Specialized Venge - Bottom Bracket gone

bianchibob

Hi All, Last couple of rides funny noises coming from bottom bracket. Decided to investigate and it looks by amount of play the BB30 bearings have worn.
The bike is running Ultegra 11 speed courtesy of the Wheels Manufacturing adaptors.
Have now decided that as I will always be running Shimano drivetrain will convert frame to Shimano Hollowtech set up.
I will purchasing an FSA adaptor that replaces the BB30 set up and will then allow the frame to accept the Ultegra bottom bracket bearings and Hollowtech crank set up.
I am not confident about pressing the FSA sleeve into the frame so have asked LBS to do this. They are OK with this and will then set up the Ultegra 11 speed.
Has anyone else done this conversion and were they happy with it.
The only reason I ask this, is that the FSA adaptor is £14 -15 from Chain Reaction plus cost of Ultegra bearings £11 -12 while other adaptors Praxis etc. are a lot more expensive circa £55 and the difference in price has made me think I might be missing something.

JesseD

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19713362#p19713362]bianchibob[/url] wrote:

Hi All, Last couple of rides funny noises coming from bottom bracket. Decided to investigate and it looks by amount of play the BB30 bearings have worn.
The bike is running Ultegra 11 speed courtesy of the Wheels Manufacturing adaptors.
Have now decided that as I will always be running Shimano drivetrain will convert frame to Shimano Hollowtech set up.
I will purchasing an FSA adaptor that replaces the BB30 set up and will then allow the frame to accept the Ultegra bottom bracket bearings and Hollowtech crank set up.
I am not confident about pressing the FSA sleeve into the frame so have asked LBS to do this. They are OK with this and will then set up the Ultegra 11 speed.
Has anyone else done this conversion and were they happy with it.
The only reason I ask this, is that the FSA adaptor is £14 -15 from Chain Reaction while other adaptors Praxis etc. are a lot more expensive and the difference in price has made me think I might be missing something.

Don't bother with the press fit adaptor, they can come loose if not installed properly and start clicking etc.

The best fix is the Praxis Works BB30 adaptor/convertor, they get rave reviews as well.

http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/praxis-works-68mm-shimano-conversion-for-pf30-bb30-frame-p221938?gclid=CPGFhYzMnMgCFSQHwwodxR4FdA

I personally think BB30 is probably the worst standard ever introduced for a bottom bracket, I have a Cannondale System Six in storage which has BB30 and had nothing but problems with it, eternal clicking or creaking no matter what myself or the LBS did. It initially had the sleeve bonded in but this was not great and started clicking after a while, so I opted for the press fit cups, they were shi* too.

I retired the frame to storage for the winter last year but the plan was to fit one of the Praxis Works converters as they had great reviews, since then have decided the 'Dale is too big for me so am going to sell it, but am looking for one in a size 56 (which will probably have BB30) and if I find one will chuck one of these on there to convert to a Shimano Crankset

paulbnix

What happen with the Praxis Works BB30 adaptor/convertor when the inevitable water finds its way in.
Do you have to buy a complete new one or can you replace the bearings?

proto

I've fitted an FSA BB30 to BSA threaded BB adaptor to my CAAD 10 and it has been trouble free.

Took the BB30 circlips out, cleaned with meths, used the loctite included with the adaptor and pressed it into place with some big fat washers, studding and a couple nuts. Easy enough to do.

Using with a threaded SRAM GXP bottom bracket.

kettrinboy

The Praxxis convertor is a two part affair that screws together and as it does so tightens itself into the BB housing so allegedly eliminating creaks etc , when my Venge ,s BB goes I,ll be very interested in getting one of these.

JesseD

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19713451#p19713451]paulbnix[/url] wrote:

What happen with the Praxis Works BB30 adaptor/convertor when the inevitable water finds its way in.
Do you have to buy a complete new one or can you replace the bearings?

It's effectively the same as a GXP bottom bracket in that respect I believe in so much as when its knackered its knackered and you replace, that said I haven't investigated if you can replace the bearings on them?

Kettrinboy is correct though the converter threads into itself and splays to fit tightly into the BB30 bottom bracket shell till tight this eliminating any clicks or creaks, good bit of design IMO.

The problem with BB30 is that the tolerances are so tight that the shell and bearing have to be perfect in manufacture and then installation has to be exact in order to be noise free, this rarely happens so there are lots of stories on the net of people having issues with them (have a Google). That said I was chatting to a lad on my club chain gang last night and he has BB30 in his race bike and TT bike and both are perfect after 2 seasons apparently so there are some success stories out there.

Giraffoto

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19713451#p19713451]paulbnix[/url] wrote:

What happen with the Praxis Works BB30 adaptor/convertor when the inevitable water finds its way in.
Do you have to buy a complete new one or can you replace the bearings?

