Options for GXP BB replacement
joncomelately
Posts: 658
in The workshop
Morning
I've a Ribble CGR for commuting, that has a GXP bottom bracket. The cranks physically say SRAM S series on them, but the build list from Ribble calls the FSA Omega 1, so I'm not sure what that means.
The BB has failed after ~1 year, about 1200 miles daily commuting all weathers. Reading around, it seems this is fairly common for GXPs and I'm not keen on having to replace them that frequently. I was looking at options for replacing the bearings with something else, but have not found much that looks hassle-free - people mention Hope options, but then there's a question of adapters and washers and tolerances (which to me means many things to go wrong); or Shimano, but I'm set on a 1x set-up which I think would limit me to the MTB/GRX groupsets, and don't know whether they would play nicely with the rest of the SRAM kit (I really don't want to have to replace anything else). Other cranksets like Praxis look like they're getting too expensive - I can't go over £100.
The other aspirational complication is I'm considering a power meter, but want to spend as little as possible which I think means a crank pod type on (e.g. Avio) - the crank compatibility on these is also limited. However, that's very much not essential.
Does anyone have an experience in anything similar and could recommend a decent solution? Am I wrong/missing something? Or is the best option just to suck up short-lived GXP bearings? Any mileage in paying for a workshop to review the facing etc?
Thanks in advance, and hope you're all well.
I've a Ribble CGR for commuting, that has a GXP bottom bracket. The cranks physically say SRAM S series on them, but the build list from Ribble calls the FSA Omega 1, so I'm not sure what that means.
The BB has failed after ~1 year, about 1200 miles daily commuting all weathers. Reading around, it seems this is fairly common for GXPs and I'm not keen on having to replace them that frequently. I was looking at options for replacing the bearings with something else, but have not found much that looks hassle-free - people mention Hope options, but then there's a question of adapters and washers and tolerances (which to me means many things to go wrong); or Shimano, but I'm set on a 1x set-up which I think would limit me to the MTB/GRX groupsets, and don't know whether they would play nicely with the rest of the SRAM kit (I really don't want to have to replace anything else). Other cranksets like Praxis look like they're getting too expensive - I can't go over £100.
The other aspirational complication is I'm considering a power meter, but want to spend as little as possible which I think means a crank pod type on (e.g. Avio) - the crank compatibility on these is also limited. However, that's very much not essential.
Does anyone have an experience in anything similar and could recommend a decent solution? Am I wrong/missing something? Or is the best option just to suck up short-lived GXP bearings? Any mileage in paying for a workshop to review the facing etc?
Thanks in advance, and hope you're all well.
0
Posts
Found it for you. Brand new £12. Nearly bought it myself!!!
Frank - I thought GXP compatible cranksets didn't fit Shimano BBs? Am I wrong?
You could try the Praxis BB if you are on a threaded BB. Praxis M24 for Westbrooks or Upgrade Bikes. I have a similar post-it on my desk that says UPG-PR-86-0301. About £31.
If you are on pressfit there are not many alternatives to SRAM and nothing cheap.
If you keep a gxp crank then you can use the Hope HT2 BB with the Hope gxp adapter. I’ve used this.
If you change to a Shimano crank then you can use any road HT2 BB and chuck the gxp BB.
As far as I can recall the adapter was just a shim so it's not complicated with lots of failure points. Bear in mind that Hope stuff is engineered to a high standard so you're buying quality, not loosely compatible tat which seems to be common with BB's these days.
The point was the Praxis one quoted is a threaded version.
Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.