[road]

I’m not convinced that the external bottom brackets are a step forward compared to the older internal type such as Isis splined, square taper or octalink. Thankfully I’ve never had the displeasure of press fit, but I’m probably not getting more than about 1500 miles from external ones. I’ve had pretty much all the shimano range from Tiagra to ultegra and Deore to xt and they’re all about the same. I’m currently on an Uberbike BB which has uprated skf bearings and I’m not sure if there’s a hint of clicking starting now I’m at about 1000mi.

It’s not the bike as I’ve had the same experience on three frames, (steel, alloy, carbon). BB shell is parallel, torqued correctly with correct number of spacers/washers, I don’t ride standing and I’m only 72kg.

What’s other peoples experience with BBs?

Topic

[Anonymous]

thats mightily impressive!

thats mightily impressive! Ive never used any Campag stuff

[Anonymous]

yeah Ive done this on shimano

yeah Ive done this on shimano ones as well, you just have to be more careful removing the plastic covers.

The new Uberbike ones have got uprated SKF bearings so hopefully will last a long while

[hopster]

Uberbike bottom brackets on

Uberbike bottom brackets on all my bikes.  They are easy to maintain. I pop off the spacer and use a pick to remove the bearing seal once a year which has increased the life. Bearings are super easy to change (6805). Don’t bother with ceramic versions, not worth the money IMO. 

Tools to change the bearings are easily sourced online. Saying all this I used to annually pop the deals of Sram GXP bottom brackets and I got more than 4 years out of the two that I owned. 

[srchar]

Nor I. My commuter has

Nor I. My commuter has clocked up 20,000 miles on a Veloce UT chainset and is still on the original bearings. I haven’t even had the cranks off to grease them. No creaks, no grinding, still spinning freely whenever the chain is off.

[Nick T]

I’ve not had to replace an

I’ve not had to replace an ultra torque bearing in about 10 years of using the standard 

[ktache]

Nice, always good to find the

Nice, always good to find the source of the click.

[Anonymous]

I stand corrected this time

I stand corrected this time it was the drive side pedal clicking, so will service. 

Still good to know that the Uberbike BB is running nicely after about 1000mi, I wont be using shimano ones again

[Anonymous]

Infrequently (I dry brush
Infrequently (I dry brush usually) and then when I do it’s with warm water and a sponge on most of the frame and components, and if needed GT85 on a cloth to wipe drivetrain, low pressure hose to rinse and not directly in to bearings

[Liam Cahill]

Ah, are we talking “crunch

Ah, are we talking “crunch crunch”, not “click click”?

[srchar]

This is quite unusual. Don’t

This is quite unusual. Don’t take this the wrong way, but there is a common element here – you. How do you wash your bikes?

[Anonymous]

I’ve had no luck at all with
I’ve had no luck at all with SRAM GXP bottom brackets. The drive side seizes up at the mere mention of water and road grime. I’ve now moved to Praxis and hope they are better. At least the bearings are replaceable which will cut down the cost. I have had a Hope Shimano Hollow Tech II on the MTB and it was ok but the drive side bearings seized up and were completely rusty despite being stainless steel. Their replacement bearings are ridiculously overpriced. I purchased 4 Shimano XT BBs for the price of two Hope bearings – the first of which is still going strong three years later.

[Richbeck]

Hope, Hope then Hope again!
Hope, Hope then Hope again!

[ktache]

I’m going to try and not

I’m going to try and not insult Bechdan’s knowledge and experience, but whenever I have had a botttom bracket go, it REALLY sounds as it has GONE.  Grindy, awful noises, really nasty, and as I remember very little warning, silent one day then bam, graunchy, a click could be anything on the bike, everything wrong with my bike sounds like it’s coming from the bottom bracket area.  First thing I do is re-grease my seatpost.  Then slowly start pulling bits apart, cleaning and greasing as I go, starting with the cranks, pedals, maybe bb threads.

The last click that developed went away by itself, yea…

Kind of good as I was still waiting to buy the new bb adaptor thing I discovered I needed.

[Anonymous]

Or indeed anything bearing
Or indeed anything bearing related, been on his page many a time

[nickW1]

find Hambini on yoptube the

find Hambini on yoptube the undoubted real expert on BBs always good advice 

[Author]

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