Bike/components for hilly 90-120 miles per week

ajtedd

Hi

I currently have a 2013 boardman road team with bb30 bottom bracket. The bottom bracket dies on me every 750-1000 miles over hilly terrain. This means I end up getting it/the bearings replaced every 7-8 weeks. This is a massive pain and although I really like the bike, it is becoming un-economical and hugely frustrating to constantly have the bike of the road for up to two days whilst it is getting sorted.

I am now looking to replace said bike with something that will be strong over hilly terrain and am looking for an advice or pointers on the best components/bike to go for.

For reference I am a muscular 5ft10, 13.6 stone – 14 stone. I typically ride a 53/54 frame although I am aware that each manufacturer has slightly different sizing guidelines.

I mainly commute but do go for longer rides at weekends. (40-60miles). Hills are unavoidable where I live. I am only in the market for a road bike and I do not want a mountain/hybrid/commuter bike. My budget will be £1500 and I do not want a bike with any sort of press fit bottom bracket.

I have been looking at Chinese carbon with full shimano 105 or ultegra groupset for around that price range but am worried about the quality control of the frameset/wheels etc.

All help and advice is hugely appreciated.

Kind regards
Alex

jordan_217

Why not use an FSA adapter sleeve or similar and convert the BB30 to a BS 68mm BB and opt for a dependable 105 chainset? Should cost less than £100 for chainset and adapter. My LBS charged £20 to fit the adapter sleeve.

EDIT: I may have just fell foul of trolling. Hmmm…...

imposter2.0

As above - just swap the BB30 for an HT2/GXP type, with an adaptor.

ajtedd

jordan_217 wrote:

Why not use an FSA adapter sleeve or similar and convert the BB30 to a BS 68mm BB and opt for a dependable 105 chainset? Should cost less than £100 for chainset and adapter. My LBS charged £20 to fit the adapter sleeve.

EDIT: I may have just fell foul of trolling. Hmmm…...

no trolling at all! conversion kits are something i have looked into but not all reports are positve. creaking and cracking can still happen with converters, especially the fsa one. apparently praxis are decent and i have also been pointed in the direction of chris king.

did they have to use lochtite or anything?

meanredspider

I have the Praxis fitted to my Volagi which is fine and is threaded so tightens into the frame - it survived taking 85kg of me up Alpe D'Huez 6x in one day from 0C to 33C so ought to survive your reasonable mileage.

That said, I don't really understand why you're destroying your BB so quickly. I ran my Volagi for nearly 3 years on the original BB30 bearings doing a 120-160 mile a week commute in the Scottish Highlands (ca 2000ft of climbing a day) at nearer 95kg. In fact, the only reason I changed to the Praxis was that I needed a common Shimano crank on my bike for my Stages power meter.

ajtedd

meanredspider wrote:

I have the Praxis fitted to my Volagi which is fine and is threaded so tightens into the frame - it survived taking 85kg of me up Alpe D'Huez 6x in one day from 0C to 33C so ought to survive your reasonable mileage.

That said, I don't really understand why you're destroying your BB so quickly. I ran my Volagi for nearly 3 years on the original BB30 bearings doing a 120-160 mile a week commute in the Scottish Highlands (ca 2000ft of climbing a day) at nearer 95kg. In fact, the only reason I changed to the Praxis was that I needed a common Shimano crank on my bike for my Stages power meter.

Thanks for the help, first hand experience like yours is exactly what i need! How does the praxis work? do i need any specific lubes or grease when i take it to the lbs to be fitted? what did you use?

jordan_217

ajtedd wrote:

jordan_217 wrote:

Why not use an FSA adapter sleeve or similar and convert the BB30 to a BS 68mm BB and opt for a dependable 105 chainset? Should cost less than £100 for chainset and adapter. My LBS charged £20 to fit the adapter sleeve.

EDIT: I may have just fell foul of trolling. Hmmm…...

no trolling at all! conversion kits are something i have looked into but not all reports are positve. creaking and cracking can still happen with converters, especially the fsa one. apparently praxis are decent and i have also been pointed in the direction of chris king.

did they have to use lochtite or anything?

My CAAD10 has been faultless since fitting the FSA adapter. BB area also feels stiffer. Yes, Loctite 609 was used.

paulmon

If you are replacing BB30 bearings every 6-7 weeks then they are either not being fitted correctly or you have other problems. I've replaced two sets on two bikes in almost 3 years and that is usually because of riding the bike in bad weather and then forgetting to re-grease the bearings.

I tried the Praxxis converter recently and it lasted 3 weeks before I took it off. The bearings themselves are simple to maintain so your money might be better spent on a bearing/headset press and the FSA BB30 tools and then just service them yourself.

However if your looking for an excuse for new bike then fill your boots.

ajtedd

PaulMon wrote:

If you are replacing BB30 bearings every 6-7 weeks then they are either not being fitted correctly or you have other problems. I've replaced two sets on two bikes in almost 3 years and that is usually because of riding the bike in bad weather and then forgetting to re-grease the bearings.

I tried the Praxxis converter recently and it lasted 3 weeks before I took it off. The bearings themselves are simple to maintain so your money might be better spent on a bearing/headset press and the FSA BB30 tools and then just service them yourself.

