Keith,
If a frame of mine had your problem, I would be running to Stone's Cyclery (my local bike shop here in Alameda) for a full diagnostic work up on the frame and the BB parts involved. Any time I have any difficulty threading on parts that should mate well, I try to resist the "bigger hammer" approach until I know exactly what is going on. Someone may have tried to thread on an incompatible BB cup at one time, or cross-threaded one, and my first priorities would be to:
a) do no further harm, and
b) repair/restore the threads on the BB as carefully as possible.
The Holdsworth is 99% likely to have been built originally with English tubing and English threading) specs, AFAIK, and the only reason I can think of to have used Swiss or French BB threading is if the tube set used had been a metric one, not British. (The tube set is somewhat verifiable by checking the seatpost diameter. On most English 531 sets, it is 27.2.) I have heard over the years that if something had damaged the original English BB threads, they most likely would have been re-tapped to Italian threading (leaving a thinner BB shell, I think), but I have never had the misfortune to have to take that route.
AT MY LBS
First, I would ask Dennis to verify the actual threading on all the BB parts I had. (They can be checked against similar parts from new BBs, etc., as well as on a new frame's known BB threading.)
Second, I would ask him to verify the BB threading on the frame, and, once it was verified, have him chase the threads.
If you have no access to a good LBS and have some stainless steel Phil Wood BB rings around, those should have very precise threads compared to the TA cups.
I wish you well on your repair/restoration.
Jon Spangler Alameda, CA USA
Begin forwarded message:
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:47:05 -0600
> From: <globallyoff@s2ki.com>
> Subject: [CR] Holdsworth bottom bracket problems......help!
> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Cc: globallyoff@s2ki.com
> Message-ID: 1434.76.107.21.152.1233280025.squirrel@www.s2ki.com
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> I got my mid 1970's Holdsworth bike for a real bargain on ebay
> recently.
> I completely disassembled the bike and planned to use a Campag.
> Gran Sport
> triple grouppo on it. The bike came with a TA 27, 40 double crank
> which I
> didnt really need, so I agreed to send it back to the seller to help
> defray some of his shipping costs which exceeded his estimate.
>
> When trying to install the Campag. permanent English threaded cup,
> it got
> hard and started trying to crossthread about half way in. I backed
> it out
> and got the TA permanent cup. It went right in. I call my friend
> who has
> a Sutherland's vol. 3 manual and we make sure the TA is English
> threads (2
> rings on the adjustable cup) I try the adjustable Campag. cup about a
> dozen times but can't get it started. I try the TA adjustable cup
> and it
> goes right in, except that the lock ring is frozen to the
> adjustable cup.
> I screwed it in 90% of the way and used Liquid Wrench and a mallet
> trying
> to at least get the lockring off without luck. I was about to
> break my
> pin wrench and lockring tool.
>
> I then test the Campag. triple spindle in the TA cups. It will
> work but
> the races leave marks a bit too high up on the races, not exactly
> in the
> middle.
>
> I guess I could use the entire TA BB and just run a double Gran Sport
> crank, which I have.
>
> HELP!
>
> 1) Should I just go with a 10 speed? Will the Campag crankarms
> work OK on
> the TA spindle? Sutherland's says probably so.
>
> 2) Does anyone have an English threaded TA triple BB with spindle that
> they wish to sell?
>
> 3)Does anyone have a nice English threaded TA triple crankset that
> they
> wish to sell?
>
> Not wanting to ruin the threads in my bottom bracket...........
>
> Keith Kessel
> Shreveport, La.
> USA
>
>
>
Jon Spangler
Writer/Editor
Linda Hudson Writing
510-864-0370/FAX 864-2144
MOBILE 510-846-5356
hudsonspangler@earthlink.net