Their website states that it's no longer under warranty if you replace the bearings, which at least implies that it's possible to replace them. The Hope press-fit bottom brackets are initially expensive, but they make a point of saying you just have to replace the bearings when they go rather than the whole BB.

bianchibob

That's why I was questioning the practicality of the Praxis setup.
With the FSA unit you can fit Shimano bearings by just screwing them in. I particularly wanted to use and be able to replace with Shimano bearings as they seem well made and very reasonably priced.
I am not aware that you can buy replacement bearings for the Praxis set up, I might be wrong in this assumption, but the FSA - Ultegra combination seems an efficient route in terms of, quality and price, to take

Unamed2.0

I had a similar issue with my BB30 (but with a CAAD8) and was split between the FSA sleeve and the Praxis Works. In the end I went for the FSA sleeve, as others had said it worked fine for them and was a little cheaper. Its working fine for me too so far (not too many kms on it yet though).

One other thing that swayed me was that (as the CAAD8 is alumininum) I could knock out the FSA sleeve fairly easily if it *didn't* work well - I am not sure if the sleeve removal is recommended from the carbon frame, so perhaps this is worthy of consideration? IIRC the Praxis Works doesn't use any loctite, so removal is not really an issue but again do check if this is important to you.

I was very keen on the Praxis Works though; it looks a really neat solution. If the FSA sleeve starts playing up I'll probably try that next.

JesseD

The FSA sleeve will work but IMO needs to be installed by a LBS that knows what they are doing as the one that was originally in my Cannondale worked slightly lose and started clicking, in the end I pressed it out and had BB30 bearings installed which were a million times worse. I think you should be fine with the FSA sleeve though as long as its properly installed.

ic.

I have a used Praxis going spare for a reasonable price if the OP wants to get in touch

bianchibob

Have taken bike to my LBS Owens Cycles - Fourmarks. He will use a proper press to install the FSA sleeve and use the supplied Loctite to secure it.
Then fitting an Ultegra 6800 bottom bracket and re-installing my Ultegra crankset.
He will then reset my front and rear derailleurs and make sure the front trim is working properly as I initially installed it myself and always had doubts that I was not getting the maximum 'trim' effect.
Will get bike back on Tuesday next week, will post how I got on and what if any improvement there has been on the trim.

bianchibob

Further update, LBS just called to say that the FSA adapter that I bought from Chain Reaction is not the correct diameter !!
I purchased a BB30 to BSA thread adapter, this is 40mm OD I think.

The Specialized Venge bottom bracket has a diameter of 46mm as it is a BB PF 30 bearing.

Contacted Chain Reaction and FSA do a PF30 to BSA thread adaptor in 68mm width. Slightly more expensive.

These bottom brackets seem overly complicated, still all is now resolved and Venge should be running Ultregra Hollowtech crankset and bearings by weekend !!

Anonymous

Hi

I have just fitted an FSA adapter to my Bianchi Sempre Pro. Eventually the creaks just get too disctracting and the whole dismantle and reassemble to cure it gets tiresome. I put Shimano 6800 Hollowtech bearing on and an Ultegra chainset to replace the SL-K I had ran previously . It is such a vest improvement I would recommend it to anyone who is suffering BB woes.

I found the pressing in myself easy enough. If anyone is uncomfortable with the idea of pressing an alu tube into a carbon frame then an LBS is the way forward.

I can honestly say that moving away from BB30 is the right thing to do. I understand the point of pressfit and its a shame it ends up causing so many issues as in a perfect world it would make threaded obsolete. But as nothing is, it will always divide opinion. As with anyone else who has it on their bike its perfect and you love it until it causes dramas.

bianchibob

I can't believe this, the second FSA PF 30 to BSA thread I purchased will not fit a Specialized Venge. The external and internal diameters are all correct to fit the Shimano Hollowtech crank, however the length at 68mm is incorrect.

Just for info. the Specialized Venge is a 'one off' with a bottom bracket that is 62 mm wide !!!

Rang Praxis and they do a Praxis Works OSBB (Specialized) that comes with additional spacers to accommodate the distance between the 62 and 68mm width dimensions.

I can't believe how many 'specialists' I have spoken to who seem to all give dubious advice on this subject even Specialized who said the conversion was not possible initially, and then checked and said at manufacture they fit the Praxis system with aluminium spacers if you want to run Shimano cranksets !

This conversion has been a nightmare but having now fully researched every version of adaptors I am at this stage confident I have found a solution to the problem of PF30 bearings and Specialized Venge bottom brackets.

Hope this helps others

bianchibob

Just to finalise this thread, have now got Specialized Venge back from LBS. Praxis OBB (Specialized) now fitted and as others have said it is silky smooth....very pleased compared to the old creaky PF30 bearing set up.
While this mod was going on I asked to have the Ultegra 11 speed front derailleur adjusted. I had originally set it up myself and being a fairly competent home mechanic thought I had done a pretty good job overall including setting up the 'trim' adjustment, but was never completely satisfied as I thought the operation was poor and only really reduced chain rub in certain gears.
As a consequence I thought Shimano marketing might have over sold this facility on the 11 speed Ultegra.

How wrong I was, having the front derailleur 'tuned' by a professional has transformed the trim function and I now get virtually no chain rub in any gear combination, just slightly in big front ring - big rear gear, not one I would normally select, but did just to see how the trim coped. In the small front ring can use all the cassette with no rub...unbelievable.

Price for this set up and installation of bottom Bracket £28.00. Best £28.00 I have spent in a while. ( Owens Cycles - Fourmarks, Hampshire)

If only BMW were so cheap !!