Took my 1983 Raleigh Olympian and put a newer BB and Sugino crank from a 1988 Giant into it. Lately i've been having some problems with the spindle being a little loose, & weird pedaling vibrations. I opened up my bottom bracket last month to find that my ball bearing retainers had both sheared open. I found some other retainers with simular sized ball bearings at the workshop and stuck those inside. Now im finding that I have pedaling resistance that comes and goes as I ride.

Positron there told me that I could throw in some larger ball bearings instead. This sounds like a great way to deal with my current problems and make the BB more durable. I thought untill now, that they were a necessary component to make the BB work. I suppose that I was wrong? I just want to find out more information and make sure im going to do this correctly so that I dont end up with an unsafe BB.

The retainers I had with the original BB took 9 balls. When I was looking through the ball bearing retainers and bearings at the workshop it seemed like theres some size standard for both bearings and retainers with 9 bearings. I also kept a couple of the original ball bearings that came with the spindle I currently use.

What is the process for finding ball bearings to go into the BB without a cage, so that there will be a good fit?

Do any of you do this? How has it turned out?

What should I watch out for when trying this?

+ any other information on this would be helpfull

I wouldn't worry about the size. Use same size as you have (1/4"?) . You may be able to get an extra ball in there without the cage taking up space. Just make sure there is enough space between balls to allow free movement. Assembly can be a little tricky without the cage since races are perpendicular to ground so gravity is working against you. Use enough grease to hold balls in place in the fixed cup until you can get the spindle in there. Do same with adjutsable cup. Tighten until play is gone. To make balls last longer, store bike in dry place (get water out of frame if you ride in the rain), periodically check adjustable cup to make sure it is adjusted properly, and regrease bearings periodically (for this latter part, no need to remove fixed cup; just remove adustable cup and spindle and shoot grease into fixed side from the adjustable side).

Typical bearing retainers don't take up any space, and possibly the worst thing you can do is to add one more ball than there's room for. An overloaded bearing will be very difficult to adjust (often impossible) and will sometimes cause the axle to go off center.

Likewise with changing the ball size. The curvature of the races is such that the balls make contact in the center of the ground and polished area. If you increase the ball size the contact area will move inward on the spindle and outward in the cups possibly going beyond the working area, causing problems.

Leave bearing design to those who do it for a living, and use the number and size of balls your BB was designed for. It's fine to remove the retainer, since it's only an assembly convenience. It might also be OK to add an extra ball, but don't unless you're sure there's room.

You can check the ball count by assembling the spindle into a cup out of the frame and noting whether there's still a gap between the balls. If you use a spoke to move the balls around you can usually get a gap of about 1/2 a ball in one spot. If you can get a gap wider than a ball add one and check again.

If the parts have smooth undamaged races (polished silvery ball track in the middle of the race area) and you use clean, decent quality grease, you should be able to adjust for zero play, plus a bit of preload and have a smooth running lasting bottom bracket.

Did you install the retainers in the proper orientation? The symptom you describe suggests that one or both retainers need to be flipped. Also check for damage to the cups or spindle.

I wouldn't do this. The bearing races are ground to use a specific size ball. A larger ball will often cause more problems that it solves.

Your current BB almost certainly uses 1/4" balls, and the bearing races should be able to hold up to 11 balls on each side. You can either pack them loose, as DOS describes above, or use 11-ball retainers:

Size not being too much of an issue is good.

Okay so I will try with the same size, and consider adding one if there is more room.

I think I installed them correctly... It was my first time, so I actually cant remember now. Im not even sure, off the top of my head, which way is the right way. What should I look for on the spindle in relation to ball bearing or retainer damage?

You are right, they are 1/4" bearings! Although I am certain that I had and have 9 loaded into each retainer on each side, for a total of 16. To hold 11 I would definetly have to change ball size and number. I remember checking the bearings and bearing retainers with the cups, prior to assembly. Everything fit pretty well, so it will be interesting to see if theres a gap I overlooked when I did it the first time that I can fit an extra ball into.

A 9-ball retainer is installed with the ring facing "in" toward the middle of the spindle:


An 11-ball retainer is installed with the ring facing "out:"

Different sized retainers install in different directions? No wonder I got all confused. Thats just another reason to not use retainers in the future.

Thanks for the photographs! They are a very good reference.

-also: How does one mount a crank on a spindle that has threaded holes instead of threads coming out? Im assuming theres like a threaded set of rods I would buy and screw in first somehow...

You need crank bolts.

OTOH, put a ring of grease in the cups , stick the balls in the grease , slip the axle in [fixed cup]

then screw in the adjustable cup, the grease holds the balls in place till you get it together..

retainer becomes redundant.

[QUOTE=NukeouT;12229934
Thanks for the photographs! They are a very good reference.[/QUOTE]

Common theme here is that only balls come in contact with the bearing surface. If any of the cage contacts the surface, flip it over.