Thomas Adams wrote:
>> Dear List:
>>
>> http://www.velo-orange.com/
>>
>> For BB's with damaged/off line threading, Velo Orange now makes a
>> "threadless" bottom bracket that looks to be designed to resuce
>> hese frames. It's called the Grand Cru threadless BB, and uses an
>> expanding sleeve that is pressed into the threads, damaged or not,
>> as the adjustable cup is tightened. This looks like the BB only
>> locks onto the left side threads, but it's a neat looking fix.
>> It's also supposed to be a fix for french or swiss frames where you
>> don't want to spring for a Phil BB and/or can't find an orignal set
>> of cups. $60.00, JIS taper, lengths from 103 to 127 mm. Presumably
>> no offset, so you may have to shim the fixed cup or accept the left
>> crank being a bit further outboard.
>>
>> However I presume a grossly out of round BB shell would not be
>> solved by this unit, and I'd worry about damage to threads in a
>> sound BB that you just can't find cups for. Anyone from V-O care
>> to comment?
The VO threadless bottom bracket, like the earlier Edco "Grip" threadless bottom bracket (http://tinyurl.com/y8qfxck), appears to have aluminum cups which would be unlikely to mar a steel bottom bracket shell. Indeed, the soft aluminum allows any existing threads to "bite" into cup material and help hold it in place.
I suspect a grossly out of round shell would only be an issue if it rendered it impossible to pass the cartridge through the shell.
-- -John Thompson (john@os2.dhs.org) Appleton WI USA