80's(?) Bianchi frame bottom bracket confusion
07-26-21, 07:04 PM
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80's(?) Bianchi frame bottom bracket confusion
I bought an oddball old Bianchi frame rebuilt with nice parts by someone on Craig's list in Jamaica Plain about five years ago, advertised as "650B conversion". Anyway it has given me many excellent years of commuting to work, but the bottom bracket is getting sticky now; the cranks don't really spin freely. So I thought how hard could it be to replace? I read everything I could find on the internet about this! Bought a tool from Park Tool, and read sheldonbrown.com's /cribsheet-bottombrackets.html obsessively. So I bought a cartridge of what I thought was the right size (BSA), but of course it doesn't fit. It *almost* fits, but jams up after a partial turn. Based on what I read it seems as if it can't be the Italian standard (because it has left-hand turn on the drive side) or French. I don't think it is Swiss either because from what I understand that would be larger, so the new cartridge would be too loose, not too tight. So I'm kind of at a loss trying to figure out what to do. Maybe I can replace the bearings on the old cartridges, but it really seemed like replacing would be simpler. Any advice appreciated
-Mike
-Mike
07-26-21, 07:08 PM
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Do you have the old bottom bracket?
07-26-21, 07:55 PM
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What type of BB was in it? What was written on the old BB?
07-26-21, 08:06 PM
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The old one was unmarked. The only lettering on it is left right and arrows showing which direction to turn. However, I believe this is all much ado about nothing. I tried again and I think I just didn't have the new one seated properly, or greased, and it seems to go in fine. Thanks for the replies.
