Johnny Mullet

Most of you know me as that Huffy guy and know I like simplicity. I never, ever have issues with my cheap, junk bikes with American bottom brackets and one piece cranks. I even have one Huffy with an adaptor to run 3 piece cranks and it's trouble free since it uses the same bearings, cups, and lock nut setup.

Every single so called "Better bike" I have gotten ALWAYS had issues with the bottom bracket bearings. Even after buying all the special tools for these crap brackets, there are sometimes issues the the threads in the frame and these bottom brackets are basically disposable. Trying to service them usually ends up them needing replaced anyway. I even had issues with new replacement bb cartridges failing after only 100 miles.

I know some of you might call me nuts, but I got this neat GT Windstream cruiser/hybrid bike for $20.00 and I replaced the tires, tubes, cables, and a few other parts and also found the bottom bracket bearings are toast......



So with the purchase price, plus the replacement parts I have $90.00 invested in a bike worth $75.00 and it still needs the bb replaced. I am very disgusted with the Eurotrash bottom brackets and I have come up with a conversion plan. Call me nuts. Call me a hack, call me anything you want, but I am fixing this bike my way and it won't cost me anything but my spare time...........



Updates later

Cheddarpecker

Yeah, screw it up real good.

shelbyfv

Hollowtech II and be happy. $15 and 10 minutes when it fails.

bikemig 

I've seen much better trolling threads on BF than this.

texaspandj

Ok I put 1 and 1 together. Good luck and I hope it works out for you.
Btw, love your spirit. Ride on brother, Ride On.

Johnny Mullet

Oh no. This is real as it gets

AlmostTrick

Thanks for reminding me of Crackers now classic song.

fietsbob

you talkin' Thun BB?


I used to own a Japan made Schwinn ,(700c wheels) I found a tubular One piece crank in the 80s.

Much nicer than the solid forged OPC.






./.

Cheddarpecker

It's the weekend, might as well make the most of it.

How are you putting it together? Braze, weld, epoxy, or duct tape?

WizardOfBoz

I'm interested in the failure mode of the "Eurotrash" BBs. Why, exactly, don't you like them?

One could go "full Schwinn": the pierced and formed head tubes and bottom brackes (the "fillets" on the old Schwinn Varsity, Continental, Supersport et al. were formed from sheet stock, leaving nipples that straight tubes were welded to). One piece forged crank. Except for the weight, these bikes rode well and lasted forever.

Huffys were never made to the same quality level as Schwinns. Maybe now they are (but maybe they use "Eurotrash" BBs).

But I'm curious as to why you are so fixated on bottom brackets. I've ridden a lot of bikes and have never broken or worn out a bottom bracket (Granted, I cleaned, lubed, and adjusted by Campy Nuovo Record pretty frequently, so maintainence helped).

What is your point?

If its that you are getting a better bike by cutting out the old BB (which was carefully placed using fixturing at the plant), I doubt it. If its that you are an excellent TIG welder (please don't weld thin-wall chrome-moly tube with MIG), ok. I'm not sure why you are so motivated to replace the BB.

Again, my Paramount's Nuovo Record BB is 35 years old and going strong.

Cheddarpecker

I always encounter the long neglected spindle with rust between where the balls sat for so many years. Bought a new Shimano spindle and cheap balls for the last one, chewed it up in a couple hundred miles. Couldn't get the right size for my current bike locally so I cleaned it up, set it loose, and replaced it within fifty miles. Crossing my fingers with this UN-55. My last cartridge was a Sunlite and it never saw 200 miles before it was popping.

I figure I must be missing something. If it were so terrible, there wouldn't be so many of them around.

yadder

Hard path you choosed))

Viich

I absolutely accept that this is real. I think you're misguided, but you can absolutely prefer your ashtabula cranks - there's plenty of new stuff I don't like - I'm not a fan of linear-pull V-Brakes, for instance. I just don't like the feel. I severely question whether this is worth the time though - there are several modern bottom bracket systems that work fine, they're not that hard to replace, and if you're fixated on the one piece cranks, you can still buy bikes with them, certainly if you go vintage. Definitely easier than what you're doing.

