Weird BB issue: Hella wobble.
 

So, I recently built up an old Raleigh Equippe as a fixie. The BB was all rusted in place (the actual spindle was still moving fine, but the cups were stuck solid).

The pedals had a little play which I wanted to adjust out, so, with a collection of brute force and penetrating oil, I managed to get both cups out. (English thread; non-adjusting cup reversed)

I replaced the bearings and put her back together, but I still had considerable play even if the adjusting cup was done up so tight that the pedals were hard to move round. I assumed that the new bearings were somehow the wrong size or shape, so I put the originals back in only to find that I still had the same issue.

So now, I have a load of play on my BB (more than when I started) and I can't get rid of it without over-tightening the adjusting cup.

I used plenty of grease and the cages are definitely in the right way round.

Any tips? Am I missing something painfully obvious?

Many thanks

Joe

My first guess was that you might have put one too many balls into the races. It's a common error and makes it impossible to adjust the bearing correctly because as you take up the play the balls are jammed against each other before they're trapped between the races.

But I notice you mention cages, so discounting the too many balls theory, it might be that the cages you're certain are the right way around aren't. Disassemble the left side and spindle, and rest for the right cage orientation by putting the cage and spindle into the cup and spinning it, try both orientations while it's off the bike and decide which is right after all.

Thanks for the reply, I actually encountered (and got past) both of those issues you mentioned while working on the bike! I initially installed the cages backwards; worked it out almost as soon as the BB was reassembled. Then when I put the old bearings back in, one of the new cages left a ball behind in the race, which was removed when I found out.

What would you think about removing the cages altogether, as they seem to be causing more problems than they solve? I didn't know you could do that until I did some further reading here.

There's no harm in removing the cages, which serve mainly as an assembly convenience. Once the bearing is assembled correctly they do neither harm nor good. With some cage designs you and add extra balls, and with others you must add extra balls, so be ready to figure the right amount if you dump the cages.

The easiest way to check for the right number is to assemble a bearing (spindle and cup) in your hand and count how many balls fills it without overfilling it. Usually there'll be a gap of 1/2 ball width or so.

Ace, thanks very much for the support...I'll try re-assembling the BB without cages when I get back tonight and report back then.

If it's working now, why bother taking it apart anew. Save that for the next time it needs service.

Well, I just took out the cages and added a couple of extra balls each side, tightenned her up and it works like a dream, no more wobble! I guess that the BB wasn't originally designed for use with cages?