French thread bottom bracket

[Dan Burkhart]

Well, this fix didn't last long. I had a Peugot of uncertain vintage come in the other day for service, and the BB was one of the items on the list. The spindle and cups were all toast, so I went looking for options. Needless to say, non of my regular lines of supply are any help with this one, and any solutions I could find on line were somewhat pricy, so I decided to go with a threadless cartridge,(one that just slips in the shell and the ends thread together.)
Seemed to work fine, but when the owner of the bike picked it up and rode it home, by the time he got there, the flange on the non drive side cup had broken completely off.
Is it possible I missed a step here? The inside of both flanges are conical, I presume to assure the cartridge is centered axially. Is the BB shell suposed to be chamfered to accept this cartridge?
Any and all advice appreciated.
Dan Burkhart
www.boomerbicycle.ca

 

[jtaylor]

"Dan Burkhart" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news[email protected]...
>
> Well, this fix didn't last long. I had a Peugot of uncertain vintage
> come in the other day for service, and the BB was one of the items on
> the list. The spindle and cups were all toast, so I went looking for
> options. Needless to say, non of my regular lines of supply are any
> help with this one, and any solutions I could find on line were
> somewhat pricy, so I decided to go with a threadless cartridge,(one
> that just slips in the shell and the ends thread together.)
> Seemed to work fine, but when the owner of the bike picked it up and
> rode it home, by the time he got there, the flange on the non drive
> side cup had broken completely off.
> Is it possible I missed a step here? The inside of both flanges are
> conical, I presume to assure the cartridge is centered axially. Is the
> BB shell suposed to be chamfered to accept this cartridge?
> Any and all advice appreciated.
> Dan Burkhart
> www.boomerbicycle.ca
>
>

a) ebay

b) Harris Cyclery
(http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/french-cranks.html#bottom)

b) ream and tap (English, Italian, or I.S.O.)

c) yes, the conical end may well be supposed to fit a chamfered shell. What
kind is it? I seem to recall (some decades now) that stronglight, or edco,
or mavic, or possibly some other mfr did make such an animal.

 

[jtaylor]

"jtaylor" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]!nnrp1.uunet.ca... (that'd be me)



> b) ream and tap (English, Italian, or I.S.O.)
>

Ooops.

Italian only, of course. While the English/ I.S.O. is larger, it's not
_enough_ larger for this to work.

 

[[email protected]]

Dan Burkhart wrote:
> Well, this fix didn't last long. I had a Peugot of uncertain vintage
> come in the other day for service, and the BB was one of the items on
> the list. The spindle and cups were all toast, so I went looking for
> options. Needless to say, non of my regular lines of supply are any
> help with this one, and any solutions I could find on line were
> somewhat pricy, so I decided to go with a threadless cartridge,(one
> that just slips in the shell and the ends thread together.)
> Seemed to work fine, but when the owner of the bike picked it up and
> rode it home, by the time he got there, the flange on the non drive
> side cup had broken completely off.
> Is it possible I missed a step here? The inside of both flanges are
> conical, I presume to assure the cartridge is centered axially. Is the
> BB shell suposed to be chamfered to accept this cartridge?
> Any and all advice appreciated.


What brand cartridge BB was this? Stronglight (these need chamfering of
the BB shell)? YST? Something else?

 

[Dan Burkhart]

Dan Burkhart wrote:
> Well, this fix didn't last long. I had a Peugot of uncertain vintage
> come in the other day for service, and the BB was one of the items on
> the list. The spindle and cups were all toast, so I went looking for
> options. Needless to say, non of my regular lines of supply are any
> help with this one, and any solutions I could find on line were
> somewhat pricy, so I decided to go with a threadless cartridge,(one
> that just slips in the shell and the ends thread together.)
> Seemed to work fine, but when the owner of the bike picked it up and
> rode it home, by the time he got there, the flange on the non drive
> side cup had broken completely off.
> Is it possible I missed a step here? The inside of both flanges are
> conical, I presume to assure the cartridge is centered axially. Is the
> BB shell suposed to be chamfered to accept this cartridge?
> Any and all advice appreciated.


What brand cartridge BB was this? Stronglight (these need chamfering of
the BB shell)? YST? Something else?

YST.
Dan

 

[philcycles]

Dan Burkhart wrote:
> Well, this fix didn't last long. I had a Peugot of uncertain vintage
> come in the other day for service, and the BB was one of the items on
> the list. The spindle and cups were all toast, so I went looking for
> options.

