Bicycle Mechanics - BB is ruined. Do I have to get a new frame?

I took out my BB because it would not screw in to the desired amount (i.e. the cranks swayed from side to side) only to discover that the square taper bracket is a European make which they no longer produce. The bike is a circa 80's peugot road which I converted to a singlespeed. I know that these BB's exist because to put together my fixie I pulled a chainring off an old single speed I found on a scrap heap. Any advice on what to do?

If the thread in the frame is OK, take the BB to your bike shop, so they can see it..

there are 2 taper types, and there is spindle length ,
both measurements that are not specific to a particular brand.

top dollar, but, US manufacturer Phil Wood Co, has a BB which has a variety
of spindle lengths and taper types to assemble a BB, and a set of mounting rings in
French/Swiss , Italian or British threading in the mounting rings for the BB cartridge.

A well equipped Bike shop can re thread your Frames BB shell.

French is smaller than Italian, by a MM so will re thread well.

but you need hands on inspection ..

i can't answer your question but you may want to ask in the C&V forum as well. I'm sure you can find a replacement but you'll need to have measurements for the shell width and figure out the type of threading it has both of which someone in C&V are likely to know. When you say it wouldn't screw in to the desired amount, i'm not sure if you mean that you had a wrong size bottom bracket or that there was a problem with the threads.

Also so of the bikes during the mid 80's were built in Canada so it might have an English BB instead of the French BB. And if it is english you could use any modern BB.

Peugeots came with 3 different bottom bracket specifications... French, English, and Swiss.

The Swiss bottom bracket is much rarer as it is a metric thread with a left hand thread on the drive side while the French is also metric but is right hand thread on both sides.

You need to know what your bottom bracket threading is so if both cups go in with a right hand thread it is French, a reverse thread on the drive side makes it English or Swiss.

If it is French you can buy a sealed cartridge bottom bracket from Velo Orange.

I dropped it off at a bike shop so they could take a look and what they told me was that it was "European" and that it was definitely not English. What I decided to do was keep the cups and replace the axle, as it seems that without the axle installed the cups fit just fine/.

if the shop can't coble something workable together perhaps this will work. a bit pricey but it will get your Peugeot back on the road

http://store.velo-orange.com/index.php/components/bottom-brackets/grand-cru-threadless-bottom-brackets.html

http://store.velo-orange.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/530x530/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/t/h/threadlessbb.jpeg (http://store.velo-orange.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/750x750/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/t/h/threadlessbb.jpeg)

if the shop can't coble something workable together perhaps this will work. a bit pricey but it will get your Peugeot back on the road

http://store.velo-orange.com/index.php/components/bottom-brackets/grand-cru-threadless-bottom-brackets.html

http://store.velo-orange.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/530x530/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/t/h/threadlessbb.jpeg (http://store.velo-orange.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/750x750/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/t/h/threadlessbb.jpeg)

super! Does the spindle Length only matter for how far out the cranks will be, because the online store is out of stock of a number of lengths.

VO is selling out of the wonky fabo red/blue anodizing and going with all silver. Some of them are out of stock and some of them they have but they don't guarantee which color you are going to get anyhow.

Personally, I'd call VO and ask them about the availability and the timeline for the silver color being in stock.

VO is selling out of the wonky fabo red/blue anodizing and going with all silver. Some of them are out of stock and some of them they have but they don't guarantee which color you are going to get anyhow.

Personally, I'd call VO and ask them about the availability and the timeline for the silver color being in stock.

But how does the spindle length influence the bikes mechanics. For instance do certain frames need certain spindle lengths?

But how does the spindle length influence the bikes mechanics.
For instance do certain frames need certain spindle lengths?

It influences some but not as much as what particular brand and model
of crankset is being used on the ends of it..
And chain line, rear dropout spread, and the rear cluster cog count.. aka 'speeds'.

I dropped it off at a bike shop so they could take a look and what they told me was that it was "European" and that it was definitely not English. What I decided to do was keep the cups and replace the axle, as it seems that without the axle installed the cups fit just fine/.

Sounds like your shop is full of mechanics who are unfamiliar with what are probably French threaded cups to be calling them "European"... you will need to check the threading direction on the drive side to make sure you don't have one of the rare Swiss threaded bottom brackets.

