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Shoutout to the guy at the Aurora bike swap who sold me a seized bottom bracket for 5 bucks
I was at the bike swap in Aurora last month digging through a bin of cheap parts when this guy hands me a bottom bracket and says it just needs a good cleaning. I get it back to my stand, pop the cranks off, and this thing will not spin at all. Cups are cross threaded, bearings feel like gravel, and there is a dead spider inside the shell. So I soak it in penetrating oil for two days, chase the threads with a tap, swap in fresh bearings from my stash, and it actually runs smooth. Total cost was 5 bucks for the part and about 4 dollars in bearings, and it is now on my commuter. The spider got a proper burial in the yard, which felt only fair. Anyone else got a swap meet rescue story where a junk part turned out fine after some work?
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finleyprice6d ago
Scored a Shimano 600 crankset for 8 bucks at a swap last summer that looked like it got dragged behind a truck. The drive side arm had deep gouges and the rings were toast but the spindle and arms were straight, so I hit the whole thing with a wire wheel, sanded out the worst of the marks, and polished it up. New chainrings for 30 bucks and it looks almost new on my old steel frame. That spider story is great, sounds like the bottom bracket was basically a tiny haunted house before you got to it.
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