Hollowtech II bottom brackets

jameses

A couple of questions about shimano hollowtech II bb's, any help much appreciated!

Are they all compatable with all shimano chainsets? I have an ultegra 6600 chainset, will a more recent bb like 6700 or 4600 still fit? My guess is yes, but best to be sure before spending!

Is there much/any noticeable difference (beyond weight and price) between the different options?

What sort of mileage do you get out of them? I've heard they can be less durable than the old square taper bb's (I have one still running smoothly on 18000 miles and counting 8) )

Thanks for any help!

ugo.santalucia

Yes, they are compatible, no there is not much difference and when I was into Shimano stuff I used to get 3-6000 miles on a BB... not much, but they are cheap and it takes 5 minutes to install a new one, so no big deal

jameses

Thanks very much!

CarlosDSanchez

The ultegra variant seems to have better sealing that the tiagra version. Got through 2 tiagra BB's in just over 2000 miles, ultegra one is now on 4000 and seems to be holding out okay (on the winter bike which sees all the filth and doesn't get washed very often)

mamba80

i would go for the ultegra version, from memory, i ve got through about 2 BBs in a min of 20k miles, my cct race bike is also my all year training bike.
mud guards and ocassional strip down to clear out any water may help and dont point a hose at it.

nicklouse

make sure the BB shell has been faced. it does make a difference.