Did they make sealed cartridge bb's in the 80's?

dirttorpedo · Apr 19, 2014

I just cracked open the bb on my 84 Diamondback Ridge Runner and was shocked to find a sealed cartridge bearing bb inside the old vintage looking cups and lock rings. Is this some sort of bizzare lash up to keep the bike looking original or did they make cartridge bearing bb's back in the old days? All it says on the rubber seal is OCP Japan. No other marks or labels on the thing.

Ductape · Apr 19, 2014

1981:

FluffyChicken · Apr 19, 2014

Re:

That direct in the frame one?
I think he's meaning more like the Suntour ones where they used cartridge bearings (or a serviceable cartridge bearing) in place of loose or caged balls and machined bearing surfaces on the axle and cups.

I think they are probably Sugino ones if original
Bit like these ? www.equusbicycle.com/bike/sugino/index.html

Unclejack · Apr 19, 2014

Re:

KAJITA?

Rampage · Apr 19, 2014

Re:

Yes, as FluffyChicken says there were BB's that used cartridge bearings, they came apart unlike the shimano cartridge style. Basically a straight axle which the bearing fitted over then the cup fitted over the bearing, usually an aluminium sleeve fitted between the bearings.

Ductape · Apr 19, 2014

These are fairly common:

http://www.velobase.com/ViewComponent.a ... 9&AbsPos=0

dirttorpedo · Apr 19, 2014

Re:

Cool. Mine is closest to the GUINES one in teh Suntour brochure that Fluffychicken linked me to. It seems to be working fine, so I'm just going to remove as much rust as possible and refit it. I guess these were top end bb's for the day. Surprised everone made such a bid deal when Shimano introduced theirs in the 90's.

FluffyChicken · Apr 19, 2014

Re:

Shimano had a different style. It was/is one complete bottom bracket cartridge and not cartridge bearings used in place of loose/caged bearings
Shimano sealed everything as one unit. This allowed much larger bearings to be used and only two places for dirt to get in and bearing separation is fixed by the unit itself, not by how far you screw the cups on.

walleater · Apr 19, 2014

I used to use FAG (heh...) bottom brackets a lot BITD. They always lasted much longer than the loose ball ones that were around circa 1990. I assume that the FAG ones had cartridge bearings as they were a big plastic unit IIRC.

WD Pro · Apr 19, 2014

Yeah I had a plastic fag - had a special tool to put it in

Lasted well

WD

Did they make sealed cartridge bb's in the 80's?

dirttorpedo

Senior Retro Guru

Ductape

FluffyChicken

Unclejack

Rampage

Ductape

dirttorpedo

Senior Retro Guru

FluffyChicken

walleater

Retro Guru

WD Pro

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