titanium ? french ? bottom bracket
08-27-20, 02:24 AM
#1
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titanium ? french ? bottom bracket
Hi ,
My latest addition to the bike cave came with a bottom bracket that has me puzzled .
Non magnetic spindle so presume is titanium ?
The cups have absolutely no branding on them .
It appears to be a cartridge? type with a completely threaded outer shell ?
There is a couple of holes in the underneath of BB tube which show what I am talking about .
Fitted to late 70s Peugeot with some reputed racing pedigree .
Does anyone recognise the brand ?
I am debating taking it apart or not .
It feels very smooth but wont have been out of the bike since installation in the 70s.
Have been looking for a tool to fit the ring on the nd side with not a lot of success .
Can anyone point me in the right direction ?
Cheers
My latest addition to the bike cave came with a bottom bracket that has me puzzled .
Non magnetic spindle so presume is titanium ?
The cups have absolutely no branding on them .
It appears to be a cartridge? type with a completely threaded outer shell ?
There is a couple of holes in the underneath of BB tube which show what I am talking about .
Fitted to late 70s Peugeot with some reputed racing pedigree .
Does anyone recognise the brand ?
I am debating taking it apart or not .
It feels very smooth but wont have been out of the bike since installation in the 70s.
Have been looking for a tool to fit the ring on the nd side with not a lot of success .
Can anyone point me in the right direction ?
Cheers
08-27-20, 06:15 AM
#2
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I would have guessed stronglight as the manufacturer but it's surprising that there are no markings. Manufacturers typically put their mark on their high end offerings.
What I'm seeing via the holes on the BB is the plastic accordian type sleeve often used to protect a BB from the elements. Are you saying that this is not plastic but rather threaded all the way through?
Why don't conventional cup and cone BB tools work to get the lockring and adjustable cup off?
I'd be surprised if one of the Park pin spanner tools won't work for the adjustable cup. Sometimes getting a tool to work on a lockring can be a PITA. Still I would think that a bottom bracket lockring tool with one hook should work, right?
What I'm seeing via the holes on the BB is the plastic accordian type sleeve often used to protect a BB from the elements. Are you saying that this is not plastic but rather threaded all the way through?
Why don't conventional cup and cone BB tools work to get the lockring and adjustable cup off?
I'd be surprised if one of the Park pin spanner tools won't work for the adjustable cup. Sometimes getting a tool to work on a lockring can be a PITA. Still I would think that a bottom bracket lockring tool with one hook should work, right?
Last edited by bikemig; 08-27-20 at 06:20 AM.
08-27-20, 06:42 AM
#3
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Is it a Pino Morroni? Didn't he make one like this?
Here's a blurry pic. Look like the one in the back is fully threaded
This is a perfect CR list question. With all those old guys
on there, someone will surely know.
Here's a blurry pic. Look like the one in the back is fully threaded
This is a perfect CR list question. With all those old guys
on there, someone will surely know.
Last edited by Ex Pres; 08-27-20 at 06:50 AM.
08-27-20, 07:08 AM
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I bet it's a Stronglight 700a or 700t bottom bracket. Like this one on German Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Str...t/153393448411
Stronglight was not shy about rebranding their parts, so to me it's somewhat unsurprising that there's no logo. Could have been "Spidel" or "Peugeot" silkscreened on and subsequently rubbed off.
Stronglight was not shy about rebranding their parts, so to me it's somewhat unsurprising that there's no logo. Could have been "Spidel" or "Peugeot" silkscreened on and subsequently rubbed off.
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08-27-20, 07:39 AM
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Originally Posted by scarlson
I bet it's a Stronglight 700a or 700t bottom bracket. Like this one on German Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Str...t/153393448411
Stronglight was not shy about rebranding their parts, so to me it's somewhat unsurprising that there's no logo. Could have been "Spidel" or "Peugeot" silkscreened on and subsequently rubbed off.
Stronglight was not shy about rebranding their parts, so to me it's somewhat unsurprising that there's no logo. Could have been "Spidel" or "Peugeot" silkscreened on and subsequently rubbed off.
