Options for GXP BB replacement

joncomelately

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.

johngti

In the short term, I’ve got some GXP bottom bracket cups etc that you can have for a minimal cost. I don’t have the plastic tube that fits between them. Happily send them to you for a fiver? Postage included 😉

Darius_Jedburgh

There was a guy on here selling a nearly new one just a couple of days ago. In amongst other stuff so you have to trawl the selling section.

Darius_Jedburgh

https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/13110987/lockdown-clearout-si-cranks-mechanical-discs-bb-brake-levers-10-speed-stuff-and-more#latest

Found it for you. Brand new £12. Nearly bought it myself!!!

joncomelately

Thanks John - I'll drop you a line if I'm sticking with GXP.
Frank - I thought GXP compatible cranksets didn't fit Shimano BBs? Am I wrong?

me-109

That's a Shimano fit - so won't fit.

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.

paulbnix

gxp is BSA threaded just like Shimano HT2.

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.

morstar

I stuck a Hope BB in my frame a good while back with the adapters and it has worked flawlessly since.
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.

me-109

paulbnix said:

gxp is BSA threaded just like Shimano HT2.

Or available as pressfit.
The point was the Praxis one quoted is a threaded version.

paulbnix

Ribble CGR is BSA.

joncomelately

Thanks all. I'll investigate the Hope + adapters a bit more. If I were to replace the crankset with a Shimano (would need to be single ring) would there be problems with compatibility with the rest of the drivetrain?

paulbnix

There is no issue with using either Shimano or SRAM cassettes. So long as it is the same 10/11 speed then the same should apply to the chainset.

itboffin

The new versions on the sram gxp have better seals which is helping a lot, I have full sram with gxp on my winter bike and it’s been fine with the newer version