DaveB said:I was doing some maintenance on the bottom bracket on my old MTB and
failed to stick a towel under the bike when I removed it (that's what
happens when you're in a hurry). Of course then I heard the pinging
sound of ball bearings bouncing around the workshop, with me madly
trying to hold the rest in while tryign to see where the bouncing ones
were going ( and you know none of them are going to go in the same
direction). So now I've found 18 ball bearings and I'm wondering if
that's all of them (doesn't look like it) or how many more I need to
look for, or else buy new ones which means I'll be without the bike for
a few days.
DaveB
Dear Dave,
Ah, another Dave to add to my list!
If you're new, you'll find dozens of friendly Daves here,
all eager to give you the secret Dave handshake and the real
answers in private emails.
Nine balls on a side is a common figure, though some bottom
brackets have more and others have fewer.
As you can see by browsing from the top of this thread,
Sheldon Brown has offered us the comforting explanation that
it's the size of the ball that determines the fit, not the
number of bearings (as long as there are enough to fill more
than half the circle):
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&threadm=3BCCE24B.8404F0E1%40research.dfci.harvard.edu&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fq%3D%2522number%2Bof%2Bbearings%2522%2Bbottom%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26group%3Drec.bicycles.tech%26scoring%3Dd%26selm%3D3BCCE24B.8404F0E1%2540research.dfci.harvard.edu%26rnum%3D1
or
http://tinyurl.com/6c5wb
Another comforting thought is that the next step up is
usually eleven balls per side, 22 total, so you'd have to
have lost four balls, which is less likely than losing one,
two, or three. And even then, nine balls will work fine.
The chief thing to learn from this sort of fiasco is that
there is no substitute for having stupid little parts handy,
since even the best local bike shop is going to be closed
just when you need it most (unless you own it).
Good luck,
Carl Fogel
