Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Bottom Brackets

Hi all,

I'm building up my first fixie and I am unsure of what BB length to use. I have a Suzue Promax hub in the rear spaced out to 130mm. I'm going to use 96' Campy Athena double cranks with the a 39t chainring on the outside. The recommended width from Campy is 111mm. What do I need to go with? The only BB that I can find under $60 are 102mm and 111mm wide. Which one will work out the best or do I have some other options other than the elusive Phil Wood? I want to order the right the first time so, I don't get stuck with an extra and couldn't afford another anyway.

Thanks,
Eric

Assuming your chainline is correct, etc. a 110mm BB is a pretty common size. It is only 1mm off from the 111, which translates to 1/2 mm per side. Enough that it won't make a difference. I've done it before without a problem.

Also, I'd ask around locally, most people who have been biking a while have an old parts bin. See if someone has a 110 around that you can try, even if the bearings are shot it will tell you if the chainline is right.

The problem I'm running into is finding different lengths with the the campy taper. I also want to also get the cranks in as far as possible so I won't have to dish the wheel as much.

You might run into a problem by running your chainring on the outside of a road crank. I had my Ibis set up in that manner but required a shorter (107) spindle to get the chainline in closer, but I was still off by a couple mm. I couldn't bring it in closer because the crank spider was dangerously close to the chainstay.....in fact I had to grind off the inner ends of the spider arm a bit to clear the my chainstay. But, of course, this all depends on your frame. And yes, running your chainring on the outside looks so much cleaner...
BTW, I was running a Campy Strada crankset and I experimented using cheap $20 Shimano B/B (2 or 3 diff sizes) before I settled on the 107 if I remember.... As you know, Shimano & Campy tapers are different, but you can run Campy cranks on Shimano B/B but not the other way around.

Do you by chance still have the ones that you did not use and if sao what sizes are they? If so I would give you a couple of $ for them. It would save wasting parts. I could even send them back to you if you would like once I'm done.

Thanks,
Eric

Eric......actually my LBS was kind enough to let me 'experiment' with the different spindle lengths since I've done a lot of business with them in the past.
They weren't particularly concerned about the minor maring of the tapers when I returned them. Once before, they had several diff Campy spindles in their 'junk bin' in which I was allowed to experiment with as well. Ask your LBS if they have any used B/B's that you can try out before buying the real thing.