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I'll take 'Things You Don't Expect to Find in Your Bottom Bracket' for $500, Alex!

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I'll take 'Things You Don't Expect to Find in Your Bottom Bracket' for $500, Alex!

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Old 05-29-12, 08:59 PM
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I'll take 'Things You Don't Expect to Find in Your Bottom Bracket' for $500, Alex!



I thought the cranks felt a little crunchy.

From my c1974 Motobecane Grand Record...which clearly has had a BB overhaul or two over the years. Maybe the work of a particularly nimble squirrel?
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Old 05-29-12, 09:04 PM
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My best would have to be a bumble bee or a wasp, but theres a guy on these forums that found a rodent skeleton.. thats a cruel fate.
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Old 05-29-12, 09:13 PM
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Oh, if it's not clear what it is...it's a kernel of the hardest, driest corn you ever saw.
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Old 05-29-12, 09:38 PM
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Corn kernel likely entered the BB thru the seat tube.
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Old 05-29-12, 10:07 PM
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What grade is that bearing?

-Kurt
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Old 05-29-12, 10:09 PM
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Maybe the previous owner was short one bearing and decided to substitute.
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Old 05-29-12, 10:10 PM
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is it ceramic?
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Old 05-29-12, 10:26 PM
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Originally Posted by dmp
is it ceramic?
Get with the times, organic's the new ceramic.
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Old 05-29-12, 10:32 PM
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I can play this game.

Last year i bought just a bianchi frame. It came with a bb and headset but nothing else with the frame. I go to take apart the bb and this is what i find:



A rat's head and part of it's body, looks like it got stuck down there.
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Old 05-29-12, 10:58 PM
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I found some hay in a BB recently. Not sure how it got in there. There's no way a rodent could have gotten into the frame (American frame - with the super skinny seat post to boot) - so kind of weird. Normally it's just dead wasps n stuff.
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Old 05-30-12, 12:03 AM
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I found a dead june bug once.
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Old 05-30-12, 01:04 AM
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Not in the BB but the mechanic at a my local bike co-op found a shiv with red stains in the seat tube of an old bianchi.
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Old 05-30-12, 01:31 AM
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whoaa..how it could be there on your BB?
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Old 05-30-12, 04:51 AM
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Found a bottom bracket full of bird seed a while back, I'm sure some clever mouse was storing it there.
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Old 05-30-12, 05:09 AM
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Partially dried pyracantha berry, I'd say.
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Old 05-30-12, 05:42 AM
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I had the same with an old Nishiki MTB . Thinking a very small field mouse was using my seatube as a stash .
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Old 05-30-12, 06:56 AM
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opened up an old brittany and found about 20 little white seeds... must have been from a rodent of some sort...
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Old 05-30-12, 07:00 AM
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Next time you decide to overhaul your BB outside, be sure to wear your glasses.
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Old 05-30-12, 07:12 AM
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Good idea to put a cork in your open seat posts, I guess.

The "shiv" thing sounds like something from a David Lynch movie.
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Old 05-30-12, 08:00 AM
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After a flood in Louisiana, we found some (baby) crawfish in a friends bottom bracket. We rode through the flood waters and then overhauled the bikes.
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Old 05-30-12, 08:17 AM
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I would be surprised to find grease in the BB of my bikes.
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Old 05-30-12, 08:28 AM
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I found acorns and seeds in a barn find Raleigh bottom bracket. It was clear something wasn't right with that bike.
When going through a Triumph for my brother, I found a bunch of tiny seeds in the BB. I was surprised, as I had ridden it and it didn't feel crunchy at all.
I didn't realize rodents liked bikes so much.
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Old 05-31-12, 04:42 AM
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When I replaced the cottered bottom bracket on my Grand Prix I discovered seeds as well . I think it may be a Raleigh /Carlton thing .
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Old 05-31-12, 10:53 AM
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I found a business card from the shop that the bike was either bought or serviced at one time. The shop was in North Carolina - the bike was in Los Angeles.
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Old 05-31-12, 11:18 AM
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Inside a Schwinn 594:


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