Originally Posted by cascade168
Since you said your axle is knackered, you could measure it and match up with one on the Harris page.
Replacement axles use bolts to hold in the crank arms and alot of the old ones had threaded studs on the
ends of the axle shafts. Make sure you get either the correct nuts or bolts for your new axle.
Yup, the old and now brocken axle does have threaded bits on both ends, which I found strange... Anyway, I now might have solved this dilemma. After chatting to the previous owner, he said he put loctite in frame to the BB cups wouldn't fall out, so I'm guessing this is why I couldn't get the shimano BB in. So I took everything out the frame, and gave the threads a good clean with a wire-brush-drill-bit attachment thing. The good news is the sealed shimano BB now fits!
The bad news is the spindle on the shimano BB is too short.
I measured it and it was around 110mm. The old spindle was around 122mm. So I'm now waiting for a new shimano BB to arrive with a spindle length if 122mm.
Thanks for all the info cascade168, I didn't think there would still be tools and spares still avaliable, but it looks like there still are.
I'm already on the lookout for some new tyres, as at the moment the current ones loose pressure daily.