BB Lifespan

[cbosley]

How long do bottom brackets typically last for most of you? Mine seem to get pretty notchy in a couple months. Do most people just ride them until the bearings fail and seaze up or replace them when they don't run smooth anymore. FWIW, I'm running an FSA Platinum Pro.

[Henri]

The square taper bearings last longer. My Try-All ISIS freezed up after using it for 3 weeks. When i took it out the non driveside bearings were mud :ugh:. The driveside bearings were still amazingly smooth. Now im using a Viz bottombracket for a month, lets see what happens. They're all shit imo.

[MIKE1968]

years? I don't care if hte bearings are shot- if it still turns when I pedal its fine.

[eturt9]

truvativ giga pipe team dh, good as the day i bought it 1 year later. I've had other crapy ones last a few months.

[muddyfox]

The bearings in my try-all bb ran smooth for about 1 month but i'm still using it 6 months later. Sometimes they last for ages and other times they dont. I wouldnt worry about it untill they fail or seize up.

[jmkimmel]

anybody know lifespans for square taper BB's? Any warning signs before spap-ping-shredded-calf?

[rush]

Ive had 2 BB's in 4 years, both FSA something-or-others. I now have a Plat Pro. Ill see how that goes.

[GarthMc]

After 2 years on the same BB, FSA Platnum Pro, It was still pretty smooth and has gone onto another bike.

I've now got an SKF 600 series (the full Stainless one) which cost me a small fortune, but has a 10 year warranty with no limitations about trials.


-Garth

[stocktrials]

i had a FSA Platinum Pro for about < 2 years. it is still alive today in sam's other trials bike

then had to change frames so, new BB...
another FSA Platinum Pro, diff size and that is still alive i believe? if JD gave it to Pete with the mitbull very recently.. it would be < 2 years old now

changed frames again so got a try-all. that lasted 1 year

got a FSA Platinum DH now, had it for 3 months? or so

[gsg]

Question, how much, if any play is acceptable in a BB? Mine has a tiny bit of wiggle and the cranks come loose every few rides. Is my BB toast?

[Tanner]

Question, how much, if any play is acceptable in a BB? Mine has a tiny bit of wiggle and the cranks come loose every few rides. Is my BB toast?

It depends where the wiggle is. Is it the spindle/bearings that wiggle? Or is it the cups in the frame that move? If just the cups move, TIGHTEN them. If the spindle/bearings move, not much you can do about that besides keep the cups tight. I'd say if you can move the spindle a lot and it gets hard to turn the cranks, your BB is shot.

[PSouth440]

I have been riding trials for more than 7 years and I have had 4 different bikes, I have only replaced one BB and that was back in 2000. the rest would just come with the bike and the frame would go before the BB.

[KeepRollin]

I have an almost 3 year old UN-52 BB still going. Runs perfectly smooth. Possible snappage? Yeah I'm a little scared.....

[beastoftheeast]

Question, how much, if any play is acceptable in a BB? Mine has a tiny bit of wiggle and the cranks come loose every few rides. Is my BB toast?
i had that problem on my mt bike. after 2 hours of riding it came loose. use a little blue loctite so the cranks dont keep coming loose. that bb on mt bike is f'ed i think though. can hear it creak from a mile away.

[carnagr]

That just means you need grease on the BB and crank splines...

[tomacropod]

crank SPLINES yes grease.

crank TAPERS no grease. The taper fit won't work with grease, you'll kill the crank.

- Joel

[mcdub]

Oddly enough.My luck with fsa hasn't been its best.Bearings are starting to go and I think my axle is bent.Well it is.I just dont want to realise and egknoledge such a disaster.

[GarthMc]

Oddly enough.My luck with fsa hasn't been its best.Bearings are starting to go and I think my axle is bent.Well it is.I just dont want to realise and egknoledge such a disaster.

:rofl: I love the "head in a bucket of sand approach" to things. It's amazing how good it is at making problems go away.

-Garth

[Luriks]

Anyone tried echo external BB? I am about to buy new BB... I dont trust my truvativ giga pipe team dh anymore. I greased it and its still cracking :dunno:

[Anon.]

crank SPLINES yes grease.

crank TAPERS no grease. The taper fit won't work with grease, you'll kill the crank.

- Joel

I just lube everything up? Square tapered or ISIS, it seems to do the trick in terms of silencing the fucker up. Hasn't seemed to have harmed any of my cranks or BBs in any way, either?

[boxx]

I just lube everything up? Square tapered or ISIS, it seems to do the trick in terms of silencing the fucker up. Hasn't seemed to have harmed any of my cranks or BBs in any way, either?
The taper on a BB spindle and crank is a press fit mechanism. The friction between the crank arm and the spindle causes the arm to slide on so far for a given amount of torque on the crank bolt. If you grease the spindle, the crank arm can slide farther onto the spindle, farther than it was designed to. The result is that the taper on the spindle forces the taper on the crank to expand. Multiple installations like this will cause the crank to move closer and closer to the BB shell, altering chainline and eventually ruining the crank when you pull the spindle all the way through the arm

[eturt9]

^^this is coming from the guy who was confused about headsets?

[tomacropod]

hey man, I don't know shit about aeroplanes, don't mean I don't know about cranks.

Boxx can know about tapered pressfit mechanisms and not know about modern hoodgy useless fucking internalegrated headsets. Tapered pressfits are used on all sorts of machinery, bicycles up to mining equipment.

- Joel

[boxx]

thanks tomac,

to clarify a zero stack headset is an integrated headset but not the same as a regualar integrated headset .kthxbye.

[GarthMc]

thanks tomac,

to clarify a zero stack headset is an integrated headset but not the same as a regualar integrated headset .kthxbye.

A Zero stack headset has cups inserted into the frame for the bearings to run on, but the headset is only just visible. An integrated headset is where the bearings acutally run on the frame material inside the headset.

I'm pretty sure about this, but not certain.

-Garth

[tomacropod]

I'm pretty sure a zero-stack headset is the new name for an internal headset, which has regular pressed cups, although they're concealed.

An integrated headset runs the bearings on the frame material (usually aluminium) and is a fucking stupid fucking goddam kill the fuckers kind of idea.

- Joel

[jmkimmel]

http://www.chrisking.com/pdfs/Int%20Headsets%20Explained.pdf