Chang to BB30

chuckla

I recently bought my first road bike, a Felt Z85, it's a beautiful bike! However, US spec has FSA Gossamer BB30 and UK spec is FSAVero square taper, looks like I could Change it to BB30, but beinga novice is this something hat can be done quite easily, or am I bette riff leaving it as it is?

smidsy

Leave it. Bb30 are notorious for problems.

mercia_man

smidsy wrote:

Leave it. Bb30 are notorious for problems.

+1 This forum is full of posts from people having issues with their press-fit bottom brackets. If you want to spend money on an upgrade, a better set of wheels generally offers the most improvement.

pliptrot

Problem is that every frame maker seems to be moving to press-fit BBs. I'm looking for a new frame with a BSA 68mm BB, and they are few and far between.

jgsi

smidsy wrote:

Leave it. Bb30 are notorious for problems.

err ... not on my Cannondale.... 1 set of fresh bearing in 3 years.. not bad.. only issue I had was being a tit in removing the old bearings.
No creaks no nothing... sweet as a nut.

To OP.. there is no reason or advantage to GO to BB30 or any other pressfit however... but if your frame is not BB30 , you cannot make into a BB30 so you dont have an issue.

Monty Dog

BB30 is an abomination - not only are you likely to get creaking, but as the bearings are unprotected in the frame, water trickles down the seat-tube and can corrodes them in a matter of weeks. If you want to spend money on upgrades, spend it on your wheels.

smidsy

JGSI wrote:

smidsy wrote:

Leave it. Bb30 are notorious for problems.

err ... not on my Cannondale.... 1 set of fresh bearing in 3 years.. not bad.. only issue I had was being a tit in removing the old bearings.
No creaks no nothing... sweet as a nut.

TBF there are always exceptions.

Also Cannondale invented it and if there is a manufacturer that I would trust to get it right is is them, but even dales are suffering BB30 problems.

I suspect you do very little wet weather riding and/or few miles.

Perhaps my original statement should have read IME and from hearing other peoples woes, BB30 seems widely remowned for issues.

crankycrank

Another press fit BB hater here. 3 years for a properly cared for quality BB in even wet conditions is about half as long as I would expect a good BB to last. Some BB30's are better than others of course but most bikes I have owned get a min. of 15k miles on them before they get replaced and it's been decades since I've had to replace the original threaded BB that came with the bike.

jgsi

smidsy wrote:

I suspect you do very little wet weather riding and/or few miles.
s.

Don't assume

Monty Dog

FWIW Cannondale didn't 'invent' BB30, a company called Magic Motorcycle did who were then bought by Cannondale. It was designed for precision machining and fitting by skilled mechanics, not mass-produced in China and bodged by morons in bike shops.

smidsy

JGSI wrote:

smidsy wrote:

I suspect you do very little wet weather riding and/or few miles.
s.

Don't assume

I didn't, I suspected...and you have not denied it

smidsy

Monty Dog wrote:

It was designed for precision machining and fitting by skilled mechanics, not mass-produced in China and bodged by morons in bike shops.

Or indeed out of them

The precision machining is the main issue I think. No surprise that the dale BB30s are now experiencing more failures than when they were mad in USA.

jgsi

smidsy wrote:

Monty Dog wrote:

It was designed for precision machining and fitting by skilled mechanics, not mass-produced in China and bodged by morons in bike shops.

Or indeed out of them

The precision machining is the main issue I think. No surprise that the dale BB30s are now experiencing more failures than when they were mad in USA.

You may not like them, but they are not likely to go away.
I have decided that whether I ride out in pissin wet and knackn cold is also none of your business

smidsy

Blimey, who would have thought anyone would be so precious about a BB.

My critisism is with the product not your riding habbits.

Also you are currently the only one championing the BB30.

OP make up your own mind - as apparently it is nothing to do with me.

Bozman

I wouldn't buy another BB30 frame, i've never had an issue with any BB before BB30 and that includes Shimano HII, GXP and even FSA megaexo to name a few.
They do work, they're easy to swap but and they're flawed and i'm sure that something will have to change, what may have seemed like a step forward has ended up going two steps back.

chuckla

Thanks for the info chaps! Seems like there's no benefit changing to BB30! I'll stick with the square taper! Current wheels are Mavic cxp22, are they worth changing ?

smidsy

Don't even get me started on wheels!

JGSI may have an opinion though ;-)

John.T

chuckla wrote:

Thanks for the info chaps! Seems like there's no benefit changing to BB30! I'll stick with the square taper! Current wheels are Mavic cxp22, are they worth changing ?

If you read JIGSI's post earlier you would have seen you have no choice. A BB30 bracket will not fit in a standard frame. FSA do make a BB that will let you use BB30 cranks but why bother, They are expensive and there are better 24mm axle sets.

chuckla

John.T wrote:

chuckla wrote:

Thanks for the info chaps! Seems like there's no benefit changing to BB30! I'll stick with the square taper! Current wheels are Mavic cxp22, are they worth changing ?

If you read JIGSI's post earlier you would have seen you have no choice. A BB30 bracket will not fit in a standard frame. FSA do make a BB that will let you use BB30 cranks but why bother, They are expensive and there are better 24mm axle sets.

According to my lbs, the felt z85 frame is bb30, but uk spec was square taper bottom bracket. The US is BB30, checked it out!

Jut wondered if it was worth the change! Seems not!

John.T

If the frame has indeed got a BB30 bracket shell then to fit a square taper BB it must also have an adapter sleeve fitted. This may be bonded in so could be difficult to remove. Unless you have a very good reason to go to BB30 it is not worth the trouble.