Pace bottom bracket bearings. No longer in stock.

MilitantGraham

I need some new bottom bracket bearings for my old Pace frame.
I tried a local bearing stockist and a couple of on line ones and it turns out they are an odd imperial size that's not even listed.
I emailed Pace and they no longer stock them.
They are approximately 0.875" x 1.5" x 0.375". The battery's flat in my digital vernier caliper. :roll: I'll check the exact dimensions later.
Has anyone got any helpful suggestions on how to get round this ?

nicklouse

what is the BB? and what are the cranks?

MilitantGraham

The bottom bracket shell on the frame is a plain, unthreaded tube.
The bearings are conventional shielded cassette bearings, inner and outer race with a row of balls in a cage, pressed in to the frame.
The cranks are Bullseye steel with a plain shaft which is a light press fit in the bearings. The shaft is welded to the right hand crank, the left hand crank is on a spline with a pinch bolt.

redvee

Look on the bearings and there will be some form of marking, you might have to take them out to see the markings, then take this info to a bearing supplier and they should be able to oblige with three different quality bearings the top dollar being aircraft grade.

nicklouse

crist the old bullseye system.

if you really want to keep the cranks then old bearings to a bearing shop, good luck.

CitizenLee

Find the bearing type then drop these people a line:

www.betd.co.uk

www.enduroforkseals.com

MilitantGraham

redvee wrote:

Look on the bearings and there will be some form of marking...

There isn't. I know this is unusual, but there are no markings on the bearings at all.

nicklouse wrote:

crist the old bullseye system.
if you really want to keep the cranks then old bearings to a bearing shop, good luck.

It's not so much a matter of keeping the same cranks. It's more a case of getting the bike rideable again by any means.
As I said, I have tried a local bearing stockist and a few on line ones and they all seem to work from the same catalogue.
Take a look at this one for example. Page 17.
For 0.875" ID, there's nothing under 1.875" OD.

I've bought a new (second hand) bike now with a Santa Cruz Chameleon frame as I intend to upgrade to a Rohloff hub. I only intend to keep the Pace as a second bike, and for nostalgia value, so there's no real urgency to get it sorted. On the other hand, that also means I don't want to spend too much money on it.

One idea I had was to get a sleeve pressed in to the bottom bracket then get a conventional 1.375" thread cut in to it. Finding someone who stocks obsolete, non-preferred imperial bearings would probably work out cheaper, though.

Sir HC

Just had a look through the SKF catalogue. I found a bearing with the correct ID, but the OD was around 10mm too large.

Its worth contacting SKF, as they may be able to help you.

nicklouse

bigger OD than a bmx bearing.

what i would be doing IF you can not find a bearing to fit, which if a bearing shop cant find one, then you will not find one and alternative methods will need to be looked at.

But first a question is the bearing a direct press fit in the bb shell? or is there a cup?

what is the ID of the bb shell.?

re having a sleeve pressed in have a look at the Gusset A-cup BMX to euro converters and get something similar made.