Bahnzo

I pulled the cranks, and pulled out the caliper: it's a 73mm shell and the tapers measure 128mm (I think, my caliper only goes to 125mm and it's just past that). It's a square taper and a triple on the cranks.

The problem is I can't find any Shimano 73mm that fits that. Amazon does list a Suntour with those dimensions, but I've had dubious luck with Suntour.

Anyone have any ideas? Hoping some of you Passage owners might know this. I posted in the Bike mechanics, but it's not getting much traction, so I figured when it comes to an old bike, I better come to the experts.

Edit: btw I saw the Phil Woods BB. I refuse to pay 2x the price I bought the bike for 6 years ago. Surely there's a better option?

HTupolev

Do you know how much room you had between your non-drive-side crank arm and the non-drive-side chainstay? Is the old spindle symmetric?
If the spindle is symmetric and the NDS crank arm could afford to move inward by half a centimeter or so, you go with the 122.5mm UN55 and use a several-millimeter spacer on the BB drive side to keep the chainrings where they were previously.

Bahnzo

Thanks, I'll check into that tomorrow when I can get the bike back up on the bench and look.

ThermionicScott 

The original spindle was probably asymmetrical (longer on the drive side), so any of the cartridge units you can fit will probably require adjustment to make sure everything clears and shifts properly.

First I would make sure I have a lipless bottom bracket cup in my parts bin. They come in handy, and look like this:

If you need to use a 68mm bottom bracket in a 73mm shell, or use a stack of spacers to scootch the whole thing over to simulate an asymmetrical spindle, the lipless non-drive side cup will draw far enough into the bottom bracket shell to provide support to the left side of the cartridge unit. (Some cartridge bottom brackets come with a lipless NDS cup already, which is nice, but sometimes it's hard to know what you'll get when ordering.)

And it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and order some bottom bracket spacers, like a 5mm and a couple of 2 or 3mm.

For $15 or so, I'd probably just roll the dice on one of those Sunlite units. But if you want to make a Shimano or Tange unit work, I'd go for the 73x122 with a 2-3mm bottom bracket spacer on the drive side or the 68x127 with a 5mm. Lipless NDS cup either way.

Bahnzo

I'm just going to do this and see what happens. I already have a shimano bb tool, 20 teeth I think, I assume that would work to install the Sunlite?

ThermionicScott 

I believe so. It would be dumb for them to make a knockoff that requires buying a completely different tool, but that sort of thing has happened before.

Rotten

1986 Passage?

The Golden Boy 

The only official year there was a Passage.


There were also Passages sold in 87, but with the "Imperial Rose" color of that year's Voyageur.

Rotten

There were some Passages in the late 90's, cheap alloy attempt to resurrect a model.

Anyway I will assume the OP has an 86. That said my 86 Passage bottom bracket housing width is without a doubt 68mm. I would recommend the OP remeasuring for certainty.

Bahnzo

This is what mine is. I'm never sure to call it an 87 or an 86. It's basically an 86 with different paint, so....

Bahnzo

DOH! You are completely correct. You know what? I can't read the new caliper I bought....wow. I'm my defense, I thought the line in the middle of the window was the measuring line. Which turns out was 5mm off, which is how I got 73. Wow.

Ok, first off, I feel like a moron. But I'm also very relieved because now I know I don't have to worry about this like I was.

Heh. Thanks!

Rotten

Glad to have helped. Post pics of your Passage when you're done, they're great bikes.

ryansu

Good Call @Rotten I was going to say that I am about 99.9% certain my 86 Passage was an 68 MM BB shell as well and thought that was pretty much the standard Road bike shell, well unless you are talking about Italian bikes... Good luck with the BB upgrade @Bahnzo. I recall the original bb on mine had a lip on the inside of the bb cup I had never seen before.

Bahnzo

Yup, thanks to all. I knew the C&V crowd would come through. I'll take some pics when I get it up in the bench, but I've posted some before on here. It really is a great bike, and has always been a joy to ride. I find reasons to goto the store just so I can put a couple miles on it.

Bahnzo

Some pics and info from replacing the BB today. Went surprisingly well, even the original shell was very easy to get off, no muscle required.
For anyone later looking for info: The Shimano 68x127.5 fits it perfectly and had zero issues screwing in, all the threads seemed to match up perfectly. It even came with the spindle bolts needed (Amazon reviews say it does not).



Passage up in the clamp.


The entire assembly, with the plastic spacer/cup/whatever that thing is called. Can't believe it's plastic, and can't believe it lasted all these years.

HTupolev

The plastic tubes are just there to protect against contamination. They're hidden away from the elements and aren't under any load, so they tend to last a long time.

ryansu

I always forget to put those things back in after rebuilding the hub

Bahnzo

True, but after 30+ years, I thought it would be brittle. Even the bearings seemed in decent shape, just needed some grease and I could've put em back in it seemed.

Classtime 

HTupolev

That's also more normal than you might think. If the bike has been stored in reasonable conditions, a bearing that's just hanging out in a pool of grease won't change much over the decades. It's generally worth it to replace old bearing balls when taking apart a bearing, but lots of old stuff that's in good shape doesn't really need more than fresh grease and an adjustment.

The front wheel hub on my Fuji America is still running its original bearing cartridges. Made in the 1970s, still spinning very smooth.

Ertsthomas

I have a 86 passage and I know nothing about what tools I need to do a bottom bracket and crankset replacement. Also I need to swap the quill because the last owner had to have a crazy ape index. Any information or direction that could be given would be much appreciated.

zukahn1 

You can just buy cheaper JSI cartridge 128-132 BB and add 2mm spacer to the drive side.