Originally Posted by arex

I'm tearing down a 1985 Nishiki Colorado that's been sitting in a barn for 20 years...it's got a fair bit of rust, but only surface stuff on the frame itself.

I removed the bottom bracket so I could measure the offset spindle properly and figure out what size of cartridge BB to replace it with. It seems to have some sort of pressed-in ring holding the balls captive in the cup, rather than loose or with a std. retaining ring. I cleaned it up and found the words "Hatta" and "Pre-Lube" on the pressed-in ring. I can't see a good way to pop out the ring without mangling it, so I can replace the balls. I also can't tell what the internal condition of the cups is...the spindle seems alright.

A very small amount of research seems to indicate that Hatta was/is a good brand of bearings and bottom brackets, though I'm not seeing anything special about this BB aside from the design of the cups. Is this something special that I should try to preserve and re-use, or should I just chuck it and put in a cartridge?