[CR]Re: Loose Balls

(Example: Component Manufacturers)

In-Reply-To: <d2d.407d7e9e.365a048c@aol.com>
References:
Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:08:46 -0800
To: RDF1249@aol.com, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Jan Heine" <heine94@earthlink.net>
Subject: [CR]Re: Loose Balls

At 7:57 PM -0500 11/22/08, RDF1249@aol.com wrote:
>
>
>(Of course, loose ball bearings
>are getting harder to find in high qualities.)
>
>Not so Jan - loose balls are readily available from several
>suppliers in grade 25 (Campy quality) and we stock all sizes.
>Wheels Mfg is one outfit that supplies the suppliers. You can also
>buy ceramic ball$ if you have enough money. They are grade 3 or 5.
> Now if I could just find 11-ball BB retainers like Campy or
>Shimano I would be a happy camper. Not to be found from anyone
>these days that I know of. Only 9 ball retainers.

I am sorry that my post was not clear. I did not mean "hard" (or "impossible) to find, but harder to find than in the past.

Ten years ago, every bearing supply store in Seattle had Grade 25 balls, in boxes of 1000 each. The prices were much lower than what you paid from bicycle suppliers. Today, none of the bearing supply stores carry them any longer. All the suppliers you list are bike-specific, because bikes are among the last to use cup-and-cone bearings... For the general public, high-quality loose ball bearings are becoming extinct.

Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.bikequarterly.com