which bb?

Terry scribed with passion and wit:

Quoted message said:

My bottom bracket on the old 531 audax bike needs replacing. 68mm frame width and 107mm axle,
tapered square of course. I was going for a shimano 173 but then noticed that the campag bb's on
wiggle are really cheap by comparison. I don't know if they are cartridge type, which I would
prefer. What is the catch?(Apart from the fact that I havn't got a campag bb tool-do I need one to
fit them?.) TerryJ

I swear by Campag, the tool is different but you may be able to borrow one from a local workshop,
I've loaned mine out from tile to time.

--
Ian

catrike.co.ukcatrike.co.ukOpen ↗

Terry said:

My bottom bracket on the old 531 audax bike needs replacing. 68mm frame width and 107mm axle,
tapered square of course. I was going for a shimano 173 but then noticed that the campag bb's on
wiggle are really cheap by comparison.

...Even cheaper elsewhere, believe it or not! All Wiggle's Campag prices are over the top.

Quoted message said:

I don't know if they are cartridge type, which I would prefer. What is the catch?(Apart from the
fact that I havn't got a campag bb tool-do I need one to fit them?.)

Unfortunately Campag's taper specification is slightly different from Shimano's and so not safely
compatible with cranks that fit Shimano BBs; also there won't be a length close enough to 107mm.
Campag's are 102, 111 and 115.5. The better quality Tacx tools are best for Campag BBs (and
Shimano's and others for that matter) as others tend to slip. These cost more than the BB! Parker
International and Xpedia sell them (as well as cheaper alternatives).

I don't know the "173" but Shimano UN72 and UN73 seems to be well respected and I would expect to be
of about equal quality to Campag Veloce or Centaur. That's the one I'm suggesting as a replacement
for my brother's MTB. Chain Reaction's price is only £16.99, with free post as well:
www.chainreactioncycles.com/viewproduct.asp?category=Bottom+Brackets&Model ID=49

~PB

Quoted message said:

Terry said:

I don't know if they are cartridge type, which I would prefer.

Campag's are all cartridge type, except for normal Chorus and Record models.

~PB

Pete Biggs <[email hidden]> wrote:

: I don't know the "173" but Shimano UN72 and UN73 seems to be well respected and I would expect to
: be of about equal quality to Campag Veloce or Centaur.

Personally I'd say

UN52 ~ Veloce.

Though with different virtues. The UN52 is lighter, Veloce will last longer.

The UN72 is a very nice BB and is Centaur, and yup, I'd say they were pretty similar in quality.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune clune.orgclune.orgOpen ↗ "Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 12:55:18 -0000, "Pete Biggs"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

cut

Quoted message said:

Chain Reaction's price is only £16.99, with free post as well:
www.chainreactioncycles.com/viewproduct.asp?category=Bottom+Brackets&Model ID=49

Thank you for posting that Pete, I need a new BB for a fixed gear project I will be looking at after
Christmas, a UN72/73 for £17 sounds perfect. I had a quick look at the headsets available from them
and I quite like the look of the FSA UF model for£20.00 has anybody had problems with these? A quick
google did not reval anything nasty. Cheers Richard Please remove THIS if replying

"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle I no longer despair for the future of the human race".
H. G. Wells

Pete Biggs <[email hidden]> wrote ...

Quoted message said:

The better quality Tacx tools are best for Campag BBs (and Shimano's and others for that matter) as
others tend to slip. These cost more than the BB! Parker International and Xpedia sell them (as
well as cheaper alternatives).

Unfortunately they are only suitable for shorter BBs, as I found last week. Fine for taking out a
107mm UN72 (XT), but when I tried to fit a 122mm UN53 (Zephyr), the splines got nowhere near the
fixed cup before the axle bolt hit.

Andrew

k.

Quoted message said:

Fine for taking out a 107mm UN72 (XT), but when I tried to fit a 122mm UN53 (Zephyr), the splines
got nowhere near the fixed cup before the axle bolt hit.

I think I may be doing it wrongly then.Do you replace the axle bolt to keep the bb tool in place? I
do not , and have difficulty with it slipping.Always have! It sounds as though some kind of big
washer is required for the longer axle.

Come to think of it, my current chainset has the axle bolt built in, so I would have to raid the
bits box. TerryJ

Terry said:

Quoted message said:

Fine for taking out a 107mm UN72 (XT), but when I tried to fit a 122mm UN53 (Zephyr), the splines
got nowhere near the fixed cup before the axle bolt hit.

I think I may be doing it wrongly then.Do you replace the axle bolt to keep the bb tool in place?

I think the above refers to the type of Tacx tool with the built-in spring-loaded bolt to keep the
tool in place. This is used without the BB spindle (axle) bolts or anything else. See www.tacx.nl

I wasn't aware the tool couldn't handle long BB spindles. That's a shame as it's such a good
design generally (great for Campag Mirage/Veloce/Centaur so I expected the Shimano version would
be good too).

Quoted message said:

I do not , and have difficulty with it slipping.Always have! It sounds as though some kind of big
washer is required for the longer axle.

Try using a rear wheel quick release skewer if BB spindle is hollow, or longer bolt.

~PB

Pete Biggs <[email hidden]> wrote ...

Quoted message said:

Andrew said:

Quoted message said:

Fine for taking out a 107mm UN72 (XT), but when I tried to fit a 122mm UN53 (Zephyr), the
splines got nowhere near the fixed cup before the axle bolt hit.

I think the above refers to the type of Tacx tool with the built-in spring-loaded bolt to keep the
tool in place. This is used without the BB spindle (axle) bolts or anything else. See www.tacx.nl

I wasn't aware the tool couldn't handle long BB spindles. That's a shame as it's such a good
design generally (great for Campag Mirage/Veloce/Centaur so I expected the Shimano version would
be good too).

That's the one. I think it's due to the length of the BB spindle - the various different versions
(Campag, Shimano square, Shimano splined etc) all look much the same in terms of the length of the
spring-loaded section, which is what's going to matter. I was a bit disappointed, having paid all
the extra dosh for it. To be fair, all the Shimano chainsets use short axles, so if you stick to the
standard it would be OK.

In the end, I used a standard remover, a big washer, a couple of headset spacers, and the normal
axle bolt. The downside is that you have to keep adjusting the axle bolt rather than rely on the
spring to do it for you.

Andrew