Originally Posted by
onespeedbiker
First I have been wrenching bikes for the better part of 30 years and I've yet had the need for a $125 bottom bracket remover. The two middle tools above in post#14 should do it or a vice works even better. All these tools and more can be found at a Jew Jersey co-op and there will be plenty of help if the OP gets stuck. Remember the OP wants to learn how to work on his bike and routine bottom bracket maintenance is right up there with a need to know..
I was thinking that he mentioned he wanted to keep the bike and probably the original BB if possible. If you've been wrenching for 30 years and never needed one of those its probably a combination of good luck and you living in CA. The OP lives in NJ, a lot closer to where I live here in Montreal. Here winter and seized BB's are pretty common - even if just from condensation from being stored outside in a shed.
So both the shops I work at are equipped with those. A couple of the tools are probably well over 30 years old, have seen a lot of use before I showed up, and I use them myself regularly. And on a few rare ocassions - that doesn't do the trick either and the BB has to be cut out with a dremel. A few shops here resort to a torch, which ruins the paint and heat treatment, and some just sell the client a new frame - or bike. We all have different experiences - here $10 to remove a BB may be a much better deal than where you are.