Originally Posted by
CrankyAcid
Flash forward a few years and miles (but not enough miles) and the left BB bearing part unwound itself out the BB on a ride in Wales at the weekend and trashed its threads in doing so.
That's unusual unless the bearing cup was threaded in very loosly. Even Italian bb's dont usually have problems with loosening the left (non-drive side) bearing cups.
Originally Posted by
CrankyAcid
"Ovalised BB" came the reply and "we don't face the BB shell as it takes off the protective paint so it rusts."
That's absurd. Any older frame not specifically made for external cup bottom brackets should be faced before one is installed and "rusting" is a non-issue. All you have to do is grease the bb face and, even without grease, the seal between the bearing cup and bb face is tight enough to keep it clean.
One possible short term fix is Lock-tite on the damaged threads.