Later, maybe.
I gave some thought to procrastinating today, but decided to put it off until tomorrow.
I wrote this back in December:
...This week, my commuter bike began making a thunking noise in sync with the crankset. It could be: the bottom bracket, a pedal, a cleat, a loose crankarm, the saddle, or even the handlebars. Mysterious clicks, creaks, and thunks can be traced to any of them. What makes this one more annoying is that it comes and goes without any apparent reason. I checked the chain, chainrings, and cog without finding anything. This weekend I'll overhaul the bottom bracket. It's overdue anyway.
So, today, I actually got around to overhauling that bottom bracket. It was LONG overdue! And I believe I've found the source of the click. The spindle in that bike is a Campagnolo Record that's easily 30 years old. It's developed a pit on one end, and that pit is fairly deep. That's all - one pit in an old, high-mileage Campy part. The bearing cups appear to be fine as are the bearings. (I was out of 1/4" ball bearings, otherwise I would have replaced them.) Given some of the prices for old, collectible Campy parts, that complete bottom bracket assembly may be worth more than the bike.
I'll have to replace the spindle soon, probably when I put the bike up for the summer. But 30 years of use is impressive. I kinda doubt that newer cartridge units will last as long. But then again, I probably won't find out. There's an equally old Dura Ace spindle out there in the garage that will fit the Centurion's bottom bracket. And the Dura Ace has almost no wear on it!
I wrote this back in December:
...This week, my commuter bike began making a thunking noise in sync with the crankset. It could be: the bottom bracket, a pedal, a cleat, a loose crankarm, the saddle, or even the handlebars. Mysterious clicks, creaks, and thunks can be traced to any of them. What makes this one more annoying is that it comes and goes without any apparent reason. I checked the chain, chainrings, and cog without finding anything. This weekend I'll overhaul the bottom bracket. It's overdue anyway.
So, today, I actually got around to overhauling that bottom bracket. It was LONG overdue! And I believe I've found the source of the click. The spindle in that bike is a Campagnolo Record that's easily 30 years old. It's developed a pit on one end, and that pit is fairly deep. That's all - one pit in an old, high-mileage Campy part. The bearing cups appear to be fine as are the bearings. (I was out of 1/4" ball bearings, otherwise I would have replaced them.) Given some of the prices for old, collectible Campy parts, that complete bottom bracket assembly may be worth more than the bike.
I'll have to replace the spindle soon, probably when I put the bike up for the summer. But 30 years of use is impressive. I kinda doubt that newer cartridge units will last as long. But then again, I probably won't find out. There's an equally old Dura Ace spindle out there in the garage that will fit the Centurion's bottom bracket. And the Dura Ace has almost no wear on it!
Labels: Campagnolo, crankset, procrastinate
posted by Ed W at 2:36 PM
2 Comments:
You can sometime polish out a pit with a strip of emery cloth and give it new life.
This one is probably down through the case hardening, Dave, so polishing wouldn't help for long. It's given excellent service life, so I have nothing to complain about.
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