Old Sugino Bottom Bracket
 

I have an older sugino crankset and bottom bracket on a 1985 Centurion Sport DLX. I love this bike dearly, but have put enough miles on it that I'm starting to hear noise from the BB. I'm not the original owner of the bike, but my guess is that the BB has never been regreased or had any maintenance done to it.

So, I'm looking into options. If I could find a suitable modern cartridge replacement for it, I would do that. Problem is, I have no idea how to know the size/model of the bottom bracket that I have, and I don't have the tools to remove it. (Sugino made proprietary tools, I've heard?)

If anyone has a 1985 Centurion Sport DLX and can tell me what kind of BB these guys came with--or if you have any other advice, I'd be glad to hear it.

I've got a couple of '80's Centurions, both with Sugino cranks. I've replaced the bb on one with a Shimano UN-73 bb, 68 x 127 (this is a triple crank, though). From my experience, the old Sugino cranksets tend to require long bb spindles. You can remove the cranks and bb, and measure the existing spindle. The one thing I can tell you for sure is that your Centurion uses a 68mm English thread bb-

Have you tried cleaning and repacking the BB yet? It may still be okay if it gets cleaned out. Or it might have the bearing races pitted, in which case it should be replaced.

Assuming the BB is the proper dimensions you could just get a replacement with the same spindle length and (a)symmetry. You want the center chainring of a triple 45mm from the bike frame's centerline, or the midpoint between two chainrings of a double 43.5mm from the bike's centerline. Also, bottom brackets aren't always symmetrical, and you want both pedals equidistant from the bike's centerline.

I've got a 1987 Centurion Ironman Expert that came with Shimano 105 double crank and a 110mm symmetrical bottom bracket. Problem is, Shimano-compatible cartridge bottom brackets that are 110mm spindles are asymmetrical, with the non-drive-side sticking out further than the driveside (driveside spindle length of the 110 is same as the Shimano-compatible 107mm).

I have the same bracket on my Azuki and can not get the fixed cup off, any sugestions?

Sheldon has a homeade bb tool here, it works very, very well on stubborn bb cups. Scroll down to the heading "fixed cup tools:"

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

I have an old Sugino tool with a lockring spanner on one end and a fixed cup fitting on the other. Nashbar lists a Park tool for fixed cups ("box end") and another tool for lockrings. Even with the Sugino tool, to get a stuck fixed cup off, you have to make sure that the tool is securely in contact with the flats of the cup as you apply pressure. (Backwards threaded, in most cases)
Of course, Sheldon has it spelled out: http://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbcups.html

Yes, it should be English threaded (reverse thread on the drive side, normal thread on the non-drive side). I used Sheldon's homeade tool to remove the fixed cup on a '72 Raleigh International a while back, the most difficult bb I've ever removed; I have reason to believe the cup hadn't been loosened since 1972. I soaked it in penetrating oil for about a week, and finally used carefully placed hammer blows to the end of a long wrench while using the homeade tool. It was a penetrating oil and brute force operation, but in the end, out it came-

I'm back!

After months of fussing with the thing and heavy riding, I'm getting a creaking noise (which I think is the crank moving on the worn down spindles...), so I'm looking at replacements again.

I've learned I need a slightly wider pedal position than what I have (knee trouble), so I was thinking of fitting a Shimano 68 x 123 or so BB in there.

Will my old Sugino crank fit on the taper, even with modern locknuts, or should I get a new crank as well?

Do you know/remember of the pedal position on your upgraded ride is the same or wider than it originally was? My knees could stand having a little bit wider fit, but if it's narrower than the original position it could be painful for me...

As far as I know, everything is pretty much the same after switching to the cartridge bb. I was trying to maintain a good chainline and still make the switch to a cartridge bb, so in my case that was really the goal, keeping things to within at least a couple of millimeters of the original setup-