You have to have the right tools for the job...
...my Father used to tell me this whenever he attempted any DIY project. As I've gotten older I've come to realize this was partially just his excuse for buying new tools. Nevertheless his advice has been echoing through my head since I decided to rebuild the bottom bracket of my Raleigh bike. For those who don’t know, the bottom bracket is part of the frame that holds the bearings and supports the crank.
I've worked on bikes most of my life but have never rebuilt one on an English bike. What I quickly learned after a little research was this particular job on these old vintage English bikes is notoriously difficult. The crank arms are held onto the spindle with a little metal piece called a cotter pin. These little metal pins, once secured don't want to budge which is great for holding everything together but an absolute nightmare when it's time to take things apart. Most people in YouTube instructional videos hammer the hell out of these pins to remove the crank arms and end up damaging their bike (or their fingers) in the process. The fixed cup that holds the drive-side of the bearings in is also usually nearly impossible to remove.
I was extremely lucky to find a metal fabricator, Mark Stonich with BikesmithDesign. It was especially great because Mark lives just a few miles away in Minneapolis. Mark makes the specialized tools pictured above in his workshop.
I won’t bore you with too much detail about the process but the tools worked flawlessly and, although they weren’t cheap, they were well worth the price. The disassembly was done in about twenty minutes, with zero injuries to my digits (or the bike) and far less cursing than there otherwise would have been.
Salt Water Taffy Isn't a Lubricant?
My hunch about needing to do the rebuild was correct. Once it was all torn apart it appeared that it had been decades since any maintenance had been done. It was a true miracle that the bike even pedaled. The old grease on the bearings had solidified to the consistency of salt water taffy (no kidding). I had to soak all the parts in paint thinner overnight and then I scrubbed them with a brush. It took about fifteen minutes of scrubbing to get all of the hardened grease off the metal parts even after soaking overnight.
I'll tackle the reassembly tomorrow or Monday. With any luck this old bike should be reassembled and ready to ride just in time for next week's heat wave. By "heat wave" I mean 60 degrees (F). : )
Each time I work on this bike or ride it I develop a deeper appreciation for how well made things were in decades’ past. The Raleigh is already older than I am by nearly twenty years and with the proper maintenance will be passed down to my nephew (if he wants it) and maybe even handed down to his children. Not bad for a $120 Craigslist find. As an added bonus I have a lifelong excuse to buy new tools.
Thank you for reading,
Eric
*I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and crypto-enthusiast. If you’ve enjoyed my work please sign up for my author newsletter at my website. Newsletter subscribers will receive exclusive updates and special offers and your information will never be sold or shared.
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