The Titanium Bottom Bracket Thread
 

I have a few vintage titanium bottom brackets and while most of them are bordering on OT, I have seen a lot of interest in vintage Mountain Bikes here. My next project is a TBD vintage MTB rebuild. I think the 90's were a super fun era of customization with cool american made anodized parts and lots of machining. Hell you can still customize your mountain bike heavily today, but must of it is carbon now and I was a wide eyed young teen in the 1990s drooling in shop windows at anodized parts (kooka, cook pros, ringle, salsa, syncros, paul, chris king, and so much more)...

I digress. Unfortunately I sold most of my syncros BBs, but I still have 1 and a half.

Please post photos of your titanium bottom brackets and any other information you have... some brands I know of.

1. Syncros
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/i...NMX1tNFgt8ulrA
2. American Classic
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...1sw0CiD2y74ge2
3. Cook Brother's racing
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/dow....php?id=194913

please add yours

The only custom Titanium bottom bracket I had, I gave to Frank (FTW), I hope he's lighter than I am.

Edco Competion Titanium Bottom Bracket in French Thread.

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/...a/P1010009.jpg

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/...a/P1010008.jpg


http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/...a/P1010007.jpg

White Industries

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Vintage-White...qtw~~60_57.JPG

Of course there is Phil Wood, Campagnolo Super Record, and maybe something specific to the Viscount... But I am more interested in the 1990s era stuff. I have a few unidentified ones, which seems off as most examples have the manufacturer engraved on them... I would think a high end item like a ti BB would always have done so, but apparently not... I'll photograph the unidentified ones and post photos at some point.

Mid 90s GT - I'll never understand why they would anodize a part you would never see. Sure is pretty off the bike.

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/...psffab6539.jpg
http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/...ps52fbfced.jpg

I just had to remove an Edco TI spindle Bottom Bracket as the bearings went south. I think I will be able to source replacements, (I hope anyway). My guess as to why is failed is due to the inherent flex of the ti spindle.
So, I would look for one or repair one that had an oversized diameter ti spindle if you had a choice.

How much more lightweight is a Ti BB than a standard Shimano UN BB?

That GT BB looks very similar to a Phil wood (but they all kind of do in a way). I'd be curious to see the whole spindle.

THe syncros BBs came in several configurations which I do not know the names of, but some models had a double wide bearing with two sets of ball bearings per side... there was also a version with "inset" bearings and the face of the cup was depressed... I am not sure why they would want to place the bearings closer to the center, but maybe it was to reduce the stress on the center of the spindle and allowed them to make the spindle lighter? Not sure, but it seems like it would be more flexible.

A UN-5x is around 300g while a UN-7x is around 250g a UN91 is claimed to be about 220...

I put a phil wood Ti-magnum BB on my road bike with my 185mm TA Carmina cranks to save weight. With the alloy cups it's under 150g. So pretty significan't weight savings if you are a weenie. And I was trying to get my steel road bike (carbon fork) down to 17lbs in an XL size. I eventually succeeded, but with a dura-ace 7800 180mm crank-set. I still use the TA's and my classic lugged, road bike with fenders though. That is a for life crank and BB set.

I wanted to pull the GT BB apart, but I'm afraid I'd never get it back together.

from bikepro -

I've had a Zeus 2000 titanium bottom bracket in one of my bikes for many years now:

http://www.os2.dhs.org/~john/zeus-ti-bb.jpg

I buy stainless steel ,
But Phil Wood is also making a Ti axle .. now the alternates in shell is Magnesium or Aluminum..

You mean the cups? Yeah I think most of the old Ti BBs use alloy cups. I think I have a hardcore in my touring bike. I had a pro series but I either sold it or gave it away. I have another hardcore by am missing one cup... I really would love to find one... I have two RH cups for some reason when I bought a box of all the Ti BB parts they had at a used bike shop. I'll have to go hunting when I am down in BC again this summer.

http://mombat.org/92Syncros10.jpg
http://mombat.org/94Syncros11.jpg

I think one of my unidentified BBs is a later syncros.. I didn't realize it.. as it has the cups which utilized the shimano tool.. I like the older ones better... Also looks like '97 was the last year for syncros.

http://mombat.org/97Syncros5.jpg
http://mombat.org/97Syncros4.jpg

No pics right now, but I have a Race Face Ti BB. It's square taper, & the cups are anodized blue, probably aluminum or some alloy. I've had it around 5-ish years, but it's probably a lot older than that. It came with the old Race Face Forged cranks, when I got it used, & the seller said they were the same vintage.

My Sugino Guines circa 1983.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1...o/JLP_5814.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7...o/JLP_5815.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F...o/JLP_5816.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7...o/JLP_5819.jpg

Wow, never heard of that crank and BB Jeff. that's awesome. I also curious to see the raceface BB, are the cranks blue as well spacemanz? What bike are you using them on?

Naw, the cranks are silver-colored, with a black logo, just the BB cups are that blue. But the cranks are still pretty nice, and the 175 length helps. :)

Just the BB cups are blue, the cranks are a very plain (for the day) silver anodized aluminum billet. I've mostly used it on Cannondales, I think it's on the Silk Road 500 now. :) EDIT: I know my posts are weird here, not my fault, a weird connection-type thing. The first post went missing for a bit. ;)

I don't have any pics of mine, but I have 3 Ti BB's. All fairly old one's that haven't shown me any problems (yet). Although, Teledynes were prone to breaking..

Syncros - Cinelli
Teledyne (spindle only) - Moto Grand Record
Stronglight - Super Mondia

Only 1000 ever made. :rolleyes:

I think the open ball and cone bearing design is much more forgiving of a flexing spindle. That written, I wonder how much additional friction that flex brings upon the bearing system?

On a somewhat related note, I thought I heard that Ti axles with built in Ti cones would wear out quickly, because the bearing race was not as durable as a comparable steel race. I think this is why most companies used sealed bearings. Of course, I can't remember where I heard this, and I may be wrong.

Well, here's what we get for pics, LOL. I have the cranks on a XT/Ultegra BB on the F1000, because it fits that frame better on length. It's definitely a little heavier than the Race Face, but it's weight doesn't matter as much as on a road bike. I dunno if I ever posted the old F1000, I should sell it off & reclaim some space.

Actually, the bearing races as they are dedicated parts and only are bearing races, could be of better quality steel and have better heat treatment control. But maybe the assembly tolerances, and flex of the system make for a shorter bearing life. Campagnolo for their part went with 3/16" ball bearings for their ti bottom brackets. Who knows is that had anything to do with it.

Yes, titanium alloys aren't anywhere near as hard as steel alloys can get. The Zeus 2000 bottom bracket I pictured above uses pressed-on hardened steel races on the axle and in the cups for the bearing to run on.

Campagnolo also used pressed-on steel races on their titanium bottom brackets. These leave less space for the balls, so they need to be smaller to fit everything into the same space. Campagnolo used 3/16" balls; Zeus used 7/32" balls.

Yes they did, but that was a choice. Teledyne and Cobra Brand (Italy) along with another Italian spindle F.?.?. (I forget the name right now) use pressed on steel races too but use 1/4" bearings.
Way back I purchased a set of Italian threaded cups with pressed in steel races (unmarked) that were designed for 1/4" bearings. Very nice, no idea who made them, allegedly Ritchey brand but I use the brand without a box or stampings to prove it.

Apologies if it's socially unacceptable to bring back this 10 year old thread, but is it possible to use a Zeus 2000 Ti spindle (7/32") on Campagnolo alloy cups (3/16")? Which size ball bearings would be adequate?