bottom bracket for my old reynolds 501 roadbike

MungoMan

I bought a second hand winter roadbike (a 20 year old raleigh reynolds 501).
The bottom bracket is the old cup and cone type, I'd like to replace it with a sealed unit because there is a tiny bit of play in it.
Maybe someone can tell me which one to get. I know the BB width is 68mm, but don't know the BB axle length...I don't have a caliper/micrometer, so difficult to measure it to the millimeter ! Is the BB axle width always the same on roadbikes ?
Also, do I need to buy grease for the BB or is grease necessary ?

Holyboy

You will need some grease to put on the threads of the new unit alright,you should be able to measure the axle with a ruler or tape measure,within 1mm is usually close enough,are you using the same chainset that was fitted? Have you gotten the old cups out of the frame yet? If not good luck:)

MungoMan

Holyboy wrote: »

You will need some grease to put on the threads of the new unit alright,you should be able to measure the axle with a ruler or tape measure,within 1mm is usually close enough,are you using the same chainset that was fitted? Have you gotten the old cups out of the frame yet? If not good luck:)

Yeah I'm using the same chainset.......the chainset is in good order, its almost definitely not the original chainset.

Good to know that a 1mm tolerence with the axle is acceptable (if I don't get the measurement exactly right)

I didn't get the old cups off yet, I am prepared for the battle ahead on that.......the guy on youtube said that sometimes he needs to apply heat to the frame to remove seized BB's ! Hope I don't have to go down that route !

Doc_Savage

you may have to apply heat... but the cranks you fit will have a specified axle width recommended for them.. see if you can find it on the manufacturers website, and yes grease is necessary if you want to be able to ever get them off again!

07Lapierre

Why dont u just tighten the existing BB? A bit of "play" doesn't mean it needs to be replaced. Or, remove the axle, examine it carefully. If the axle looks ok, the cups are probably ok too.

kumate_champ07

Remove the bb and check the cups and axles races for damage, if it looks fine put it back in with new bearings and grease. As mentioned 'play' could be due to 1 or both of hte cups not being tight enough.
If you have to replace, the axle lengths are usually 110/113/115mm so you'll know which it is if your within 1-2mm with your measurments

Pablo Rubio

Have a look here at some of the Tapered square sealed bottom brackets

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/other-tapered-square-sealed-cartridge-dept790_pg1/

Holyboy

MungoMan wrote: »

Yeah I'm using the same chainset.......the chainset is in good order, its almost definitely not the original chainset.

Good to know that a 1mm tolerence with the axle is acceptable (if I don't get the measurement exactly right)

I didn't get the old cups off yet, I am prepared for the battle ahead on that.......the guy on youtube said that sometimes he needs to apply heat to the frame to remove seized BB's ! Hope I don't have to go down that route !

If you don't think it's the original chainset you had better check the chainline with the axle that is fitted already to see if it's right or as said above check the manufacturers recommendation although I take those with a pinch of salt apart from Campag's ones as there are always so many variants like drop out spacing and axle OLN spacing on the rear wheel, personally I like to have the inner ring as close to the chainstay as possible(without being ridiculously close!) I find this gives the best chainline but obviously the front mech has to be able to shift to the inner ring too, I presume it has a friction shifter so it shouldn't be a problem but with newer indexed shifters and mechs it can be.
It can be a messy business, sometimes I fit two or three BBs before I'm happy but that's fine if you have every size to choose from, if you're ordering one and hoping it'll be right it's a bit more difficult!

MungoMan

thanks for all the advice

Finally I changed the BB. It was 113mm as suggested by KumateChamp. I bought a calipers to measure it accurately.

I couldnt remove the BB myself, despite having all the correct tools. It was well seized.

It took 3 bike shops to remove it (the first two failed)...

Finally I went to an independent bike shop, and the guy said he would remove it for €30, which I thought was a fair price, considering the difficulty of the job

It took him over an hour to get it off, using some good tools, wd-40, and a little heat from a blowtorch

I replaced it with a sealed cartridge unit.

The new BB helps to bring my reynolds frame bike into the 21st century