flammenwurfer

My local plastic surgeon?

But seriously, a bike shop should have them?

LesterOfPuppets

Noooo, no channel locks on the BB. If it's the kind of BB I'm imagining, the non drive side should have a handful of notches in a ring. Plant a flatblade screwdriver in a notch, aim Counter clockwise and strike the end of the screwdriver with a hammer to unscrew the ring. (this will likely deform the notch, so it's not as good as using a tool.


Channel locks, or pipe wrench, etc on the knurled bottom nut of headset ONLY.

flammenwurfer

Ah, ok. I will try the screwdriver and hammer technique when I get home. I'll definitely be taking lots of pictures because once I get in there I'm sure I won't know what the hell I'm doing.

LesterOfPuppets

I guess there's a chance it's an English thread BB, so you might have to loosen the left crank clockwise.

bbattle

Keep the channel locks away from the bike.

flammenwurfer

ooooo, that looks ugly.

I thought of another question, and feel free to tell me I'm stupid for even mentioning it. Is there any reason I couldn't just replace my bottom bracket with something like this? Is there something I'm missing that would make that not work? Or be not so cheap?

LesterOfPuppets

Well, you'd have to get cranks too, of course, and also determine if you need an English or Italian BB.

jacksbike

Working on those darn bikes can become addicting. It is fun and challenging, especially when you run into unforseen problems. Get some good bike books with exploded parts diagrams. Unfortunatley, tools can get expensive. You could easily spend a lot more than $50 just for bottom bracket tools. Like anything, not having the right tools makes the job a lot harder. Good luck .

cudak888 

Allow me to chime in with another. Let this serve as a reminder to everyone: Never to put a BB w/aluminum cups in a steel frame without grease. GREASE IT!

This was, at one time, a Veloce BB.







-Kurt

noglider 

Why bother with aluminum cups in the first place?

Panthers007

Old and rusty one-piece cranks & bottom-bracket (Ashtabula cranks) can be a real PITA to remove the lock-ring and all. Requiring a slow and annoying blow-by-blow with a hammer and whatever fits. But not channel-locks.

flammenwurfer

OK, it came off pretty easily actually. I got it all apart without mangling or damaging anything and all I used was a screwdriver, hammer and a pair of pliers. It looks pretty nasty in there huh?

LesterOfPuppets

Looks great for 30+ years old!

flammenwurfer

So what's my next move as far as the bb is concerned? Degrease everything, get new bearing balls and grease and put it back together? I'm not sure what all goes into re-doing a bb or how to put it back together correctly.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

https://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbadj.html

its everything you need to know.

You might want to get new bearings, they are cheap. If you do, you should use all loose bearings and ditch those retaining rings

you got the right idea though, degrease it all and follow the instructions in that article.

You don't need to remove the other (fixed) Cup.

Iowegian

Yep. It might take a few attempts to get the lockring tight with the correct bearing adjustment but that is par for the course. What happens is that the lockring will move the adjustable cup just a bit when it tightens up and change the bearing adjustment. If that happens, just loosen the lockring, adjust the adjustable cup and try again. Repeat until you simultaneously get the lockring tight and the bearings snug but spinning smoothly. Use plenty of grease. This will help hold the bearings in place during assembly and help prevent water from getting into the assembly later.

Make sure the threads are clean and of course, make sure you grease the threads before re-assembly!

That's about all there is to it unless something is damaged but it looks to be in OK condition from the photos. You can check the bearing tracks for wear but unless it's severe I wouldn't worry about it. If the BB spindle is non-symmetrical and you can't remember which way it came out, usually the long side is on the drive side. You can check this by test fitting the crank to the spindle and checking the crank arm clearance against the chainstays.

Bam42685

If it's French you'd either need to get this one:

https://www.velo-orange.com/grcrufrthbob.html

or a $100+ dollar BB from Phil Wood. This is because of the threading. These are square tapered bottom brackets which mean you wouldn't be able to use the cottered crankset that came on your bike. The $12 BB in your link is modern style. I don't know the official term but I would call it splined. You would need a modern crankset which would be pricey and look out of place. Your best bet is probably to stick with the ball and cups style.

LesterOfPuppets

Oh, yeah, I forgot this is a 70's Gitane, which may have French BB.

Panthers007

I'd give it a long soak in a solvent such as charcoal-lighter fluid. Really clean them as good as you can. In that these are French - you might never get a chance to replace them.

flammenwurfer

So, you say I should use loose bearings? Does that mean just bearings alone, and not ones that are in a plastic clip/holder thing like in this picture? If they aren't in a clip, how would I get them in there when I put everything back together without them going all over the place?


When I do put the bearings back in, is this grease ok to use? Or is there a specific kind you are supposed to use?


And here's a pic of the bike now with almost everything taken off.

Road Fan

I dunno, maybe I'm ham-fisted with a screwdriver and artistic with a channellock, but I find equal risk of manglement using a hammer and drift versus a channel lock. Really, I have a problem with all the lock-ring spanners as well, though I'd like to try a Var or Hozan next time.

krems81 

+1. I rebuild the bottom bracket on every single bike I sell. Usually I just use a cartridge bb and factor it into the price. All bearings get overhauled and replaced. I usually use new wheels, for my peace of mind and theirs, so I don't have to worry about those bearings. Where are you getting your bearings WRK? Are they chrome steel? Grade 25 or 300?


Agreed, but don't sell at market price for the same bike prior to rebuild. Advertise the work that has been done to the bike in detail, and increase the price because the work increases the value. Buy bikes for significiantly less than their going market value as is, and sell them for a fair share more, fully rebuilt.

Avoid Nottingham Raleighs with cottered cranks (if you find a Super Course or anything with a serial number beginning with W, send it to me), and French threaded bikes with cottered cranks, at least until you have more experience in general. That Gitane would be ok as your 10th or 15th rebuild, not your first.

Road Fan

After you get the fixed cup and the BB interior clean and dry, lay the bike down on its right side, and layer fresh grease pretty thick onto the right side bearing race, inside the BB. You'll place the balls into that grease bed, one at a time. Embed them in the grease with your fingers. You won't be moving the frame from this position until the balls are secured by the BB axle, if all goes well. You'll need to use either one or two extra balls, compared to the number of balls in the caged bearing set.

Next you can either cover the balls with a thin layer of grease, or pack a 1/8" bead of grease on the BB axle bearing surface, and carefully insert the BB axle through the hole in the fixed cup, working from the inside of the BB shell. Once this is all the way in, you should be able to turn the shaft and feel nice smooth ball bearing action.

krems81 

1. You are restoring this bike
2. If you look to make at least tool money on it, you'll be able to buy tools and make your life easier. Your work is something of value, at least have the buyer cover your tool costs.

Start with a lockring tool, a fixed cup tool, a pin spanner and crank puller.

krems81 

Did the right (drive) side bb cup thread in towards the front of the bike (right handed), or towards the rear (left handed)?

If left, its probably english or swiss. If right, its french.


You need eleven ball bearings in each cup. Take the clean cups in hand and put a thick bed of grease in there, toothpaste style, and bury the bearings in the grease one by one, until you have 11 in each cup. If you use enough grease they won't fall out or even budge when you go to install the cups.

Install drive side first, tight, put spindle in, longer side on the drive side if it is asymetric, and follow Sheldon Brown's instructions for installing, adjusting, and locking down the adjustable cup.