Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 19,381
Likes: 5,527
From: Rochester, NY
Bikes: Stewart S&S coupled sport tourer, Stewart Sunday light, Stewart Commuting, Stewart Touring, Co Motion Tandem, Stewart 3-Spd, Stewart Track, Fuji Finest, Mongoose Tomac ATB, GT Bravado ATB, JCP Folder, Stewart 650B ATB
One issue with the OS spindled BBs that also hade their bearings internal to the BB shell was the tiny balls it took to not grow the BB OD beyond the shell's ID. Bearing loads are relative to the rolling element's diameters. So 11 .250" balls have about 4 times the load capacity as 22 .125" balls do. Add that the smaller seals often didn't do their jobs well (just like tapered square ones) and you can see why some of these BB's didn't last as long as tapered square ones. Many of us shop wrenches saw these as a solution seeking a problem. There's a reason why tapered square has lasted the test of many decades and these OS spindled but inside the shell BBs haven't. Andy
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AndrewRStewart