SoreFeet

I've converted a few bikes to cartridge and they work great. I never could get the Shimano alloy spindle adjusted right. It appears that one of the cups was in fact damaged. So I am pondering buying new cups and using the very nice light weight spindle.

It seems like it would a weight saver. I was going to get a pair of Sugino cups and loose ball bearings and try my luck again. The spindle appears to be in good shape.

miamijim

Sorefeet, a tradtional BB, of high quality will out perform a cartridge or sealed bearing BB. High quality means polished cups and axles races. A traditional BB's performance will drop off very quickly in comparison to a cartridge unit regardless of the quality of the cartridge. Depending on the use of your bike and resoration goals a sealed cartridge may be your best alternative. If your riding in poor weather or put alot of miles on a cartridge is best, if your looking for period correct and dont mind a bit more maintenance go with the loose ball BB.


Send me some hi-resolution photos of your cups and spindle an I'll analyze them and give you my thoughts.

jim2527@hotmail.com

cyclotoine

I agree with miamijim. I use the traditional campy on my vintage bikes and they only see service in dry weather... my riders used cartridge for durability and price. (Though I recently scored a bunch of syncros titaniums and I am loving them)... I have a 1980s campy cup and spindle BB in my fixed gear and it sees all kind of bad weather. The cups have the rifling and it is loaded with grease and has a plastic sleeve in it. After about 6 month I took the cranks off to file out the stress cracks and overhaul the BB which I was sure was going to feel like crap. To my surprise it was as smooth as butter with a bit of white grease coming out of the cup around the spindle... I figured why fix it if it ain't brook and put the cranks back on.