SRAM Red Ceramic Bearing Maintenance

mikegibbons
mikegibbons Posts: 25
edited October 2012 in Workshop
I've just got a bike with SRAM red kit (lucky me). The manual for the bottom bracket says that the ceramic bearings need regreasing every 100 miles of dry riding or after any ride in heavy rain. I've had a look and see that the bearings have a normal sort of seal on them. The service interval seems very short - particularly as even if you are careful the seal is likely to be a little damaged each time you lift it out - does anyone have advice on longer service intervals?

Mike Gibbons
LE > JoG starts 18 Aug 2007

Comments

  • jermas
    jermas Posts: 484
    It's every 100 hours of riding not 100 miles in dry weather. I think cleaning them every wet ride is a bit OTT.
  • Sorry yes I meant hours - still seems a bit frequent. And since I come from Manchester can someone help me out with what a "dry ride" is :-)

    Mike Gibbons
    LE > JoG starts 18 Aug 2007
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    For Mancunians a dry ride is one in which you're more than half way round before the water soaks through your overshoes and saturates your socks.
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 17,533
    on a long ride in really heavy rain the grease can get washed out if water gets inside the bb shell

    on my bike, i think it's spray from the rear wheel going up under the saddle and running down the seat tube, i'm trying to remember to try a bit of tape over the gap next time i go for a soggy ride, it only happens in really heavy rain

    but there'll be other entry points too, depends on the bike

    on other rides, when it was just raining rather than this sumer's deluges, it's not a big issue and 100 hours is plenty, imho you can go much longer

    next time you do a wet ride, whip the cranks off and have a look inside the shell, if it's swampy then you know that you may need to regrease more often in the wet (or figure out where the water gets in and see if it can be covered)
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • declan1
    declan1 Posts: 2,470
    So that means the pros using Red need to re-grease their BB half-way through a stage? :P

    Road - Dolan Preffisio
    MTB - On-One Inbred

    I have no idea what's going on here.
  • Never done mine in 2 years of abuse.

    Rich...
    Cannondales
    SuperSix Hi Mod Sram Red
    Super X Ultegra
    Tourine XT / XTR
    CX 1000 Disk Ultegra (Winter Hack)
    And an Empella SL Bonfire