Seizedpost

Hello all,
I recently restored a 1985 Fuji Sagres. Overall it's been a really nice bike. However I keep having problems with the bottom bracket. (summary in last paragraph)
The first time I rode the bike was in the rain, that may have been a mistake. When I got back all seemed well. I dried it off and went to go do something else.
Later that day (no longer raining) I had installed new brake pads and went to go test it out. I noticed a grumbling noise whenever I pedaled.
Obviously there was a water intrusion issue. I thought maybe the problem was that the bike's first ride was in the rain, so grease had not yet leaked out between the shaft and cup to form a seal, or maybe a lot of water was getting into the frame.
I rebuilt the bottom bracket with lots of Lucas red grease, and this time I installed a plastic sleeve to seal the BB off from the chainstays and seat tube.
After that the bike was fine for a little while (30-40 miles? far enough that grease leaked out to form a seal) until yesterday, when I went for a 35 mile ride in the rain. When I got home I dried it off and checked it over, including giving the bottom bracket a spin, and no weird noise. The bike was fine.
Then this morning I checked it and the bottom bracket is grumbling again.



Summary: I have a cup and cone bottom bracket (non-original, made with mismatched cups and cones if it matters) with 22 brand new 1/4" balls. I greased it with Lucas red grease. Whenever I ride in the rain water gets in, several hours later the bottom bracket becomes noisy, and it needs to be rebuilt.
I have ridden my 1982 Fuji over a hundred miles in the rain and probably over a thousand miles total, and I haven't touched the bottom bracket since I first put the bike together. I greased it with Valvoline synthetic grease.

What should I do- try some marine grease, or give up and install a cartridge?

Thanks!

trailangel

I have a cup and cone bottom bracket (non-original, made with mismatched cups and cones if it matters)

bulldog1935

Most sealed bearing BB don't last a whole lot longer in water.

The SKF BB imported in US by Compass cycles is warrantied for 10 years. It's expensive, but I run them on 3 bikes and hose them down.

fietsbob

wet Oregon adaptation, BITD.. ( 70's) greasy pipe cleaners wrapped around BB axle.
No taking apart required..

Phase 2; before putting on crank arms slide on O rings..

A Zirk Kit Added a hard plastic sleeve between the cups, and the BB shell was drilled thru and the zirk fitting loaded the space between cups inside the sleeve.

WTB Patent, Grease Guard was Licensed to Sun Tour ; hollow in axle put grease inside BB assembly via special cups,
pushing out old grease.. using Needle grease gun..


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Seizedpost

Bulldog, my dad's 2009 Tricross has hundreds of miles in the rain, thousands total, on the original cartridge BB. As previously stated my other old Fuji has been used a lot in the rain without issue.
So should I try a different grease, or is cup and spindle mix and match a bad idea? It should be noted that I have never used Lucas red grease before and was hoping someone might have experience with its water resistance.

HillRider

I expect water is getting in from the top of the seat tube from being splashed up by the rear wheel. Is your seatpost well greased? Also, is there a drain hole in the bottom of the bottom bracket shell? There should be.

Contrary to buldog1935's claim, I've found Shimano cartridge bottom brackets are very durable and shrug off rain just fine.

Trentkln27

Try drilling a drainage hole in the bottom of the bottom bracket shell

dsbrantjr

+1 and maybe try the Valvoline synthetic grease that seems to have worked so well on your Fuji.

Darth_Firebolt

i've had good luck with mobil 1 synthetic grease, as well as the White Lightning Crystal grease. the White Lightning has really high water resistance in the lab. there's a lot of debate about how well that number correlates to ANY use in the real world, let alone bicycle stuff, but i've had good luck with it.

Retro Grouch 

Cartridge bottom brackets aren't a very expensive upgrade.

Somebody wrote a post asking what people thought was the biggest bicycle improvement. Cartridge bottom brackets was my choice.

Homebrew01

I made BB seals out of squishy foam. Cut out a circle of foam, then cut a hole in the center and slide it over the axle just before installing the crank arms.

Bike Gremlin

Shimano square tapper, or Octalink 2 BBs last for ages.

The newer cartridge bearings, with bearings outside the frame's BB are the short lasting ones.

I ride all year long - snow, rain, sand, shine - square tapper one lasts for years without problems. I prefer it to cup and cone, since it's easier to replace it every 5 years, than service the cup and cone ones.

If you had packed it full of lithium based grease, that's not thinner than NLGI2 and it didn't hold, I doubt marine grease would do much better. You could improvise with seals and other stuff, but a 10 euro Shimano BB would do the job.

https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-BB-UN...SIN=B004KZW0CC

Slash5

Yes, spend $25 on a cartridge BB.

Seizedpost

In that case can someone direct me to a non ridged nds cup that will work with a un55? I have a un55 with the correct spindle length but it needs to be spaced over, so I need a cup without the dumb lip.

nfmisso

Yes; I use boat trailer wheel bearing grease for all my bicycle grease applications - nothing short of a pressure washer effects it.

Wright Bros

I've read some posts of folks using this Problem Solvers NDS unflanged cup instead of the problematic Shimano UN55 one.
Problem Solvers

ThermionicScott 

One-a these? https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...3&category=347

Wilfred Laurier

I like working on old bikes, and I especially like parts that are designed to be fixed rather than replaced, but cartridge BBs - even very basic ones - are far superior to cup-and-cone BBs in ease of maintenance, ease of installation, and ease of repair (ie disposal and replacement). Maybe a cup and cone setup can last for 25 years if regularly taken apart and cleaned and greased, but a cartridge might last ~half that with zero maintenance. My bikes live outside most of the time and I get years out of the $15 cartridges before I can detect any wear.

miamijim

If it needs to be spaced over its NOT the correct spindle length.

Seizedpost

Miamijim, I think it is. It's a symmetrical shaft, the crank is meant for an asymmetrical shaft.

3alarmer 

...if you have taken it apart and redone it more than twice in six months, I would just go with a sealed unit. I would, however, attempt to find the source of the water intrusion and drill that drainage hole in the BB shell.

Is your seat post open at the top (under the saddle) ? If so, plug it with a cork or use a hot glue gun to manufacture a seal for it.

You shouldn't normally be taking on that much water riding in the rain....I think..........we're in the middle of a drought and it never rains here in the summer anyway.

Seizedpost

I think I figured out the problem.
This is my first bike with a fluted seatpost, and I don't think I had enough grease on it. Oops.

Edit: and I'm definitely drilling a drain hole. When I tipped the bike back the day after the ride, lots of water came out the chainstay holes. This bike is a little rusty. I applied Frame Saver and did some paintwork, but I sure don't want water sitting in it!
Thanks for all the suggestions.

trailangel

Huh?

Seizedpost

This is a vintage bike with a vintage crank. The original bottom bracket shaft is longer on the drive side than non-drive side. Modern sealed cartridge bottom brackets are symmetrical. This is typical of old bikes.

SquidPuppet

Sorry for the lame question, but I actually have a reason for my curiosity. Would you describe that as a "tacky" grease, or a really "slippery" grease?