Someone mentioned a month or so ago how it was good that French BB cups were available again. Harris and other internet sources are carrying a brand called Action manufactured in China. I had mentioned that I wasn't sure how durable they were. I may have been wrong on that.

Today I noticed that the tandem's front BB had a bit more free play that I expected. It had done that once before, somehow developing a bit of play. So this afternoon when our ride was done I pulled it apart expecting to have to pick up a VO sealed-bearing unit. To my surprise the races were clean as a whistle and the bearings themselves were solid and round as round can be, or at least as round as I can see. If anything the last 1000 miles has polished the races compared to what I remember as a slightly sintered-appearing surface. Maybe the polishing was the source of the free play. In any case, they seem to have been robust enough.

Now back to your regularly schedule C&V stuff... It is good to know that French bearing cups are available!

You can't be wrong when you say you're not sure.

Good to know.
thanks

I've seen some of the cheap bb cups that were chromed right over the bearing raceways, so the chrome flaked off during break-in.

Early Fuji bicycles earned this distinction, so the factory set them up tight, in anticipation of the plating coming off.

How good it was, I sarcastically said at the time, to have all those hundreds of hard chrome chips recirculating amidst the grease. But in practice, most of these early sealed bb cups lasted quite a while, while so many other Japanese marques never even sufficiently torqued the fixed cup, causing loosening within the first few hundred miles.

Those Fuji bb parts also gave new meaning to the term "thick cups".

So, do these new Chinese French-threaded cups have chrome over the races? I bought a pair two years ago, but haven't yet installed them and don't recall too much of what they look like inside.

I couldn't say, but they are shiny and bright. I see no obvious change in finish color between the race and the rest of the cup. I wold have thought chrome would wear off pretty quickly. Anyway, I really don't know but if I knew for certain and said I didn't know, I'd be wrong.

Sounds like the races aren't chromed.
You're right, any chrome comes right off under the rolling balls, leaving a jagged edge highlighted by the copper underplating.

I've also seen headset races with chromed raceways where the chrome flaked right off.

Do they have a thicker wall than the original frenchies?

Thought it was mentioned in another thread but cannot find it.

I didn't measure anything but I believe so. The adjustable side has more threads showing than I would have expected but there are still plenty inside the BB shell. It might matter for chainline for some people, but in this case it's in an eccentric on the front of a tandem, so I could just move the whole thing laterally so as to make the timing chain line up. Since I had to build the bike up from scratch, the spindles may not be what was original anyway.

IRD has French, Swiss, etc. cups... I wonder if it's the same BB from the same factory?

*edit* n/m I see that the Action brand are the loose cups while the IRD is a cartridge type BB.