Subject: Re: [CR]now: Phil BB problems, history
> In a message dated 10/24/03 12:24:52 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
> heine93@earthlink.net writes:
>
>
> > Has anybody ever had a Phil move sideways? It happened on two Jack
> > Taylor tandems (both within CR timeline!), rear BB. We noticed the
> > right-side chainrings were grinding on the chainstay, grinding hard!
> > In both cases, the lockrings were VERY tight, but not glued in with
> > Locktite. Same BB, both times, swapped from one bike to other. BSC
> > thread. Drivetrain is standard: from the offending BB, the right
> > crank has a chain to the rear wheel, left crank chain to front
> > cranks. It happened within 500 miles of installation.
> >
> > Is it a Phil thing, or a Taylor thing? I replaced the BB with a
> > Ritchey (fixed cup), and no more problems. But I'd like to reuse the
> > Phil, so I want to figure out what happened...
> >
>
> Something to bear in mind about Phil axles: They used to break with
> regularity, I asked him about this at a trade show and his reply was "I'm
almost all
> the way through that material, after it's gone, there won't be any more
breakage
> because I now have better stuff". That's not an exact quote, but it IS the
> gist. He had the same attitude about his collapsing hub flanges. He made
them
> wrong, did not recall them, and if you survived the crash, he'd give you a
new
> one. I realize he is no longer associated with the company, but this very
early
> and despicable association regarding quality (or lack of it) and the lives
of
> the people using it lives on. The only Phil Wood thing I will use is his
> excellent spoke threader. I will not TOUCH a hub or bottom bracket without
clear
> memory of life threatening breakage that was common in the early days. Ask
> yourself, how do you know you do not have an early axle prone to breakage?
> A well regarded frame builder known to the list, knew someone whose
(Campy)
> crank broke while climbing a hill. He fell under the wheels of a car and
was
> killed. Parts that break are potentially deadly. I was appalled and
disgusted by
> Phil's attitude and regret that his parts are held in such apparent high
> esteem by people who apparently don't know the past history of his parts.
Caveat
> Emptor. There are all kinds of better vintage parts available if you are
> willing to search: Edco, OMAS, Stronglight, etc.
Sorry Stevan, but your perception of Phil Woods "philosophy" and attitude simply couldn't be more wrong.
Hugh Enox
Jevelot