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More Bottom Bracket Blues
Jan. 22nd, 2021 11:03 amYesterday, I made another trip into the city because the bottom bracket bearing I'd gotten at the Mello Velo Bike Shop was the wrong size. I discovered that after I'd brought the new one home and pulled the old one out of the bike. It's a cartridge-type bearing and, stamped right on its casing, were the dimensions 68 x 122.5. In millimeters.
In retrospect, it would've made sense to pull the old bearing so I could've brought it with me in the first place. But it's kind of a job for an old guy like yours truly and I didn't want to be without the use of the bike if it turned out that the part had to be ordered. So I did just enough of the disassembly to be sure that the special tools I had from "back in the day" would fit this much newer bike.
I also counted on the guys in the shop being able to look up the correct parts or, because they worked with them every day, knowing the right ones off the top of their heads. To be fair, they weren't far off--68 x 118 as opposed to 68 x 122.5. But in this case a miss by 4.5 mm might as well be by a mile because it would throw off chain alignment, shifting, etc.
But, like I said, I'm willing to share the blame. I learned a long time ago that, if you drop a blown engine on the parts counter, they can't very well say that they thought you were looking for a rebuilt transmission. Or something like that. You get the idea.
Anyway, when I called them about the mistake, they said to bring it back and they'd have the right one waiting for me. Which they did and which I brought home and installed without any further problems.
Except that I was really hoping to upgrade this component in the same way that I've done with the tires and peddles and seat, which I've also replaced. And, after looking up this brand on line, I'm not sure it's even OEM-quality, much less an upgrade.
I do understand that repair parts are in very short supply due to the fact that our major supplier of parts, as well as pandemics, is China. But I'm gonna look around in the next couple of days to see if I can find something better at another shop.
And with that, I'm off. Hope everyone stays warm, safe, and has a good day...
LPK
Dreamwidth
1.22.2021
In retrospect, it would've made sense to pull the old bearing so I could've brought it with me in the first place. But it's kind of a job for an old guy like yours truly and I didn't want to be without the use of the bike if it turned out that the part had to be ordered. So I did just enough of the disassembly to be sure that the special tools I had from "back in the day" would fit this much newer bike.
I also counted on the guys in the shop being able to look up the correct parts or, because they worked with them every day, knowing the right ones off the top of their heads. To be fair, they weren't far off--68 x 118 as opposed to 68 x 122.5. But in this case a miss by 4.5 mm might as well be by a mile because it would throw off chain alignment, shifting, etc.
But, like I said, I'm willing to share the blame. I learned a long time ago that, if you drop a blown engine on the parts counter, they can't very well say that they thought you were looking for a rebuilt transmission. Or something like that. You get the idea.
Anyway, when I called them about the mistake, they said to bring it back and they'd have the right one waiting for me. Which they did and which I brought home and installed without any further problems.
Except that I was really hoping to upgrade this component in the same way that I've done with the tires and peddles and seat, which I've also replaced. And, after looking up this brand on line, I'm not sure it's even OEM-quality, much less an upgrade.
I do understand that repair parts are in very short supply due to the fact that our major supplier of parts, as well as pandemics, is China. But I'm gonna look around in the next couple of days to see if I can find something better at another shop.
And with that, I'm off. Hope everyone stays warm, safe, and has a good day...
LPK
Dreamwidth
1.22.2021
