Home > Clothing-Gear-Tools

Velo Gold turns out precision bottom bracket assembly tools for Kogel Bearings

11 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

Velo Gold Kogel bearing press shop (1)

If you’re in the business of selling precision bearings, your product has to start with precise assembly. Looking to speed up their assembly process, Kogel Bearings wanted to avoid the use of an arbor press which could damage the bearings. But they also were in need of something faster than the threaded solution that was currently employed. After seeing the custom carbon, machining, and tool work of Joshua Clark from Velo Gold Bicycles (on Bikerumor, no less), Ard Kessels of Kogel contacted Joshua to see what he could do.

The result is an impressive looking tool/assembly station with some beautiful machining…

Velo Gold Kogel bearing press shop (4) Velo Gold Kogel bearing press shop (3)

According to Joshua, the tools are working prototypes that were designed on short order for Kogel. As the ever present tinkerer, inventor, and machinist, Joshua states there are already some tweaks that he’s thought of that could make them more bike shop/general purpose friendly. Designed and made in house at Velo Gold in Ft. Worth, Texas with the exception of the slide snap latch, the bearing tool has a split nut head that clamps to an ACME 3/8″-12 threaded rod. The split nut performs much like that of the new Abbey Bike Tools bearing press, but closes with a slide snap latch instead of magnets for a tool that is geared more towards production assembly. The ease of the split nut should make installing bearings and assembling bottom brackets quite a bit faster, while keeping the delicate hand touch needed to ensure the bearings aren’t over loaded in a press.

Joshua also mentioned this is the “(mostly) proper” installation technique for the new assembly tool shown above. Currently there are no plans for production other than for Kogel’s assembly team, but like all things – if there was enough demand…

kogel.cc

VeloGoldBicycles

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

11 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
J
J
8 years ago

Slick. Steel is real though brotha. You’re talking a production environment, aluminum is a horrible choice for threads.

Kogel Bearings
8 years ago

Thanks Joshua, we can’t wait to put this beauty to work!

WannaBeSTi
WannaBeSTi
8 years ago

How would this tool be more convenient than a Wheels Mfg bearing press? I could see that this tool might better for ext bb cups, but what about all the other B.S. bb standards?

SNIPE-HUNTER
8 years ago

@wannabesti For shop use, it would only really be a little bit faster. I’m planning one for use in the shop here, and will post a video of it. Threading handles on and off is not a big deal, but it’s also not my favorite thing to do! Great question.

shafty
shafty
8 years ago

It’s better, because the hinged clamp makes it much faster. No need to spin the handles off each time. For stubborn shells, it’s a great feature that would encourage pressing bearings one at a time. Saving time is valuable to some people, but not all.

anonymous
anonymous
8 years ago

Having your threaded rod a foot long probably makes it take longer to thread a normal tool

SNIPE-HUNTER
8 years ago

@anonymous. Hopefully, the guys at Kogel will be able to use the full length(10″) of the threaded rod in order to “gang-up” parts being assembled.

Brendan
Brendan
8 years ago

How would an arbor press (with properly sized drifts) damage the bearings?

SNIPE-HUNTER
8 years ago

@J… I made these out of 7075 T-6, which is pretty tough stuff. I agree, steel would have been a great option, brass as well, but I don’t have a lot of time during my day to work on projects like this… please don’t judge me! Take a look at my shop tour, and you’ll see that designing, engineering, and machining is a small part of my business. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3wUUJUKxIo

Bz Johnson
Bz Johnson
8 years ago

Always better tools…you guys are trying to ruin me! Now every time I use a current tool knowing a much better has been designed,I get sad. My list of new tools exceeds my shops budget by 2x!
Really nice idea there!

SNIPE-HUNTER
8 years ago

Yo, BZ!! Give me a shout if you ever need something. I love working with other shops, and making stuff that people will actually use!

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.