Chris King BB - v - Hope ceramic BB

waterford45
waterford45 Posts: 51
edited December 2009 in Road buying advice
Looking to change a hollowtech 2 bb on my road bike. has anyone any preferences between a chris king (steel bearing) and hope ceramic. the hope is cheaper, but I've heard chris king bearings are very good. Any advice appreciated.

Comments

  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    Just out of curiosity. Why would you spend 3 times the amount on an aftermarket BB
    when a DA BB is more than sufficient? Not trying to criticize, just curious.
  • jrduquemin
    jrduquemin Posts: 791
    Dura Ace bottom bracket is specifically sized for Dura Ace cranks AFAIK... It won't work with other models, correct me if I'm wrong...
    2010 Lynskey R230
    2013 Yeti SB66
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    jrduquemin wrote:
    Dura Ace bottom bracket is specifically sized for Dura Ace cranks AFAIK... It won't work with other models, correct me if I'm wrong...

    You may very well be right. When "waterford45" said road bike I guess I assumed he was using a road style crank set on it and the Hollowtech, that he mentioned, simply referred to all Shimano cranks. I'm not a MTB'er so I didn't realize that Hollowtech11 was
    an MTB crank. In any case, I'm still wondering why someone would spend all that extra money on a "Boutique" BB when the standard Shimano is less than half the price of a Chris King?
  • soveda
    soveda Posts: 306
    dennisn wrote:
    jrduquemin wrote:
    Dura Ace bottom bracket is specifically sized for Dura Ace cranks AFAIK... It won't work with other models, correct me if I'm wrong...

    You may very well be right. When "waterford45" said road bike I guess I assumed he was using a road style crank set on it and the Hollowtech, that he mentioned, simply referred to all Shimano cranks. I'm not a MTB'er so I didn't realize that Hollowtech11 was
    an MTB crank. In any case, I'm still wondering why someone would spend all that extra money on a "Boutique" BB when the standard Shimano is less than half the price of a Chris King?

    Because it's pretty and comes in different colours?
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    soveda wrote:
    dennisn wrote:
    jrduquemin wrote:
    Dura Ace bottom bracket is specifically sized for Dura Ace cranks AFAIK... It won't work with other models, correct me if I'm wrong...

    You may very well be right. When "waterford45" said road bike I guess I assumed he was using a road style crank set on it and the Hollowtech, that he mentioned, simply referred to all Shimano cranks. I'm not a MTB'er so I didn't realize that Hollowtech11 was
    an MTB crank. In any case, I'm still wondering why someone would spend all that extra money on a "Boutique" BB when the standard Shimano is less than half the price of a Chris King?

    Because it's pretty and comes in different colours?

    Hmmmmmm, could be.
  • Hudster
    Hudster Posts: 142
    Because, if you come from a mountain bike world you'll know that the Shimano BB have a bad reputation and aren't really up to it. They've improved them a lot, but they really don't like poor conditions. A lot of the guys on our cross team prefer the old style Octalink BBs for this very reason. If you are replacing BBs regularly, then the price suddenly seems worth it and the fancy colours are a bonus.
    I've heard some good reports about the Hope BB but nothing definite.
  • JonEdwards
    JonEdwards Posts: 452
    Take your standard Shimano BB cups and send them to BETD who will stick *much* better quality bearings in for a fraction of the cost of Hope or CK ones. I've been getting a year+, offroad out of the BETD ones, compared to a couple of months out of shimano.

    But you don't get pretty colours.
  • nferrar
    nferrar Posts: 2,511
    The grease port on the CK BB is a selling point for me, although not yet convinced myself buying all the bits is really worth it.
  • spanielsson
    spanielsson Posts: 776
    Chris King quality is better than Hope. I own products (Wheel hubs & headsets) from both companies.

    Hope carry a higher price tag than others due to them being manufactured in the UK, although the prices are similar, the Chris King is a better buy that you will never have to replace.
  • ScottieP
    ScottieP Posts: 599
    Hi Waterford

    Did you change your bottom bracket in the end? If so, which one did you go for and what do you think of it?

    I'm thinking about the same options (or a Dura Ace 7800 BB) as an upgrade from an Ultegra 6600 that doesn't seem to be quite as smooth after 4000km.

    Thanks
    ScottieP
    My cycling blog: http://girodilento.com/
  • ScottieP
    ScottieP Posts: 599
    Does anybody else have any thoughts on bottom brackets? I'm currently running an Ultegra 6600 bottom bracket on a Shimano R700 crankset. It's done 4,000km and I'm thinking of upgrading to one of the following:

    - Dura Ace 7800 Bottom Bracket
    - Hope Stainless steel bottom bracket (not ceramic as I can get my next option for that price)
    - Chris King Road bottom bracket

    ... any thoughts/advice appreciated.

    Thanks
    ScottieP
    My cycling blog: http://girodilento.com/
  • ScottieP
    ScottieP Posts: 599
    By the way - I meant to add that I keep my bike in a damp garden shed - so I'm a bit worried about bearings deteriorating over time anyway - and Shimano bottom brackets don't seem to have a brilliant reputation anyway for their bearings or longevity from what I've read around the internet.

    Thanks again.
    My cycling blog: http://girodilento.com/

Categories