I haven't for the life of me been able to adjust the stock BB on my 1980 UO-10. I've yet to find the spot between smooth bearings but wobbly axle, and no wobble but indexed spinning. The spindle races and cups seem smooth enough with no visible pitting, I even tried repacking with new bearings...same deal.

I've considered but can't see doing the following:

1. mash an English cartridge in there
2. do the Phil/Shimano mod (would have to find someone with a bench grinder)
3. giving up and accept the wobble

I checked on retapping to Italian thread and it's like $150.
UO-10 ≠ $150+ modification

What would you do?

Cheap bearings rough finished. Just adjust it to the point where the spindle doesn't wobble and call it good. You are not going to notice it once you put the cranks on it. If it bugs you, then try a good quality English BB.

it is not the best solution but I do agree with abath just do the best you can and ride. have you tried have the shell 'faced'? it mmight help. also I thought I read somewhere in the last week or so that some one (like VO or one of those 'vintage' places) was developing a BB that didn't use the sheell threads. like the old mavic cart.

In addition to doing the best with what you have, take a look at https://velo-orange.blogspot.com/2009...adless-bb.html -- which they now say will be arriving in a few months.

AH thanks qualla that is the one I saw, I just could not remember

+1 on getting the BB shell refaced. + 1 also on Or live with it.

I agree with Bianchigirll that having the shell faced might fix it. I had the same problem you describe with my Gitane TdF--new bearing balls, cones and spindle were apparently in perfect shape, etc. I solved the "indexed spinning" problem with a new Phil Wood bb, but before I'd spend that much money again I'd DEFINITELY try facing the shell first. I think that a minute amount of "out of parallel" between the faces could produce the problem I had, and if everything else is okay I just don't see what else could be causing it. Wish I'd thought to try it before I shelled out the big bucks for the new bb. If you try it, let us know how it works.

In order to have the BB faced, you'd have to find a shop with Swiss threaded guides for their tool. Something tells me that's not going to be easy.

Okay, I have to plead ignorance. What is refacing of the BB shell? Chasing the threads? I'm wondering too how easy it would be to find this service.

I'm kicking myself because at Trexlertown, a fella was showing me this oddball threadless and adjustable bottom bracket cartridge, good for converting an old cottered setup to modern, but possibly also applicable here?

https://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...item_id=CA-725

Refacing means making sure both sides of the BB shell are completely flat and completely parallel to each other.

I wasn't aware that refacing tools thread into the BB shell. I've had it done, but never seen it being done -- good to know.

Jesse, I would give Chelsea Bicycles a call, and ask if they can face a Swiss-thread BB (also, price for that). If you like, I can drop by at lunch and talk to Rafael or Victor about it.

I think you're chasing the wrong solution.

Find a high end shop that has a Mavic BB chamfering tool.

The Mavic SSC Bottom Bracket was incredibly high end. That group was more expensive than Campy Record at the time. Lemond won a tour on Mavic SSC, and Sean Kelly won Paris-Roubaix on it. Its good enough for any bike you put it on.

The Mavic BB works with a compression fit. The Mavic chamfering tool will bevel out the threads and you then insert the Mavic BB. Its a great solution for bikes with weird French BB threading or any bike you want to put a high end BB in but can't source.

You can ALWAYS find Mavic Bottom Bracket on eBay for a song. Very few people want to commit their BB shell to a Mavic BB for the life of the frame. However, the Mavic BB is a world class BB. Think of it like a Phil Wood, only more eccentric.

You just need to re-cross thread it in straight....its hard to do but it can be done.

I am not sure exactly what you mean by the "Phil/Shimano mod", but my understanding is that you can use Phil rings with a Shimano cartridge. No grinder required, but the drive-side "cup" on the cartridge is a press-fit and requires the use of a vice to remove. This would be a good option if your problem is in your bearing parts or if the BB shell needs to be faced. It would not help if your threads are messed up.

If there is a problem with your bearing parts, it may work to get the best adjustment you can and run it that way -- it may even improve with use. More likely, it will feel bad under load and/or have problems in operation.

The instructions that I read called for the use of a bench grinder.

Forcing in a BSC cartridge BB works, according to what I've read. It's the cheapest and simplest solution.

A Phil Wood BB will cost about $150. I doubt that a conversion to Mavic will cost any less.

What do you mean by that, Jim? I'm confused, sorry.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone. The threads are okay, I suppose refacing the shell would be a good solution, but I'm not sure it's worth the price, considering it's running adequately now, but I'll certainly look into it.

I'll keep on the lookout for a UN-52 also. What do you do, just put it in a vice and whack the heck out of the drive-side cup with a chisel?

Force in an english bb, or have it tapped english. I've done it myself swiss to english tap, works just fine. Thread pitch is closer to english than raleigh 26tpi, and shell diameter is nearly identical.

If you force in an english bb, you'll be fine too. You can always tap italian in the future.

Your current cup is cross threaded in crooked. Force it go in straight....cross thread the cross threads. It takes alot of patience, its difficult, it may or or may not work.

According to Sutherlands: "Phil mounting rings can be used to mount Shimano cartridge brackets. This makes it possible to .... Remove the Shimano cups using a vice and a rubber mallet." I interpret this to mean that you set the vice jaws so that the cup is resting on them but not touching (or barely touching) the sleave that the bearing is in. Then smack the spindle with a mallet. It should pop out pretty easily.

I am guessing that your problem is that the parts are of mixed parentage. They should fit, but they just don't work together. Sutherland's also says: "Peugeot cottered spindles and cups do not interchange... bearing diamater is much smaller..."

They dont thread in, you need the proper guide to center the tool.

If it's cross-threaded, wouldn't it be impossible to get a uniform adjustment, good or bad? Seems like if you got the slop out at one point in the revolution, it would still be loose at other points, or real tight in parts and okay in others. That is not what is sounded like in the initial post, but I may be misinterpreting.

Yes, it is impossible. What I'm saying is to force the cup into the original Swiss threading. If I had to venture a guess I'd say the OP created new threads in the BB versus threading into the Swiss threads crooked.

I don't think I mashed enough to create new threading at any point. I tried to get a feel for how a British cup would go in, but I backed out as soon as it encountered significant resistance. That said, I'm sure my ham-fists are perfectly capable of ruining the existing thread, so I'm not discounting that. However: the first time I ever repacked and adjusted the original BB, I encountered this problem, and at that point the swiss threaded cup was the only cup that shell had ever been with

I am gaining some interest in this Phil Cup/Shimano Cartridge notion.

It this the article you read?

If I read it correctly, the author describes grinding off the flange of the Shimano UN-52/3/4 or 72/3/4 BB so that it can be adjustable like a Phil Wood BB. But I doubt those Shimano BBs come with Swiss threading. The author does say that you can remove the bearing cups on the earlier Shimano BBs (like the UN-72) and use the Phil mounting rings which are available in Swiss threading. So, if I read that article correctly, you would need to find an old Shimano BB and buy a couple of Phil Wood Swiss threaded mounting rings.