You are reading a single comment by @yoav and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@yoav
I remember building my first proper road bike in 1975. Fitting the bottom bracket required packing each of the bearing cups with grease then placing the bearings carefully in their races and installing the cups and axle taking care not to displace any of the bearings. You then had to adjust the cups (remember the 'fixed' and 'adjustable' cups?) to get the right amount of play in the bearings. You also had to be prepared to strip down the whole thing a couple of times a year, clean out the grease with paraffin, then re-build from scratch if you wanted it to last. When sealed bearings arrived it was a revelation. No more faffing about with paraffin, grease and picking up loose ball bearings off the floor. Sorry, but from experience, I have to disagree with you. Even cheapest £10 Shimano sealed BB will be better: easier to fit, doesn't need adjusting or regular maintenance and easily replaced when the time comes.