garethrl
Senior Retro Guru
Hi Martin,
The BB that I gave you with the frame was NOS (I still have the box somewhere) but it was not fitted to the frame beforehand and so might not be the correct length for that lovely Stronglight crank you bought. However, if you look on ebay you'll see Italian BB spindles in all lengths coming up all the time so given that the cups and bearings are all unused, it might be worth trying a few different lengths until you get the right one.
As you've stated, the BB is Italian, and as has also been stated the taper will be Campag (it's actually called ISO). AFAIK the Stronglight cranks were ISO as well so they'll be the correct taper - but not necessarily the right length and I think this is the issue you have with those cranks. OTOH I believe that Cooks would be JIS so you'll need a longer spindle again. As an aside, ISO and JIS can almost always be mixed but you do need to pay attention to spindle length. As a starting point, take a look at the thread below about the Peugeot carbon refurb and perhaps ask the OP what spindle length he has for his Pug?
Finally, the bearings ought to be in as-new condition (they were always stored in that little plastic container) but in case you want to replace them then they're a standard 1/4" bearing. You could try to get some high-grade stainless ones, or even go ceramic if you want to be posh!
Cheers, Gareth.
The BB that I gave you with the frame was NOS (I still have the box somewhere) but it was not fitted to the frame beforehand and so might not be the correct length for that lovely Stronglight crank you bought. However, if you look on ebay you'll see Italian BB spindles in all lengths coming up all the time so given that the cups and bearings are all unused, it might be worth trying a few different lengths until you get the right one.
As you've stated, the BB is Italian, and as has also been stated the taper will be Campag (it's actually called ISO). AFAIK the Stronglight cranks were ISO as well so they'll be the correct taper - but not necessarily the right length and I think this is the issue you have with those cranks. OTOH I believe that Cooks would be JIS so you'll need a longer spindle again. As an aside, ISO and JIS can almost always be mixed but you do need to pay attention to spindle length. As a starting point, take a look at the thread below about the Peugeot carbon refurb and perhaps ask the OP what spindle length he has for his Pug?
Finally, the bearings ought to be in as-new condition (they were always stored in that little plastic container) but in case you want to replace them then they're a standard 1/4" bearing. You could try to get some high-grade stainless ones, or even go ceramic if you want to be posh!
Cheers, Gareth.
