Bottom Bracket - 02

BOTTOM BRACKET:
Stronglight 650 Titane (modified) - traditional non-cartridge adjustable type bottom bracket for 70 mm shell - 6Al-4V titanium alloy rifled spindle with oversized mid section - square taper - 118.5 mm width with 2 mm drive side asymmetrical offset - SKF 61903 RS1 annular sealed bearings - 36 mm x 24 TPI Italian threaded aluminum alloy cups (non-drive side adjustable cup - right threading / drive side adjustable cup - also right threading) - aluminum alloy lock rings - "accordion" style plastic dust sleeve - model 650 Titane : Stronglight Super Competition crank bolts and washers - 6Al-4V titanium alloy - M8 x 1.00 x 20 mm bolts with 14 mm head / M8 flat washers - model 59T (bolts) / 60T (washers) ... [Unlike its Campagnolo Super Record counterpart which was notably flexible and subject to the occasional and most inopportune failure (...just ask Laurent Fignon) due to its slender spindle being crafted from relatively low strength Commercially Pure (CP) titanium, the Stronglight 650 Titane unit utilized not only a hollowed spindle having an oversized mid section but one which was also constituted of a stronger alloyed version of 6/4 titanium (...6% aluminum and 4% vanadium with the remaining 90% being titanium - roughly three times stronger than pure titanium), which enabled it to much better withstand the rigors of competitive use. Moreover, while Stronglight originally offered this component having a traditional fixed cup on its drive side, it was not long before enterprising individuals realized that they could easily order up a spare adjustable cup and lock ring for this unit and then substitute same for the fixed cup on French and Italian threaded versions thereby facilitating the ability to very precisely fine tune one’s chain line for optimal performance (...in fact, Stronglight themselves would eventually go on to produce a version of the model 650 Titane bottom bracket assembly in the mid 1980’s using this very configuration, which is to say one having adjustable cups on both the drive and non-drive sides ). Arguably the best titanium bottom bracket in its day, the Stronglight 650 Titane made its public debut at various cycling industry trade shows held during the waning months of 1975 and was subsequently an integral part of the Peugeot PY-10/CP that Bernard Thevenet rode to victory in 1977 for his second Tour de France title. Graftek G-1 models which were sold new as a "complete" bike would have normally had a standard steel Campagnolo Nuovo Record model 1046/A bottom bracket installed.]