Where to find Dura Ace BB parts

[bgoetz]

I have a Dura Ace BB-7700, which is an octalink BB. As far as octalinks go the performance of this thing is a stand out above the rest. With a weight of 175 grams and a needle bearing/ball bearing combo it performs really well. The trade off is that it is not sealed very well at all and it is a PITA to adjust correctly. Long story short I have one that I had outside 5 times and put about 120hrs on it on the trainer and somehow it has pits in the bearing race. I replaced the BB with one the LBS had on hand, but would really like to try to find the bearing race so I can repair the damaged one and have a spare. The problem is Shimano stopped making this particular BB and I cannot find parts anywhere. The way they are designed I have to think they are meant to be rebuildable and there should be spare parts out there, just not sure how to find them.

 

[alfeng]

FWIW. You'll probably have to resign yourself with finding-and-buying a replacement from an eBay auction ...

BTW. I knew a guy ([COLOR= #808080]he presume that he still lives in Santa Fe ... I'm just not motivated enough to track him down[/COLOR]) who replaced the stock bearings in a 7700 BB with some off-the-shelf cartridge bearings ... at the time, my impression was that it was a BRILLIANT modification ...

• thinking about it, he must have used three-per-side ... I suppose it might have been only two-per-side.

I do NOT know how durable the modification was ...

But, it wasn't quite brilliant enough for me to ask him what the cartridge size was that he used ... I'm not sure that he would have told me.

ANYWAY, if you have a digital gauge, you could probably look up the cartridge size based on inner diameter of the cup which would be the outer diameter of the cartridge AND the outer diameter of the spindle which would be the inner diameter of the cartridge.

• the cartridge size used on ISIS Quad BBs may be the same ...

BTW2. I don't understand why you had a problem setting up the BB unless you lost-or-omitted the plastic sleeve that fits between the cups.

 

[bgoetz]

I had the LBS install and set it up, so I am not sure what the issue was, but it you look at reviews of this particular BB it seems that adjusting it is quite different than any other BB. Most reveiws either love it or compltely hate it because of the difficulty.

 

[Cyclism]

Another option is the Ultegra 6500 BB. Heavier than DA, but totally sealed and a snap to install.

 

[Peter@vecchios]

Originally Posted by bgoetz .

I have a Dura Ace BB-7700, which is an octalink BB. As far as octalinks go the performance of this thing is a stand out above the rest. With a weight of 175 grams and a needle bearing/ball bearing combo it performs really well. The trade off is that it is not sealed very well at all and it is a PITA to adjust correctly. Long story short I have one that I had outside 5 times and put about 120hrs on it on the trainer and somehow it has pits in the bearing race. I replaced the BB with one the LBS had on hand, but would really like to try to find the bearing race so I can repair the damaged one and have a spare. The problem is Shimano stopped making this particular BB and I cannot find parts anywhere. The way they are designed I have to think they are meant to be rebuildable and there should be spare parts out there, just not sure how to find them.

I have some spare races..where are you?

Only replacement BB now made by shimano is the 5500 unit. Like Ultegra, black spindle.

7700 was bearings, not possible to replace these with cart bearings. OD of spindle doesn't match any cart bearing.

 

[bgoetz]

Sweet! I am located in Toledo, Ohio. Let me know what you would want for a couple shipped?

 

[Peter@vecchios]

Originally Posted by bgoetz .

Sweet! I am located in Toledo, Ohio. Let me know what you would want for a couple shipped?

Off toasted BBs, altho the races look very clean..email an address and I'll mail ya a couple or 3..freebie.

[email protected]

 

[Tnark]

There's also an Octalink 7700 track bottom bracket, looks more like a conventional Ultegra sealed unit. Simple install, no adjustment needed and fully sealed. There's plenty of these at the moment on eBay.

 

[alfeng]

Originally Posted by bgoetz .

I had the LBS install and set it up, so I am not sure what the issue was, but it you look at reviews of this particular BB it seems that adjusting it is quite different than any other BB. Most reveiws either love it or compltely hate it because of the difficulty.

I have BOTH the Dura Ace & XTR versions of the non-cartridge Octalink BBs ...

• I found that the 112.5mm XTR BB is suitable for use with a Triple crankset ([COLOR= #808080]if anyone is interested[/COLOR]) on a steel frame vs. the BBs with 118mm spindle
• I also found that the 112.5mm XTR spindle will fit in the DA shell ([COLOR= #808080]i.e., to create a Triple BB for a steel frame with an Italian threaded BB shell[/COLOR]) instead using the porky 118mm cartridge BB

[COLOR= #ff0000]I still don't know why-or-how your LBS found your Dura Ace BB to be difficult to install unless[/COLOR] he didn't have the proper tools which would have been new a dozen-or-so years ago ([COLOR= #808080]which some early reviewers might have found to have been a nuisance[/COLOR]) OR unless he decided to remove the bearings which are barely held in place by a plastic "cage" ... OR, as I indicated before, [COLOR= #ff0000]he omitted to include the plastic sleeve which fits between the cups.[/COLOR]

• omitting the plastic sleeve would ALSO be detrimental to the life span of your BB

YOU may want to install whatever Peter generously sends you, yourself, rather than having the LBS do the work.

• if the plastic sleeve is missing, then you will know that you should find another LBS