Ray,
I'm betting this had something to do with rust either as a preventive while it was ridden or a treatment to clean it by bouncing around inside after it had gotten rusty. It looks something like the shot blast we used in England.
Doug Fattic Niles, Michigan, USA
From: "Ray Homiski" <classicbicycle(AT)gmail.com>
I was preparing my Rene Herse bicycle frame today for a paint job that I am having done. I had only to remove the headset and BB. The headset came off without a problem. The BB also was fairly easy to remove. It is the RH BB set with bearing cartridges pressed into the BB. After removing the RH retainers to expose the cartridges I gently tapped the spindle to drive out the bearings, first one side then the other.
To my surprise I saw inside the BB shell between the two bearing cartridges a load of what I can only describe as tiny metal spheres the size of poppy seeds. I mean there was a bunch of them in there. It was packed with them. I carefully removed the one side cartridge and brushed them into a plastic bag. I then tapped out the other bearing and brushed out more. I then took a flashlight and saw even more packed in the chainstays, seat tube and downtube. I took a wooden dowel and pushed from the top of the seat tube and out came more spheres and a wad of brown crepe paper. My guess is that the paper was used to prevent them from going up the seat tube. I then explored the downtube from inside the BB and found another wad of the same paper that I also removed. Like the last one it was clean at the top but dirty as it prevented these spheres from traveling up the tube.
Next I turned my attention to the chain stays. There was more spheres so I oriented the frame so they would fall out as I tapped the frame with a rubber hammer. I put a piece of paper in the BB to catch all that came out. Once that was done, I could then see paper wads in them also. I could not get them out as they are pretty far up.
This looks to be intentionally put in between the cartridges for some reason. They have a significant weight to them, probably more than a quarter pound. They are somewhat greasy but are not metal shavings, they are spheres. I took some photos so you all can see what I mean. I even took a close up shot of them. Then some placed on a penny for scale, then the whole bag full, minus one teaspoon full that dropped on the floor before I knew what was happening. I also took shots of the paper wads that I removed. The spheres can be picked up with a magnet so I know they are metal.
I have never seen this before so I am going to the list and asking what can this be for? The frame is vintage late 60s or early 70s I am told. Could someone have put them there to add weight to the bike to slow someone down or lower the center of gravity. Again these are not shavings but in my opinion intentionally placed metal spheres. Click on the photo link and tell me what you think.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/
Ray Homiski
Elizabeth, NJ