susan649•19d agoOG Member

Remember when bottom brackets were just cups and cones?

Spent 20 minutes trying to press a cartridge BB into a frame that was .2mm out of spec last week. Had me missing the old days when I could just adjust a loose ball bearing race and call it good. Anyone else find the older stuff more forgiving to work with?

3 comments

3 Comments

jana_hart1819d ago

Gotta laugh at spending 20 minutes on a BB that's barely out of spec. Are we really pretending old cup and cone systems never gave you fits with seized races or pitted bearings? Fixing a loose headset or bottom bracket was great, but it's hard to deny cartridge BBs are way more consistent once they actually fit the frame.

craig.mila19d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you're SERIOUSLY saying you'd rather fight with a cartridge BB than just grab a wrench and reset some cup and cone bearings in five minutes? @jana_hart18 I've had more cartridge bottom brackets creak and die in a season than I've ever had cup and cone issues, and that's counting the seized ones. I guess consistency is nice but I'll take the adjustability any day over a sealed unit that's junk the second it goes out of spec.

jamie77019d ago

Used to be all about sealed cartridges myself, thought cup and cone was just old tech... then I had a frame with a slightly wonky BB shell and that cartridge was toast in two weeks. Now I'm a convert, give me a wrench and some grease any day over hoping a sealed unit will magically align itself.