Enduro Bearings MAXhit BSA bottom bracket

The bottom bracket may be the least interesting thing on your bike, but you’ll need to replace it at some point. Enduro Bearings’ MAXhit BSA Bottom Bracket may well be the last you’ll ever buy. Thanks to its fit-and-forget durability, extra seals included in the packet, and a very comprehensive lifetime warranty, I wouldn’t look anywhere else, but it requires quite the investment.

Enduro Bearings MAXhit BSA bottom bracket – Technical details

Enduro Bearings has gone around its bottom bracket design in a slightly different way. Rather than using cups that cartridge bearings sit within, the MAXhit is the bearings, if you catch my drift. It’s essentially a pair of bearings that thread straight into your frame.

This way around BB design means more space for larger balls and more than double the load capacity, says the brand. With that, the MAXhit should last longer than traditional designs.

The bottom bracket is machined from 440C stainless steel, and the bearings use double-lip labyrinth seals to keep crud out and protect them from corrosion. Inside, it’s filled with Enduro Bearings’ own extra high-pressure grease to a 90% fill.

The angular contact balls that Enduro Bearings has chosen for this bottom bracket are constructed of chromium steel with a black oxide finish and wrapped with 440C stainless steel. The brand recognises that the 440C steel isn’t as durable as ceramic alternatives, but it’s much more affordable.

Included in the box is everything that you’ll need for installation, including two sets of exterior seals and a spare set of green seals for when the BB’s lip seals need replacing. This is a great touch, especially given the cost.

Better still, Enduro Bearings offers a lifetime warranty to the original owner. This is a pretty comprehensive warranty, too, which covers corrosion, wear and manufacturing defects ‘during the product’s intended useful life’, so everything really. There is something of a caveat, however. The brand states that the bottom bracket should be serviced annually by a professional mechanic, and failure to do so will void the warranty.

That service includes thorough cleaning and re-greasing using specific greases from Enduro Bearings.

I have got in touch with Enduro Bearings to see what the score really is here, and it’s a lot more relaxed than its policy suggests. If you’ve got the original proof of purchase, the brand will endeavor to get you rolling again. Enduro Bearings also welcomes self-maintenance.

Lastly, the BB is available to fit 24mm, 30mm, and DUB crank spindles, so most modern and common sizes are accommodated.

If you’re not willing to go full Enduro Bearings, and have an existing BB, the brand offers bearing kits that’ll pair the seals found on the full BB and a set of cartridge bearings, with whatever bearing cups you’re currently running. This will set you back a friendlier but still kind of pricey £60.67.

Enduro Bearings MAXhit BSA bottom bracket – Performance

As I said when opening this review, bottom brackets are as dull as dishwater, but eventually, you’ll need to hit the shops to buy a freshie when your current one gives out. Now, the MAXhit may be quite an investment, but it’s as close to fit and forget as a bottom bracket can get.

Although the bottom bracket uses a different construction from most, installation is just as straightforward as regular designs. Just thread it into a clean BB shell, with plenty of grease, pop the red outer seals in place, and you’re good to go.

This isn’t a ceramic-balled product, so don’t go about expecting much of a reduction in friction, but the MAXhit runs smoothly straight out of the box, and fairly quietly, too. Granted, I did pick up a bit of a creak deeper into my test, which only took a quick external wipe of the internal faces to rid. This was caused by dirt that sat between the bottom bracket and the crank spindle, so it’s not the fault of the MAXhit.

I’ve ridden with this bottom bracket for a very solid year now. It’s been through the harshness of our British winters, right through to summer’s dry and dusty trails, and apart from that easy-to-rid creak, it’s been absolutely faultless. I usually burn through more affordable bottom brackets well within a year, but the MAXhit is still rolling as smoothly as it did when I pulled it from the box.

Stiffness and general stability have been super consistent too. Play just hasn’t entered the chat.

My only qualm on the durability front is that the carbon spacer that sits between the bearings has chipped a bit. It hasn’t affected performance at all, though.

Enduro Bearings MAXhit BSA bottom bracket – Verdict

Alright, so £180 is an awful lot to spend on a bottom bracket. You can buy five SRAM bottom brackets for the same cash. But with that comes more time messing with your bike, and five more opportunities for play and grittiness to affect your ride. Plus, the MAXhit remains smooth and play-free well beyond what I’d expect of a more standard £30 bottom bracket.

Even compared to ceramic BBs that ask well above the MAXhit’s price, it trumps them all in terms of longevity. Even the ceramic-balled options I’ve ridden haven’t lasted as long as Enduro Bearing’s BB, despite being noticeably easier to pedal.

Then there’s that lifetime warranty that seems to have pretty much everything that can go wrong with a bottom bracket covered. That alone does something to justify that price tag.

I’ve not yet ridden a bottom bracket that’s so consistent and durable over such a period of time. Usually, I wear through a BB in less than a year, so it’s great to see something become a true fit-and-forget bit of kit, and even after a year and beyond, it still doesn’t need a service. Throw in that lifetime warranty, and the Enduro Bearings MAXhit may well be the last bottom bracket you buy, unless you change crank axle standards…