However if your looking for an excuse for new bike then fill your boots.

yes, quite possibly looking for an excuse!

why did you take the praxxis converter off?

itboffin

I ditched my BB30 campag crankset for a Rotor/Praxis chainring 68mm with adapter, much much better.

FWIW my super record BB30 bearings lasted one just one ride before seizing up

itboffin

all my commuters have been converted to SRAM GXP and i'm very happy with the performance and durability, i ride c200 miles a week atm

meanredspider

ajtedd wrote:

Thanks for the help, first hand experience like yours is exactly what i need! How does the praxis work? do i need any specific lubes or grease when i take it to the lbs to be fitted? what did you use?

Two threaded tube halves that tighten in across the frame using two Shimano-style spanners. I lubed it (as per instructions) rather than Loctite. I've done several hundred miles on it so far including the brutal 100 miles doing hill repeats on The Alpe - absolutely fine.

I still think you shouldn't be having BB30 issues though so you might want to get to the bottom of that issue.

Or just buy the new bike....

ajtedd

itboffin wrote:

all my commuters have been converted to SRAM GXP and i'm very happy with the performance and durability, i ride c200 miles a week atm

thanks for the pointers it boffin!

ajtedd

meanredspider wrote:

ajtedd wrote:

Thanks for the help, first hand experience like yours is exactly what i need! How does the praxis work? do i need any specific lubes or grease when i take it to the lbs to be fitted? what did you use?

Two threaded tube halves that tighten in across the frame using two Shimano-style spanners. I lubed it (as per instructions) rather than Loctite. I've done several hundred miles on it so far including the brutal 100 miles doing hill repeats on The Alpe - absolutely fine.

I still think you shouldn't be having BB30 issues though so you might want to get to the bottom of that issue.

Or just buy the new bike....

thanks for the insight and help - really appreciated!

regarding bb issues, not sure what else to do other than replace bearings/the whole unit. i think i will go down the praxis route and see what happens. if i get issues after that then it may well be time to splash the cash.

paulmon

ajtedd wrote:

PaulMon wrote:

If you are replacing BB30 bearings every 6-7 weeks then they are either not being fitted correctly or you have other problems. I've replaced two sets on two bikes in almost 3 years and that is usually because of riding the bike in bad weather and then forgetting to re-grease the bearings.

I tried the Praxxis converter recently and it lasted 3 weeks before I took it off. The bearings themselves are simple to maintain so your money might be better spent on a bearing/headset press and the FSA BB30 tools and then just service them yourself.

However if your looking for an excuse for new bike then fill your boots.

yes, quite possibly looking for an excuse!

why did you take the praxxis converter off?

Creaked all the time. Did my head in.

jordan_217

The main problem with BB30 is not the installation method, nor the bearings that are used; manufacturing tolerances can simply render the BB shell on some bikes less BB30 friendly than others. I know people with CAAD10's of the same spec/age as mine that haven't' had a single issue. In contrast I went through three sets of bearings in less than 500, dry miles.

I could remove the bearing cartridge on the non-drive side with my fingers alone. It just didn't fit inside the shell properly.

If you're bike is chewing bearings, then no amount of CV grease/boot oil/duck fat is going to help, nor will spending a fortune on the 'proper' removal and installation tools.

I'll say it again…. The FSA sleeve works, I've raced on it for over a year now and no problems. Plenty of Ribble and Planet X bikes are also fitted with this sleeve - no problems. It's a tube of metal that once in place will be held by the compression of the two cartridges screwed in on either side. There's not much to go wrong.

Also, Cannondale themselves recommend/sell the sleeve.

cycleclinic

campagnolo BB30 have known porblems as the insert cups are too short. BB30 lasting 750 miles is an installation problem or a bad frame. If your shop has messed up the install the bores on the frame could be messed up or the frame is a bad one. Loctite should be used on bearings in cases where the bearings wear quickly.

ajtedd

jordan_217 wrote:

The main problem with BB30 is not the installation method, nor the bearings that are used; manufacturing tolerances can simply render the BB shell on some bikes less BB30 friendly than others. I know people with CAAD10's of the same spec/age as mine that haven't' had a single issue. In contrast I went through three sets of bearings in less than 500, dry miles.

I could remove the bearing cartridge on the non-drive side with my fingers alone. It just didn't fit inside the shell properly.

If you're bike is chewing bearings, then no amount of CV grease/boot oil/duck fat is going to help, nor will spending a fortune on the 'proper' removal and installation tools.

I'll say it again…. The FSA sleeve works, I've raced on it for over a year now and no problems. Plenty of Ribble and Planet X bikes are also fitted with this sleeve - no problems. It's a tube of metal that once in place will be held by the compression of the two cartridges screwed in on either side. There's not much to go wrong.

Also, Cannondale themselves recommend/sell the sleeve.

thanks for the help - going to to go down the converter route. i was looking at praxis although the fsa is a far cheaper option and it seems to have worked well for you.

do i need to buy a bb for the fsa? i think with the praxis you dont need to.

ajtedd

To those interested, I have decided to go for the fsa converter, ultegra bb and 105 cranks - managed to get a good dealio hence the mix and match shimano components. It is in the shop today, will be finished tomorrow. I will report back and let you know how it goes!

If I still have issues, I am going to try either the wheels bb30 adaptor or praxis works adapter.