A Shimano UN72 BB with Phil Wood rings is the easy solution.
Phil Brown

 

[Qui si parla Campagnolo]

Dan Burkhart wrote:
> Well, this fix didn't last long. I had a Peugot of uncertain vintage
> come in the other day for service, and the BB was one of the items on
> the list. The spindle and cups were all toast, so I went looking for
> options. Needless to say, non of my regular lines of supply are any
> help with this one, and any solutions I could find on line were
> somewhat pricy, so I decided to go with a threadless cartridge,(one
> that just slips in the shell and the ends thread together.)
> Seemed to work fine, but when the owner of the bike picked it up and
> rode it home, by the time he got there, the flange on the non drive
> side cup had broken completely off.
> Is it possible I missed a step here? The inside of both flanges are
> conical, I presume to assure the cartridge is centered axially. Is the
> BB shell suposed to be chamfered to accept this cartridge?


Yep, you got it. BTW-I have taken a english tap and chased French
threads on a Peugeot, and then installed a normal english threaeded
BB..worked greta. Threads were close enough..36by1 and 1.37by24..
> Any and all advice appreciated.
> Dan Burkhart
> www.boomerbicycle.ca
>
>
> --
> Dan Burkhart

 

[Dan Burkhart]

Dan Burkhart wrote:
> Well, this fix didn't last long. I had a Peugot of uncertain vintage
> come in the other day for service, and the BB was one of the items on
> the list. The spindle and cups were all toast, so I went looking for
> options. Needless to say, non of my regular lines of supply are any
> help with this one, and any solutions I could find on line were
> somewhat pricy, so I decided to go with a threadless cartridge,(one
> that just slips in the shell and the ends thread together.)
> Seemed to work fine, but when the owner of the bike picked it up and
> rode it home, by the time he got there, the flange on the non drive
> side cup had broken completely off.
> Is it possible I missed a step here? The inside of both flanges are
> conical, I presume to assure the cartridge is centered axially. Is the
> BB shell suposed to be chamfered to accept this cartridge?


Yep, you got it. BTW-I have taken a english tap and chased French
threads on a Peugeot, and then installed a normal english threaeded
BB..worked greta. Threads were close enough..36by1 and 1.37by24..
> Any and all advice appreciated.
> Dan Burkhart
> www.boomerbicycle.ca
>
>
> --
> Dan Burkhart

OK. Do I take that to mean you used 2 adjustable cups to get right hand threads on both sides? I guess that would make it sorta Phil Woodish.
Many thanks.
Dan

 

[[email protected]]

I did the UN-72 thing and Phil Wood rings on my Gitane Tour de France.
The LBS warned me I would have to grind down the body of the UN-72 for
the rings to fit. Which I did. After the bearings prematurely failed on
the UN-72 I bit the bullet and got a Phil Wood BB. It was then that I
noticed the rings go over the PW BB tight as well. Of course I did not
grind it down but I have always wondered if I unnecessarily ground
UN-72. I never was able to compare the sizes of each respective BB. Any
way I'm pretty happy with the bike now. I almost thought it was time to
retire it. It's such a great ride I hope to get many more years of use
now. I'm also grateful for Phil Brown's detail on French bikes that
listed out my options.

Steve



philcycles wrote:
> Dan Burkhart wrote:
> > Well, this fix didn't last long. I had a Peugot of uncertain vintage
> > come in the other day for service, and the BB was one of the items on
> > the list. The spindle and cups were all toast, so I went looking for
> > options.
>
> A Shimano UN72 BB with Phil Wood rings is the easy solution.
> Phil Brown

 

[johnpimentel]

I realize that this is an older thread, but I thought for anyone currently researching this option, I would answer the Phil Wood ring/UN71 fitment question. You do NOT need to take any material of of the UN71/2 when using the Phil Wood cups. Once you remove the fixed cup from the BB, the Phil cups will fit snugly (perfectly). I am running this exact setup now on an 1980's Colago (Italian threaded) and it is a great solution.

Any of the older Shimano BBs (un51, un52, un71, 72 & UN91 will all work fine). Shimano has made a change to their newer bottom brackets where the fixed cup is part of the BB body now, so you can not do this with the newer ones. I've looked at a couple of other brands to try this and have not had success. The current IRD BB seems to use a shell with a smaller diameter. I have an old Ofmega that is too small and the NOS Suntour BB's I'ved inquired about have a shell that is too large. I don't know the exact measurement you need for fitment.

I also use a Phil, which I really love, but it seemed wasteful to me not to try to use some of the Shiman UN BBs that were around too.