE LENGTH
  

[*] if a square taper spindle is not ISO or JIS, then it is probably proprietary -- proprietary components are almost always more expensive

• BTW. MANY of the non-Shimano cartridge BBs can be disassembled & so the cartridge bearings can be serviced-or-replaced
  
• and so, THAT may be your alternative to ponying up for a Life Fitness BB
  

And even now, your suggestion that the exercise bike (¿presuming THAT is to what you are referring¿) has " the normal 68x 118 cartridge housing" is poorly phrased ...

So, while you may not-(be)-that-new-to-bikes, you were not clear as you think you were when you stated your query.

FWIW. I know people who have more than one bike & who have ridden for decades who barely know how to make any adjustment on their bikes ... both happen to be "Dura Ace riders" ... so, they are not what one call casual riders (although, of course, some people opt for the top-of-the-line simply because it is) ...

And, a guy in Boulder who owns a bike shop used to think that adjusting a front derailleur was akin to performing a magic trick because he was probably napping if-or-when they discussed front derailleur adjustment in the UBI 'certification' workshop that he took ...

Regardless, familiarity with bikes doesn't mean that a person necessarily phrased a query in a clear manner ... and, iMO, you were not clear.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Conniebiker [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I am not that new to bikes. I know the threading and it is the normal 68x 118 cartridge housing because a Shimano UN-52 fit perfectly into the frame. That is not the issue. The issue is the square of the spindle being significantly larger than the square taper normally used. Not the housing, the spindle. I thought I was clear on that but apparently someone took it the wrong way.

You were perfectly clear, and davereo's reply was the appropriate one.

I just did a search through my usual source for esoteric and generally low-end components, J&B Importers. That turned up no other square tapers than JIS and ISO. Under "BMX bottom brackets" at Universal Cycles (universalcycles.com), I found JIS and what appears to be a unit with a proprietary spline pattern. I think we're out of luck.