Replace Spindle on Vintage Spidel sealed BB?
 

I'm looking to replace the spindle on a vintage Spidel sealed bearing Bottom Bracket (french thread). I've tried unsuccessfully to source a replacement spindle (~110mm) but was thinking that I could just buy something like a Ritchey spindle and then find bearings in the appropriate inner and outer diameters and width. Is there something that I'm neglecting here? Does anyone have any experience trying something similar? Any suggestions on the best way to find appropriate bearings would be appreciated as well.
Thanks,
Sal

The Ritchey spindles work just fine as a direct swap in this application; same 17mm spindle diameter as the Spidel. The thick aluminum walls of the Spidel cups, however limit you from using the shorter Ritchey spindles; 110mm may work but 107mm would certainly require machining and likely compromising the Spidel cups. I am currently using the 113mm superLogic spindle with standard 6903 bearings (17mm x 30mm x 7mm) but I may try the 110mm spindle to address slight chainline issues. I just wanted to share my experience in case anyone else found themselves in this admittedly rare situation.
Sal

I believe this info might be useful to the C&V forum members too.

Are you positive that the threads that the threads are French? I think that Spidel took over at a time when French threads were no longer being used in bottom brackets. Assuming that the threads are actually French, I think it would be much easier and probably cheaper to replace your BB with a French thread cartridge from Velo Orange.

Definitely french. It's in an early 70s Motobecane that I found rattle canned and devoid of any parts. The Spidel wasn't original but bought before the new cartridge models existed. The only options at the time were the Phil Wood, the Phil Wood/un54 hybrid, NOS, or used. While trying to source any of these options, for a reasonable amount of money and in the right length, I found the NOS Spidel. I'm actually glad that I found it before the "Grand Cru" BBs showed up as I would've grabbed one of those in a heartbeat and I prefer what I ended up with. At this point I have an etremely light set of cups paired with a hollow spindle in the right length and sealed bearings that are both inexpensive and easy to find when replacement is necessary. The kicker is that my set up, that I wouldn't trade for any of the other options, and even after replacing the spindle, was still a bit cheaper than the "Grand Cru". That was more luck and a poor auction listing than anything else though. The Spidel probably should have sold for a lot more.

You can pick up Mavic Bottom Brackets for a song on eBay. They require chamfering the BB shell, slightly beveling it to use the Mavic compression fit BB. The Mavic BB is a world class BB along the lines of a Phil Wood. Good enough kit for Lemond to win a Tour on, and Sean Kelly to win Paris Roubaix.

Most high end shops should have an old Mavic chamfering tool lying around. If your shop doesn't find a shop that does. Make sure it has a Phil Wood spoke cutting machine, and a sizercycle fitting device. The shop so stocked is the shop that should be your LBS. From such a place you'll get honest advice, not just sold what's in stock or treated like every transaction is the last attempt to extract your moolah.

I looked into those but, to be honest, needing to machine the frame to accept one was all that I needed to know to loose interest. I wouldn't be opposed to machining to Italian or magically to ISO but machining to an obsolete design doesn't make sense to me. On top of that the shortest length made was 114mm, it was kinda heavy, and when I made a quick look for one, both then and now, I didn't see any. There's also the inexpensive YST but again, too long for my purposes. It's moot now anyhow as I've resolved my problem and Velo-Orange has solved the general problem of affordable and available French BBs.