Originally Posted by ricohman
The bearings and cups looked like new except for the hard grease. Curiously, one cone had two small pits that looked like a manufacturing defect.
I never got the bottom bracket apart due to the stubborn cotter pins but since the front hub looked new inside I just left it alone and rode it. I will repack it later this summer. If I can get the cotter pins out. And you did warn me about the balls falling loose!
I remember pulling apart an ancient cycle I had when I was a lad. It might have been about 1964. I unfastened the headset, pulled the forks down and suddenly about eight ballbearings fell into the dirt and grass. What a mess. I remember crawling about scraping my fingers through the dust and grass until I found them all. I'm always pleased to find balls fastened in a neat little bearing cage so that won't happen. Usually, I prefer to work on a sheet so that bits don't get lost or contaminated by dirt. Personally, I'd never strip down something like that on a field trip or by the roadside - too uncontroled an environment.