I am bringing an old 1979 Raleigh back to life. The bottom bracket spindle has a fair amount of rust, but it is on the "inside" of the bearings. Should I go ahead and use the spindle with new ball bearings? Or would I be better off replacing with a Shimano threaded bottom bracket that will suit my existing crankset?



Not competent to judge the pitting on the bearing races

The rust is no problem.

The pitting is.

If you must, use it but start looking for a replacement.
That one won't work at all well and will get worse quickly.

Hi Jeremy, that looks pretty spent. The cups are probably in similar condition.

I would suggest that yes, replace with a cartridge bb, or another that is better condition.

Seek a local coop, or used/new retail they may have just what you need.

Can't really see the races from your picture, the rust in the center axle location isn't an issue.
Can you post some better pics?

Can you post picture like this of your crank axle?

This should help - I marked the larger pits visible on the left-side.
They don't have to be as big as the top or bottom one to mean it's time to replace.

That looks like where it was swaged. please post race pics.
The pics posted show little.

May I be brutal? unless you're aiming for perfection, (cartridge bottom bracket) you're not going to notice that axle being a little pitted (if it indeed is)
Is this going to be a high mileage bike? Cartridge bottom bracket.
Knock around bike? At a couple of hundred miles a year that axle may last longer than you with new bearings and grease.
Post good pictures of the race.

They're pits.

For comparison, a similar nutted axle with an almost-good bearing track:




and a close-up so you can see how smooth a bearing-track is supposed to be; the two pits at the upper end of the rack were large enough that this got swapped out:

Those appear to be flaws from the manufacturing process, not pits from wear.

Throw it a retirement party.

the replacement will no doubt require bolts.

measure the distances to the ends from the bearing races to understand the offset required.

Pink circles are flaws, blue is a beginning issue IMHO.

If those are your criteria, the left-most pink should be blue as there is flaking you can't quite see either side of it - and it's much deeper than the one you do have blue.

I took it out because I could feel it (when turned without the canks attached).

If you can feel it, it's time. Most of the stuff like that people over react to though.
I used to work for an old boy would would chuck them up in his lathe and regrind the races, lol.
If you want a better axle, get one that's machined rather than hot forged and swaged.
Better yet, a cartridge bottom bracket

I'd just put it back together and order the recommended cartridge BB.
I'd probably also use the same ball bearings.
After a good cleaning and proper install, give em a good spin.
Ride while you wait for the recommended BB.
Then install the recommended BB.
Give the cranks a spin.
I bet your current BB spins "better".

Thanks everybody. I think I am going to replace! One good photo -- thanks for the encouragement Schweinhund -- is enough to persuade me it would be worthwhile. There is a Shimano dealer nearby and I can take the parts to them for an exact replacement. Can't do anything for a week or two anyway, so by then the parts will have arrived.

I think it is hard to see what's really going on. It would be good to see that spindle with the rust removed and some light polishing to see what's really going on with the steel, not the blemishes, and as well to see any numbers on the part to confirm what it really is. Many spindles are case-hardened, and it's important to see that the case-hardening is not damaged or breached. The steel under the case-hardened layer is softer than the hardened layer, and it cannot withstand the pressure of running bearing balls. It will wear out quickly and become badly pitted. If it is smooth and intact and the same is true of the bearing surfaces on the cups and their threads, there should be no reason not to reuse them.

Looks pitted to me. Some advice says to use a ball point pen to feel for the pits. I don't think that's necessary here.

Put it back together with new grease and ride til your new one comes.
No problems there...

It's toast. But you could ride it if you have to. It'll only get more toasted. It won't explode on anything like that.

Anything you can feel with a ball-point pen is too big.

Use a loupe, they're cheap, and you'll know for sure if it's just dirty or a dirty great hole.

What is the code punched on the spindle? Should say something like 3S. Replace the spindle like for like, and while you're at it, replace the ball bearings for the cost of a few bucks. Parts on this should be less than $10, particularly if you can find a bike Co-op.

Replacing with a sealed cartridge bearing bottom bracket will cost you $30+ for the BB, and even more for installation. And then, you may have to settle for a spindle size that doesn't exactly match your original. Plus a 'sealed cartridge bottom bracket' may not be particularly well sealed, and will certainly have more rotating friction than a well set up cup and cone BB.

Someone competent should be able to replace the spindle in less than 30 minutes, from the time the bike gets clamped in the stand to when it comes off.

I have to agree with this suggestion.

It would have to be really bad for you to ever notice once reassembled. Did you notice it before disassembly?

If it really bothers you, replace it.

If it really bothers you and you cannot afford to replace it, hone the races.

...I think you are probably not going to run into Raleigh proprietary threading in a bike from 1979, but you don't really give enough information to rule it out completely.
AFAIK, they were still churning out product with older Raleigh standards at the gigantic Nottingham factory right on up into the 80's.

If you just measure the width of the BB shell, and it comes out at a standard 68, you're good to go with a Shimano sealed unit replacement in the right spindle length. It gets considerable more complicated with the proprietary threaded ones.

Probably not an issue for you, but I thought you might want to rule it out, before you get too much farther into it.

Spindle markings are 5SS F11 B, one underneath the other. There are no real bike coops here (Rome) but there are a couple of friendly LBS.

BB width seems to be 71 mm rather than 68, as close as I can measure it. The serial number on the bike is W I 9 0 0 0 2 3 7 which indeed indicates the Worksop factory.
So according to the Sheldon Brown site, and much else, it might actually be easier to replace bearings and continue to use this spindle and cups. The Velo bracket mentioned by Sheldon Brown seems to be no longer available.