Bridgestone BB, Cone & Cup Replacement
 

Sorry, I meant Ball Bearing in this case, not Bottom Bracket.

I have a 1985 Bridgestone MB-1 that I'm reviving.
Yesterday I took the axles out/ apart and cleaned all of the parts.
I see a slight bit of pitting in the race (cone and cup) and the ball bearings themselves are also discoloured and slightly pitted.

I don't know if these are made by Shimano or not but most everything else on the bike is.
Are there kits available with cones, cups and bearings for front and rear that I can get?

Is it difficult to get the inner race (cup) portion free from the hub?

I also need some good cone spanners, any recommendations?

Is a lithium based grease ok to use here (like automotive wheel bearing grease)?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Dave

If the parts do not say "Shimano" on them, they are not Shimano parts.

Since you need the spindle _and_ cup(s) your best option would be to upgrade to a modern Shimano cartridge bottom bracket. These are a fabulous value, and would be a great upgrade for your bike.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/bbsize

I assume you're speaking of the fixed (right side) cup. Sometimes it is difficult, sometimes not. Note that it will be a left-hand thread...turn it clockwise to remove it.

If it prooves recalcitrant, try this:

http://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbcups.html

I like the Park single-ended ones. You most likely need two 13 mm and one 15 mm cone wrenches.

That's fine.

Sheldon "Tools" Brown

Thank You Sheldon!
 

Sheldon,

Thank you for your reply(ies)!
I've been spending time at your site over the last few days, what a great wealth of information.

Perhaps I wasn't clear and I'm probably using the wrong terminology (I'm not very bike literate, I'm sorry to say)
I was refering to the front and rear wheel hubs.
I think that what your link shows me is the hub at the crank, is that correct?
I will likely be wanting to rebuild the crank bearings as well, so this is great information.

I'll do some more searches on you site to see what I can find on the wheel hub bearings for front and rear.
I know that the freewheel is a Shimano 600EX and I think the hubs are large flange, nutted, Shimano HB-MN72. Both the smaller front bearings and larger rear bearings definately need replacement.

Thanks for your help, it is definately much appreciated!

Dave

This component is referred to as the 'bottom bracket'.

http://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/hubs.html

Should probably help you out a bit!

Good luck. :)

Thanks, the link helps with the terminology and adjustment.
My work so far on cleaning these has revealed that they definately need replacing.
Fortunately, I have some good digital calipers that should help with determining sizes.

Now I just need to figure which parts will fit.
I don't mind going with something newer like a Quick Release axle but don't necessarily need them.
I would be happy with a replacement axle that included cones, spacers, nuts. I'll have to look closer to see if the cups are also easily replaced.
I think the cups are showing some pitting as well, so I should actually replace them, if possible.
Hope I don't have to buy a whole new hub, I'd sure rather not have to respoke.

I really appreciate the feedback and help. I'm pretty good mechanically, but not bicycle specific.
I'll learn.

Thanks,

Dave

I'm sure you know this already: your MB-1 is a very nice vintage mountain bike. I would advise that any changes you make to it you at least keep the old parts, the higher end Bridgestones like yours have some collector value. Just a heads up. Good luck on getting it going again and enjoy the ride!

"BB" usually means "Bottom Bracket."

That part is called the "bottom bracket."

The bearing balls will be 3/16" front (10 per side) and 1/4" rear (9 per side) as with 99.9% of all hubs.

The cones are most likely not obtainable. The cups are definitely not obtainable, and were not designed to be replaceable.

Sheldon "The Make/Model Of The Freewheel Has Nothing To Do With It" Brown

Great help all ... !
 

Sheldon,

I'll definately replace the bearing balls and re-examine the cups and cones to see if they look good where the balls track, if I remember correctly there was a nice polished area and the pitting was not necessarily in that portion.
I'm not trying to win any races (no pun intended) and my rides are pretty close to home so they'll probably be just fine.
I'll order a couple of 13mm and one 15mm Park, cone wrenches to get the job done.

Thank You All for your help!

p.s. Well Biked, I knew that this was a good bike when I bought it, but really had no idea until I started doing some research in the past few days that it was so greatly admired.
This particular bike is the 18" frame (rather than the standard 19"), I bought the smaller frame because I wanted to ride remote trails that are anything but straight. I'll definately keep it original or at least save the parts as you suggest. Thanks

Dave

Let's see a picture. BTW - if the bike is in good shape and has original parts, you could probably get a nice chunk of money for it if you were to sell it on eBay or the like. It was Bridgestone's best mountain bike, and '80s and '90s Bridgestones are a very sought after brand.

I have the original 1985 Bridgestone catalog spec sheets (I bought a 400 road bike that year). The MB-1 is listed as coming with "Shimano HB-MN72, sealed mechanism alloy, large flange, nutted" hubs. It also came with a Shimano 600EX 14x32 6-speed freewheel.

As Sheldon noted, cones for these hubs are going to be difficult to find and the races aren't replacable.

For future reference, the crank was a Suguino TAT triple with 46/36/28 rings and 175 mm arms. No specs are given for the bottom bracket.

There was one higher end model, (but maybe not in '85, I don't know), the Bridgestone MB-0 , which I think may have also been quite a bit rarer. But from what I've heard the MB-0 was prone to frame failure, so in terms of actually using the bike the MB-1 is probably the better bike- :)

Edit: I just did a little research, and you're right, the MB-1 was top-of-the-line until the early '90's when the TIG welded MB-0 was introduced. And there was indeed mention of frame failure on the MB-0's. All of those higher end Bridgestones bring a good bit of money these days, that's for sure-

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/232/4...66a548e9c5.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/214/4...25e19e8039.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/182/4...5b38e532e0.jpg


Sorry the photo quality is not very good, I'll try to get some better ones.
Don't have the center pull breaks back on yet as you can see.

The seat fabric is fraying a little and the chain has knicked the paint a bit at the lower frame arm.
Little bit of cable rub but it's still got the orig. CrMo sticker and some others.
The original tires had some breaking threads at the tan sideskins, so I threw these on until I can get some better ones.

Oh, it's not for sale ... sorry;)

Fortunately, Sheldon has made the spec. available on his site too. Ya, I did a ton of searches for the HB-MN72 hubs to try to find a replacement axle set ... I think my best bet is to just go with some nice new shiny ball bearings, quality grease and proper adjustment ... and ride it for another 22 years ... by then, I'll either be worn out or the cones will.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bridgest...tone-mb-1.html

BTW, the MB-1 was a pretty expensive bike in its day. The 1985 MSRP sheet I have gives it's price as $520. My 400, which was about the mid-level of their road bikes, listed for only $250 so the MB-1 was over twice as much.

You might want to post this in the Classic & Vintage forum too. Bridgestones are highly thought of and you might get some leads on parts, etc over there.

Thanks HillRider,

If my memory serves me well, I paid a bit over $500 (so you're right on the money) ... that was a lot of money at the time ...
... I think I paid extra for the rack and a tool bag.

It's ironic that I bought my wife a bike the other day and then went to buy a rack ...
... they had the exact same rack as the one I bought 22 years ago, so I bought it.
I figured if it lasted that long it must be a good one. (Blackburn MTN RACK)

I'll drop in on the Vintage forum ...

Dave