I thought Stronglight did a fully threaded, but I couldn't find an image. Thanks.
08-27-20, 08:36 AM
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Originally Posted by Ex Pres
Is it a Pino Morroni? Didn't he make one like this?
The OP's unit does look like an unbranded Stronglight cartridge; perhaps made for the Spidel marketing consortium.
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08-27-20, 10:16 AM
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Just had another thought about the Stronglight. The A in 700A probably stands for "acier" or steel. The T in 700T probably stands for "titane" and you know what that means. Yours is probably the 700t since the axle is likely titanium.
A failsafe test for titanium is to take a small high-speed grinding disc (like on a dremel, die grinder, or angle grinder) and just touch the end of the part someplace you don't mind it being scratched. If it throws brilliant bright white sparks, it's titanium. Yellower sparks are steel. I don't see how yours isn't titanium, however, because building the axle of a nonmagnetic (stainless or high-nickel?) steel would be a bit odd.
I bet these fully-threaded ones don't come loose the way traditional French fixed cups tend to, but I'm morbidly curious to the point where I'd buy one if I ever found it cheap, just to test this hypothesis. I do wonder if some older handmade French frames might not have the right and left side threads in phase with each other.
A failsafe test for titanium is to take a small high-speed grinding disc (like on a dremel, die grinder, or angle grinder) and just touch the end of the part someplace you don't mind it being scratched. If it throws brilliant bright white sparks, it's titanium. Yellower sparks are steel. I don't see how yours isn't titanium, however, because building the axle of a nonmagnetic (stainless or high-nickel?) steel would be a bit odd.
I bet these fully-threaded ones don't come loose the way traditional French fixed cups tend to, but I'm morbidly curious to the point where I'd buy one if I ever found it cheap, just to test this hypothesis. I do wonder if some older handmade French frames might not have the right and left side threads in phase with each other.
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Last edited by scarlson; 08-27-20 at 10:23 AM.
08-27-20, 10:37 AM
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Actually, nix that last thought I wrote. The more I look at this, the more it looks like a 700, but almost like someone put a regular cup on the drive side. Wtf?
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08-27-20, 11:38 AM
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Originally Posted by francophile
Actually, nix that last thought I wrote. The more I look at this, the more it looks like a 700, but almost like someone put a regular cup on the drive side. Wtf?
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08-27-20, 07:45 PM
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Ales Superleggera
I have an Ales Superleggera aluminum spindle with sealed bearings that looks virtually identical...
08-29-20, 01:08 AM
#11
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Originally Posted by scarlson
I bet it's a Stronglight 700a or 700t bottom bracket. Like this one on German Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Str...t/153393448411
Stronglight was not shy about rebranding their parts, so to me it's somewhat unsurprising that there's no logo. Could have been "Spidel" or "Peugeot" silkscreened on and subsequently rubbed off.
Stronglight was not shy about rebranding their parts, so to me it's somewhat unsurprising that there's no logo. Could have been "Spidel" or "Peugeot" silkscreened on and subsequently rubbed off.
Thank you for finding that for me .
I did have a google but did not spot that
08-29-20, 01:10 AM
#12
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Originally Posted by JohnDThompson
Yes, he did. But not quite like the OP's unit. Pino's cartridge was Italian thread, and used lockrings on both sides to hold it in place, unlike the "fixed cup" on the drive side of the OP's unit. And the cartridge only had two holes for a pin tool, not four.
The OP's unit does look like an unbranded Stronglight cartridge; perhaps made for the Spidel marketing consortium.
The OP's unit does look like an unbranded Stronglight cartridge; perhaps made for the Spidel marketing consortium.
spidel would make sense as several other bits are/were spidel marked.
12-05-20, 10:17 PM
#13
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Originally Posted by bikemig
I would have guessed stronglight as the manufacturer but it's surprising that there are no markings. Manufacturers typically put their mark on their high end offerings.
It is stronglight .
It is titanium
Great !
