Originally Posted by toavii

Had the pleasure of meeting @gomango yesterday. That's C&V related right? Anyway, great guy. Even greater collection of beautiful art work, or bicycles - whatever you prefer. Thanks again for your time Grady. It was awesome to pick your brain.

Also got to see @sloar's paint work firsthand. Impressive work on an orange Gazelle.


Somehow walked away from Grady's place with this sexy Italian girl (obligatory out of the car and in front of the garage pic):


(sorry for the crummy-over exposed cell phone pic)


While she's certainly beautiful to look at, can't wait for this MN snow/salt to move on and ride!

Originally Posted by Sir_Name

Speaking of bottom brackets........

I knew something was awry with this - the catalog for the bike ('84 Centurion Pro Tour 15) lists a sealed BB and this one had some play while installed... It's too bad, it's a neat design - sealed bearings + adjustable chainline. I was hoping to reuse it on a current build that will reuse the triple originally installed on the bike / BB (Sugino AT) and which will see lots of dirt, etc.

I have a rough, somewhat embarrassing theory on what may have happened:
I bought the bike from a friend who bought and rebuilt it with full knowledge that it was too big for him. It fit me like a glove and rode beautifully with plenty of utility - I love(d) this bike. Something was up with the BB before my friend bought the bike, as at that point (~2.5yrs ago) the granny gear had already taken a sizable nibble out of the chainstay:



Yes, I risked my luck and rode it like that after removing the small ring. From what I recall, there was no noticeable play in the BB at that time. Or maybe there was, it could help explain future events. Either way, the bike felt great and I kept an eye on it.

Two summers ago a group of friends and I were riding a singletrack shortcut through a nice sizable patch of New England woods following the CT river - a hiking / biking trail connecting two nearby towns. A fantastic ride which the bike handled beautifully.
To a point.
On that ride, the rear derailleur exploded and all of my past sins came to greet me.

While I was walking back up the trail to locate all of the essential small parts (yeah, right...), a friend shortened the chain onto the best gear ratio he could find balancing riding speed with chain tension. It worked well enough and I rode it gingerly, being especially careful over the bumpy stuff.
...until at one point, it stopped working well enough.

I became overconfident in the short-term fix and slowly increased my speed. The chain jumped to a larger cog while pedaling, and as you might guess, things took a turn for the worse. The larger cog used the chain to pull the drive-side of the wheel toward the BB, bending the rear triangle in the process. Language became colorful. We were ~15-20mi from home at that point and still in the woods, so not much choice. We kludged it again and I was EXTRA ginger on things. We eventually got home. I'm guessing I may have over-stressed the BB during that drama-fest as the chain pulled the BB spindle and freewheel toward each other. I think the hairline fracture and other damage below are in-line with this. The shards are sharp and shiny, so it was likely a quick failure, perhaps initiated by some preexisting condition connected to the above chainstay nibble. Or the bike was like this all along (hence above nibble). Either way, here's where we are and I'm, (slightly) smarter for the experience. Note the DS cup contained all of the bearings and most of the carnage until I pulled it. The BB play while installed post-incident was certainly perceptible, but it held its secret well and still spun smoothly.

As I said, I love(d) this bike. It helped me get back into cycling in a more serious way after years of schooling which took up all of my working and free time. A breath of fresh air.

That ride was the last time I rode the bike.

I've been reusing parts here and there on suitable bikes as a way to save money and extend the life of the Centurion. Today I pulled the last part remaining on the frame: the bottom bracket. As I said, I was hoping to transfer both the BB and crank (pulled yesterday) over to a current budget build. For some reason, the DS BB cup was being difficult when I tried removing it yeasterday after pulling the crank arms, so I let some penetrating oil have at the threads over the night and today...in hindsight, I may have deformed the BB shell as part of the above.

Do you think I can reuse this??

Sealed:


Not sealed:








Interestingly, the BB / crank arm retention bolts are Campagnolo and in great condition, so that's nice.

Always get a peer check on field repairs, boys and girls...

BTW, can anyone ID this BB? It's English / I.S.O. Despite the above (which I chalk up to user error) I would like to source another for my current build. I haven't fully cleaned it, but have not yet found any brand markings. The '84 Centurion catalog only lists "Performance sealed bottom bracket". Sheldon's BB chart does not list this BB for the crankset. I'll keep searching, but will take the appropriate measurements and replace with something else if need be.


So it goes.

Originally Posted by gomango

Great to meet you.

Looking forward to a ride or two together this summer.

You'll love the bike. It was one of my nicer projects over the last few years. It's an absolute Italian hot rod.

Originally Posted by repechage

That bottom bracket is shrapnel. Measure the overall length and from the ends to what was the center of the cartridge and look around. From the stay damage, were you running a triple? If so, and maybe otherwise some additional length on the drive side looks necessary.

Originally Posted by Chuckk

One of mine is snapped off flush on both ends, the other is stuck. I'll stand the frame up in two little cups of penetrating oil tonight.

Originally Posted by Chuckk

One of mine is snapped off flush on both ends, the other is stuck. I'll stand the frame up in two little cups of penetrating oil tonight.