Why "bottom bracket"?

303squadron <[email protected]> wrote:

: Got to thinking about the name, though. The part that went "bad" is really a spindle or axle
: assembly with sealed bearings that the crank arms attach to. Single piece assembly, so the damaged
: part (bearings) cannot be replaced alone.

Cartridge brackets are a rather new invention anyway.

: So why the heck is it called a bottom bracket? Does not look like a bracket, nor does it
: function as one.

I think it should be called a boom bracket on recumbents, as it's not in the bottom but it's in the
front part of the bracket boom...

Did you try reading sheldonbrown.com yet?

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/hpv/hpv.html varis at no spam please iki fi

Yep. He says it's:

The part of the frame around which the pedal cranks revolve, also the bearings and axle assembly
that runs through the bottom bracket shell of the frame.

It would be a stretch, but his first definition kinda sorta makes sense (and would make better sense
if it were a bottom axle tube or bottom spindle tube or bottom bracket shell or some such). The
second definition is what everyone actually seems to use, but it makes, of course, little sense. He
gives no clue as to origin.

- GRL

"It's good to want things."

Steve Barr (philosopher, poet, humorist, chemist, Visual Basic programmer)
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> 303squadron <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> : Got to thinking about the name, though. The part that went "bad" is
really a
> : spindle or axle assembly with sealed bearings that the crank arms attach
to.
> : Single piece assembly, so the damaged part (bearings) cannot be replaced alone.
>
> Cartridge brackets are a rather new invention anyway.
>
> : So why the heck is it called a bottom bracket? Does not look like a
bracket,
> : nor does it function as one.
>
> I think it should be called a boom bracket on recumbents, as it's not in the bottom but it's in
> the front part of the bracket boom...
>
> Did you try reading sheldonbrown.com yet?
>
> --
> Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/hpv/hpv.html varis at no spam please iki fi