onespeedbiker

This post is a cross post from mechanics. I have always thought that the WTB/Suntour Grease Guard was the best designed square taper loose ball bottom bracket (photo from velobase.com). With simple routine maintenance, that did not require the bottom bracket being disassembled, they would normally out live a frame.



I had an interesting discovery however in a Grease Guard I had squirreled away for a while (see story below). When I inspected the left side adjustable cup, I was surprised to see it was not from a Grease Guard BB, it was from some sealed loose ball bottom bracket model made by a Japanese company named Yamamoto (similar to Tange they make various models of steel BB and headsets). It appears that the engineers from Yamamoto discovered that the seal of a 99502H cartridge bearing will fit into a bottom bracket cup (see below Graese Guard on the top,Yamamoto cup on the bottom). So they took one of their bottom brackets with rubber spindle seals and then put the cartridge bearing seal behind the bearings; in essence they created the same setup as a Grease Guard; the cup looks to be too shallow as the grease port appears covered by the seal. But since the BB was not designed for the Grease Guard system, it sounds like it would still seal in any loose ball BB cup. Would anyone consider doing this to their loose ball bottom bracket?



This post a little back story. About 15-20 years ago I was about to leave for a century ride down south (south of Santa Cruz, when loose ball bottom bracket in my old Peugeot gave up the ghost. I hurried down to a LBS and they said they could replace it with another loose ball or cartridge for the same price, so I decided on a loose ball and they said they have it ready in an hour; wow great service I thought. Well picked up the pick and took off for my century ride. The ride was none eventful, but the BB felt strange; hard to define but I remember I didn't trust it. So when I got home I replaced it with a cartridge BB, but didn't really inspect the the new to me BB; all I knew was it was a Suntour/WTB Grease Guard (I kept the box) and it ended up forgotten in my parts bin until today. I was arranging by parts pin and remembering the Grease Guard BB from years earlier, I decided to check it out. The first thing I noticed was the below ball bearing retainer that had been turned into a Christmas wreath; the result of installing the retainer upside down. I was happy however to see that the bearing surfaces looked new, with only the only damage being a thin ring that rounded off the the top of the spindle cone.

fietsbob

Got one in a trade, NIB, It went in as the replacement on my R'off Bike Friday,

Just wonder how well that inside seal keeps the grease from filling the BB shell
as you Force it thru those tiny holes..

jrecoi

The English up to the early 1960s figured out a somewhat messier, but much easier way of doing this, they drilled and tapped the BB shell for an oiler, and lubricated the loose ball BB with oil.

Sixty Fiver

I still run a good number of bicycles that are oil lubricated... have an NOS Greaseguard that will be going into my XC bike and they are just that damn good. Part of this stems from the very high quality bottom bracket you start with and having the ability to recharge it as needed.

They were designed for extreme use that involved a good deal of water.

Elev12k

Very nice bottom brackets, but I were not impressed by Suntour's low profile MD offering.

Elev12k

WTB's New Paradigm - no fan of this one too.

With the Suntour XC Pro MD the balls were really small. I think 3/16". The races in the cup are placed horizontal instead of diagonal. If not properly adjusted the tiny balls hit a ridge. With WTB's New Paradigm you couldn't properly lock the non-drive cup.

fietsbob

My One Off touring rig used an oversized closed tube BB shell from Burly's Tandem
parts bin, was the stokers BB, It got a Zirk and I put a Big wad of grease
in between the cartridge bearings.. popped off a seal on the inside.
a shielded on one side, sealed on the other bearing pick would have been Ideal.

Grand Bois

My Carlton has a zerk and a cartridge bottom bracket.

Captain Blight

Onespeedbiker, do you mean to tell us you have a French-threaded Grease Guard BB?!

talk about unobtanium....

Michael Angelo 

I have an NOS Suntour Grease Guard XC pro BB in the box. 125mm spindle. It even comes with special bolts and dust covers. English Threading. If you need it PM me.

onespeedbiker

No, Peugeot's started switching over to BSC bottom brackets I believe in the late 70's. Mine is an 85 PH501, which while still using a French headset, stem and fork, had an English bottom bracket