If you can tell us what kind of crank you have I can tell you what width the bottom bracket / spindle should be as the taper type will affect this.

For an SS a 110 or 113 is the most common size.

Sounds like your shop is full of mechanics who are unfamiliar with what are probably French threaded cups to be calling them "European"... you will need to check the threading direction on the drive side to make sure you don't have one of the rare Swiss threaded bottom brackets.

If you can tell us what kind of crank you have I can tell you what width the bottom bracket / spindle should be as the taper type will affect this.

For an SS a 110 or 113 is the most common size.

I just bought a 165mm Brev M. Crankset

http://www.bigimagerack.com/cfs/img/2011/a8444ff5/weblrg.jpg

Sounds like your shop is full of mechanics who are unfamiliar with what are probably French threaded cups to be calling them "European"... you will need to check the threading direction on the drive side to make sure you don't have one of the rare Swiss threaded bottom brackets.

If you can tell us what kind of crank you have I can tell you what width the bottom bracket / spindle should be as the taper type will affect this.

For an SS a 110 or 113 is the most common size.

+1 Pick a better shop. European? Wow, that narrows it down to Italian, French, and Swiss. That's like telling you zip (of course, it will not be Italian).

French bottom brackets have become readily available, including traditional cup and cone, at a relatively reasonable price. Swiss is more challenging... Circa 1980 is right about the time that Peugeot was going through the transition. Hopefully it is French.

Do not give up on the bike because your mechanic says it has "European" threading. Only "European" threading that might take some effort to deal with is Swiss, but it is NOT impossible to find the cups for such. There are lots of BBs still available out there to work with English, Italian and French BB threading. Plus, there is the threadless BB system from VO if you do not want to deal with threading types at all.
Your bike being an *0's Peugeot could have either French, Swiss ot English threading, depending on the model and year it was built. Swiss and French threading pretty much dissapeared from Peugeots by 1985 as Peugeot started to use more and more components from outside France. That leave you with most likely English threading if the bike was built in 1985 and later.

Chombi

The fact your existing cups thread in properly says your frame is fine so all you need is a bottom bracket of the correct thread configuration and spindle length.

+1 on finding a better shop.

BTW, is there any thing at all engraved on either the current bb cups or on the spindle that might help identify the threading and length? Names, numbers, anything?

The fact your existing cups thread in properly says your frame is fine so all you need is a bottom bracket of the correct thread configuration and spindle length.

+1 on finding a better shop.

BTW, is there any thing at all engraved on either the current bb cups or on the spindle that might help identify the threading and length? Names, numbers, anything?

Bike is still in shop, so no way to tell. I'll go in tomorrow, if their attempt at repairing it meets no success ill take it home to provide more information and probably purchase that VO BB> I just want my bike back!

Some shops are just focused on modern stuff. I went to one in my area that told me with confidence that anything over five years old is junk, as the technology has just improved so much.... Needless to say, I don't ask them for help on my 1973 Panasonic, my 1986 Schwinn Paramount, my 1987 Prologue. My newest bike in the keeper fleet is 1988.


So you really need to find a shop with a veteran mechanic that knows the old french stuff. Realize that the French threaded bottom brackets went out almost 30 years ago....

But how does the spindle length influence the bikes mechanics. For instance do certain frames need certain spindle lengths?

Spindle length is a function of two factors: BB shell width and crank type.

Your Peugeot most likely has a 68mm wide shell, which is a common size so it shouldn't be a problem.

Crank type includes several sub-factors: mounting hole taper (JIS or ISO) and number of chainrings. What brand of crank are you using and how many chainrings?

Going back to my question about spindle length, VO is out of stock of both 110 and 113. Go higher or lower?

Some shops are just focused on modern stuff. I went to one in my area that told me with confidence that anything over five years old is junk, as the technology has just improved so much......
Wow, my two bikes are 2006 Litespeeds with 10-speed Campy on one and 10-speed Shimano on the other. It's a shame I'll have to replace both of them next year. This could get expensive. :)

Going back to my question about spindle length, VO is out of stock of both 110 and 113. Go higher or lower?

Longer, but I'd try somewhere like Yellow Yersey first. They used to have, and may well still, have a wide selection of french and swiss bottom brackets. Call 'em up.

I think I read that those Brev crankarms spec a 103mm BB.