Why are bottom brackets becoming so fragile?

stuisnew

Brig wrote:

The BB30 bottom bracket on my 2011 Boardman HT Pro have also gone after 3 rides, total of about 25 miles in dry conditions). Could not ride it anymore as the noise was so loud it turned peoples heads as I came riding....

I'm no expert so apologies but are you sure that it didn't make this noise cause it wasn't fitted properly from new? Sometimes they almost 'bed in' when new...a tighten up and quick check and you could get rid of the noise.

creamsodauk

just too say i brought a hardrock disc model 3-4 months ago roughly. silky smooth etc. i then did a long uphill ride standing up all the way and afterwards the bike suffered clicking whilst pedaling. People said to replace the pedals which i did and so on but the actual issue turned out to be the BB.

I finally whipped it out and replaced it yesterday with a £20 jobby and god what a difference. the bike is now smooth again.

which meant my bb lasted only 500 miles!!

Anonymous

Could have simply needed bearings whipped out, cleaned and replaced.

The Spiderman

My current HT2 is still going strong after 3 years.Did manage to kill an earlier one in less than 2 rides due to incorrect fitting.

All too easy to over tighten the preload............. :oops:

fatwomble

Raymondavalon wrote:

johnsav wrote:

GXP bottom bracket have never failed for me and are cheap as chips

Agreed, got GXP on my all mountain and replaced once in 3 years, ridden in all conditions, mud, rain and dry.
Once you get the tools, replacing an external BB is a 15 minute job, so it's also the sheer convenience of DIY that's a bonus too. GXP BB cups: £20, so not expensive at all

20 Months and mine was utterly shagged

S-M

jon1993 wrote:

my bb30 bottom bracket has gone after 20 miles on my new boardman pro
why couldnt they stick to the older type that actually worked!

Because they never fitted them properly, mine went IIRC after around 300 miles, stripped it down and found that one side had 2 bearing shields and the other side had none.

Fitted some new replacement bearings (around £5) and it has been fine ever since (but i did put the bearings shields back the right way around)

jon1993

ahhh not good i might have to just whip it off and have a quick look cant do any damage just taking the chainset off and having a look can it plus are they visable from the outside without removing the whole bottom bracket thanks

S-M

It cost me about a fiver for some replacement bearings on ebay, i just removed the crank, and smashed the old bearings out with an extension bar and a hammer shaped device.

I say hammer shaped device as i recently closed down my business, where i kept my tools, and i seam to have lost my hammer i actually used a heavy windy gun as a hammer

I did call into the local bike shop and ask for advice on a removal tool, but they told me they would have just whacked them out with an extension bar and a hammer :?

I lovingly used the old bearings as a drift to tap the new bearings in, it did not take toooo long to be fair.

The Northern Monkey

Took mine to a LBS, £28 later I have some enduro bearings and a buttery smooth and silent crankset.

TBH, £1028 is still a bargain for the Boardman I just hope they stay buttery smooth now!

nicklouse

it is known that a lot of Boardman had the BB30 bearings incorrectly fitting.

Hope you kept the old ones as spares.

paulbox

My current (XT) BB is showing signs of wear, is it worth paying a bit more for XTR?

Chain Reaction currently have them for £37.99:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=38336

XT/SLX are £26.99:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=41445