Homebrew01

I've used standard English threaded BB & square taper cranks since 1977. No problems except 1 used left crankarm I got that cracked at the taper.

Pretty good track record for me.

P.S., what's Eurotrash BB ?
.

dedhed

What are the chances the angles and tube diameters line up?

mercator

I'm confused. Is the GT your definition of a 'better' bike?
If not, could you post an example of one that would qualify for this term?

ramzilla

Go Johnny Go. Blast that thing to hell with an oxy-acetylene torch!! ....... But, seriously. I usually overtighten my cup & cone bottom brackets. Let the new ball bearings really cut new grooves into races. Then, break em in till their smooth. Less snap crackle & pop that way. I hate creaky drive trains. Be good. Have fun.

Johnny Mullet

Alright. Here is an update. My buddy at work seen what I was gonna do and he knows I was totally capable of doing it. He asked me what issues I had with the Euro bottom brackets and I told him how the cheap crap and even not so cheap crap on Amazon don't last, the cartridge style are a waste of time to try and service and I told him I was not forking out big bucks on an expensive serviceable bb for a cheap bike. He told me to hold off and ran home at lunch. He brought me back this sweet Shimano serviceable bottom bracket and told me to use it.........





First off, the stupid threads on the crank arms were all messed up and I was unable to use my crank arm puller, so we broke out some man tools and got the arms off with no damage. The bottom bracket was full of water, rust, and sludge. Second, the one cup came out hard and the threads in the frame were messed up. I was getting ready to go back to my original plan, but we got out the file and with some time and patience we were able to get the job done without hacking the frame.

I like this new bottom bracket, but still hate these Eurotrash setups. It would be cool if a company made a setup where you could press in cups and install bearings and crank arms on like you can with the American type similar to this......



This would eliminate all special tools and make servicing these a breeze.

dedhed

I can't recall ever bringing out my air chisel to work on a bike, pipe wrench, yes.

I don't know what's wrong with a $15 Shimano UN-55 cartridge

JohnDThompson 

FYI: that's not the bearings that are "toast…"

Seriously, I'm not certain how to explain your experience, but I suspect it may be due to low-end parts. I have quality cottered and square-taper bottom brackets that have been in use for over 40 years without problems, with only routine maintenance and ball replacement. Perhaps in the realm of low-end components, the one-piece "Ashtabula" type crank/bottom bracket is simply more reliable than an low-end cotterless bottom bracket.

Stucky

Hey Johnny, you ain't had junk till you've had a BB30!!!!!

Ditto man, never had a problem with the old cup and bearing BB's on old BSOs- nor square-taper threaded BBs.....

elcruxio

Huh. The BB30 is an American standard is it not?

No but honestly it's not a bad system but it's not for novice mechanics

Stucky

Well, it may not be "Euro-trash"....just plain trash.

They're easy enough to work on- as long as you use the proper glue- and the one I had for a short while didn't give ME any trouble....but it seems that everyone I know who has had one has had creaking problems, which caused them to have to reassemble them at least once, if not multiple times (having to re-do the factory install or a bike mechanic's work), and I question the durability of the bore on the bikes that are several years old now, and have had to have had the press-fit BB serviced a number of times. These are only going to get worse as time goes on.

BB's used to be rock solid, and last in some cases for decades. When they did need service, they were easy to work on with just one or two cheap simple tools; no glue required. Why mess with perfection, and trade it for something which offers no real advantages, but a lot of hassles and potential problems? Why create problems where formerly they had been solved?

Dan Burkhart 

Because the world is full of engineers who's raison d'etre is to fix stuff that ain't broke.

Stucky

Yeah, the older ones do it to bicycles. The younger ones work for Ebay and Microsoft.