I bought a Campy Racing T crankset and BB, 9-speed vintage. The BB is Italian and I need English, but I got it for so little additional that I told the seller to just throw it in. From what I can determine from looking at the Campy catalogs, the BB cartridge seems to be the same for both, so can I:

1. Replace the Italian cups with English cups?
2. Are these available?
3. Any other parts I need?

Or would I be better off buying a complete bottom bracket such as a Miche, etc.? I realize this isn't exactly vintage, but it is for a 40-yr old bike

Picture of Crankset, Record , Chorus, Athena? What the length of the BB spindle now? There is an Easy fix.

Just replace the Italian cups with English, all else is the same.

The crankset is a Racing T... not sure what these were based on (Athena?).

Here's a pic, its rough but I am only going to use it very occasionally:



BB is 111mm for doubles or triples for normal sized seat tubes, 115 for big tubes.

roadrunner: any suggestions on where I could get the cups, and an idea of $$? Vecchios?

What level is the BB? I have swapped both Chorus & Record cups. Someone would swap, I'm sure. I have Record English that I would swap for Record Italian.

I think it is a Campy AC-H, more Centaur/Athena level. Like this one:

I think I have one of those, and I may never use it. Let me check the length. If, it's 111 I'll give you a great deal on it.

Those are great BBs, and not too $$. I've never noticed the fixed cup to be particularly removeable (on several modern Campy units), so I don't think that move is likely to work without the skills of a surgeon. I'd say just buy the correct one and don't look back.

AC-H looks like this ^^^ one above, but it has a silver-colored spindle. It means "aluminum cups, hollow spindle." It's decently light, but I don't have any numbers.

There's a Park tool that will grab those flanges correctly and solid enough for fixed-cup installation and removal, with a strong steady hand.

I knew there was a reason I asked about this here

Michael: if you have a 111 British thread I would be interested.

In looking the Italian one over (needs clean up), the cup on one end (adjustable) does come off, but the fixed end is, ummm, fixed, or so it appears. And yes the one I have does have a silver spindle. If Michael doesn't have the proper one, any suggestions as to where to check for one?

Also, I haven't measured the BCD of the main rings (which appear to be in good shape), but the one I got is a 52/42/30. Is it possible to replace these with something like 50/39 or 50/36? I think they were available as a 50/39/30, and the BCD might be 135, but will measure. Otherwise, I currently ride a 52/43, so could live with the 52/42 portion.

Thanks for all the input!

Chris

EDIT: I just measured the spindle on this and it is ~115.x. Seller said he was running it on a Basso. I had assumed it was a steel frame, normal tubing so 28.6mm seat tube or so, which all the catalogs I've seen show a 111mm spindle length. Either it was a carbon or oversized Basso, or he was running the wrong BB? Guess that shows what you get when you assume...

BCD probably is 135, so you could do 50-39 or 50-40. In fact, if I recall correctly, 50-40-30 was one of the catalogue options. If you have a 2-tooth progression in back, 50-42-30 or 48-40-30 would also make sense.

The only other trick in converting between English and Italian is the difference in BB shell widths, 68 vs 70mm, respectively.

I found it !!! English Threading. Spins real smooth, the threads are perfect. I think Forest Gump Removed it, has some marks. 111mm.

Michael,

Thanks. I'll reply to your pm.

Chris