Nedman said:First of all, thank you to Sheldon Brown and Andrew Muzi for your recent advice. It did help, but
I am still not sure about installing the BB in the '99 XX Team Barracuda. I'm not sure where it
was made, it is not clearly marked anywhere. The serial # begins with "PT" and is stamped under
the BB shell on the left side, if that means anything.The person who sold it to me swears it is US
made, but I'm not so sure.
Doesn't matter, as long as it wasn't made in Europe, which it certainly wasn't.
Quoted message said:The shell does measure 73mm. I have a 1.37 X 24t X 73mm (118) Shimano ES70 splined "Octalink" BB
from another bike (GT Avalanche) that I attempted to install into the shell.
That is absolutely, positively, the correct threading.
Quoted message said:The main body went in pretty well, with only minor resistance. But when I threaded the aluminum
adapter ring in from the other side, it threaded very tightly after a half inch or so, and
actually impeded the BB spindle rotation. So I removed everything, of course. I'm certain it
wasn't cross-threaded, and there aren't any shavings inside- thank God. I'm thinking that I will
need to chase the threads with a tap. I haven't had to do this in the past, they've always
threaded right in. Any help would again be appreciated.
A neat trick I learned from Francis Bolag is to use a cylindrical rotary wire brush in a hand-held
electric drill to clean up bottom bracket threads. Any decent hardware store will have a suitable
wire brush, they're about an inch in diameter, maybe 3 inches long. Stick it in from the right side
and run the drill in the "forward" (clockwised) direction. This will tend to drive any swarf or
scunge outward from the threads. This generally avoids the need to run a tap, doesn't remove as
much metal.
Make sure the bolt that holds the under-bb cable guide (if any) isn't poking too far into the
shell...sometimes this makes it hard to install the cartridge straight.
Once you get the bike going, be very careful about riding big drop-offs...the "aero" top tubes on
these bikes make them fall _really_ fast! ;-)
Sheldon "Baccaruda" Brown +-------------------------------------------------------+
| I found no fault with the cook, and it was the rule | of the voyage that the cook found no fault
| with me. | There was never a ship's crew so well agreed. | --Joshua Slocum _Sailing Alone Around
| The World_ | eldred.ne.mediaone.netsaaw.htmOpen ↗ |
+-------------------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
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