Folding Bikes - Easy Solution for Raleigh 20 BB

I've just stumbled across a site in the UK that does cups for Raleigh thread BB's including the right width for your 20, and then also does suitable cotterless square taper axles for them. Cheap as chips, too, at least compared to the Phil Wood cups solutions:

Axles - £3.95:
http://www.freemanscycles.co.uk/product2.asp?product_id=1566&pname=Cotterless%20Axles
http://www.freemanscycles.co.uk/images/Bottom_brackets/spindles/Raleigh_bb.jpg

Cups and races, £5 for the lot

http://www.freemanscycles.co.uk/product2.asp?product_id=1248&pname=Bottom%20Bracket%20set
http://www.freemanscycles.co.uk/images/Bottom_brackets/cups/hw_cupset.jpg

Kinda wishing I'd found this before I sprung a total of £55 on a UN72/Phil Wood solution, but hey, at least it's there for the future. At this price, it's worth trying to get them to ship transatlantic!

Dammit! Just realised these are 24 TPI cups. The axles are available for 70 mm BB's though, so ought to work with the standard R20 cups. Right?

At one point or another most all brands of bottom brackets made 26tpi replacement cups, I've found that many bike shops today don't even realize they have them on the shelf. I've been able to find both older Sugino and Tange branded 26tpi cups and on occasion oem Raleigh made cups. I've also not seen nearly as many oem Raleigh cups fail as I have Asian made cups. I have many bikes well over 40 years old still running their original bottom brackets and headsets. All it takes is a little grease and keeping them well adjusted to make those parts last.

What I do have problems finding is crank axles, especially older cottered crank styles for oem Raleigh cranks as well as some cotterless (square) axles. I have two that I've been hunting for some time now, one is for a later Raleigh, a 68mm with 26tpi threads, the axle is marked 3RRB in Chromoly steel.
Its for a triple crank and has an extended right side. I am using a 3U for right now but can't get the right chainline with that axle.

Just sent an e-mail inquiring about how suitable these axles would be for R20's.

I can already get 24 tpi cups through our supplier at the shop at a very good price.

There are a range of cottered axles on that site too. Sixty Fiver - what you need is not 24 tpi cups, but 26. If you can get those, I'm interested.

Yes... 26 tpi cups.

I'm pretty stoned today.

:D

Nice find on the axle! If one's old cups are ok then it's just a quick refurb, some grease and you're running. I may well be getting one of these...

I reckon it's worth the £3.95 just to find out. This place is the cheapest source of SA8 hubs too (almost the ONLY online source!)

My LBS had a box of old axles and I used my old Raleigh Sprite axle to find a few that looked like they'd fit. Then, as my luck would have it, I lost one of the 26tpi cups.

So, I had the shop use their tap to cut new 24tpi threads and put a Shimano bb in. Worked like a charm but I think the axle will be too long for a singlespeed setup.