'Shampagnolo' bottom bracket?

[Johnsqual]

Hello,

Does anyone know if it's possible to just install a Shimano BB spindle with Campagnolo cups on a cup and cone BB?

I have a bike with an Italian threaded BB, at the moment a Campag Nuovo Record. I also have a Shimano Italian BB spindle (70mm). I think it must be Shimano 600, since the crankset it came with was a 600 Arabesque. Unfortunately, the Shimano cups were worn out, but the Spindle is still usable.

From what I can tell from Velobase, both the Shimano 600 and the Campagnolo NR used 11 x 1/4" bearings. So that should mean the spindle would fit OK, right?

Or have I missed something that means that the spindles and cups are incompatible?

I want to use the Shimano crankset to get slightly lower gears, but the Shimano cranks bottom out on the Campag spindle.

Thanks,

Johnny

 

[twosheds]

Re:

Considering that Weldtite "caged" replacement ball bearings appear to be available as "one size for all makes", I would assume that the relative positions of the bearing surfaces are the same for all makes, therefore I think you will have compatibility.
The Shimano spindle and the Campagnolo cup are in contact with a common part, not each other.
Is the spindle the right size, where it passes through the cup, in order to keep grease in and dirt out?
I'm an engineer, not a Shampagnolo technical advisor, so someone else may have another opinion.

-----
Bruce

 

[Johnsqual]

Re:

Thanks for the reply.

I did think that the fit of the spindle through the hole in the cup could be the main problem - I will have a look at it later tonight.

I was also wondering if the pitch of the curves on the spindle surfaces and cup surfaces for the bearing races might be a problem but I suppose not if they both use the same size bearings.

Will have a look at it all later and see.

Cheers,

Johnny

 

[Midlife]

BITD we mixed and matched Campag / Shimano / Sugino / Sakae Ringyo / Ofmega and they all seemed to work pretty well. This was up to about 1979 though.

Never liked mixing with TA or Stronglight though, just never seemed to be copies of anything else. Similarly with Suntour which looked different as well...

Shaun

 

[Johnsqual]

Re:

And the answer is: er, I still don't know.

The threading on the adjustable cup for the Campagnolo BB was quite short, and it bottomed out before it was able to remove enough of the play from the Shimano spindle. I tried with an old Shimano adjustable cup and that was OK, but the cup was quite worn already and I couldn't really be bothered setting up an adjustable BB just to have it wear out after 1000km.

Comparing the Shimano and Campagnolo spindles, the lips round the bearing race are a bit further apart on the Campag one, which presumably explains why the Campag cup was shorter. I had a suspicion something like that was going to happen - all just a bit too easy otherwise :roll:

So the answer in my case seems to be: you can use a Shimano spindle with a Campag fixed cup, but the adjustable cup needs to be Shimano. Bear in mind that this is all for Italian threaded BBs - probably different again for BSA :facepalm:

Luckily, I found an NOS Ofmega cartridge BB with JIS tapers and of the correct length in my bits box, so at that point the cycling gods stopped scattering turds in my path and I was able to finish the set up.

Thanks again for the replies.

 

[stringfellow1946]

What are the markings on the Campag BB axel?

The old Campagnolo cups came in two version thick & thin walled.
The thick walled ones were riffled where the bb axel passes through the cup.
Also some used 3/16 or 7/32 ball bearings & some 1/4 ball bearings.

 

[Johnsqual]

Re:

I think it jsut said 70 Strada SS and the spindle length. Can have another look tonight.

The walls of the bearing race were deinitely much thinner than the Shimano ones in any case.

Johnny