Not yet sure what the size is until i get the old one out – it’s 68mm and I think 113mm spindle. The existing one’s been in my pomp since i got it and now appears to have expired. ISIS BBs seem quite pricy and i’ve no idea which are decent.

As it’s for my commuter, fit and forget (ideally for years!) is ideal. Any recommendations or bargains that can be offered would be much appreciated.

The words ISIS and ‘fit and forget ‘ will never appear in the same sentence. On account of ISIS BB’s being fundamentally appallingly designed, badly made crap!!! No matter which one you buy

I’d cut your losses and buy a cheap set of shimano cranks

Pace used to sell amazing quality ones, german bearings, worth checking with them, came with a long guarantee as well. I forget the name.

Also- SuperStar MTB have decent ones, with 4 bearings at a decent price. just use locktite on the BB threads when fitting and you’ll be fine. I have both in different bikes, both are fine and have stayed that way for quite some time.

Anything else I’ve tried has ben rubbish BTW.

The words ISIS and ‘fit and forget ‘ will never appear in the same sentence. On account of ISIS BB’s being fundamentally appallingly designed, badly made crap!!! No matter which one you buy

The Control Tech Ti BB and FSA cranks I’ve run since 2008 must be just a figment of my imagination, then. Just replaced the bearings after a few re-lubes.

Probably do about three to five rides a week on them consisting of anywhere between 8 and 15 miles at a time.

good ISIS bottom brackets

I do like a good laugh

I tried it brefly then went back to square pretty sharpish, mix of square and HT11 at present. Still can’t see what was wrong with square but getting to be a limited choice of cranks now.

hmmm interesting info, cheers all. annoyed to find this will be a more costly exercise than expected!

Disagree with the above. My only bike uses ISIS and the superstar components version has lasted over 3 years! original only lasted 9 months (FSA)

Ive snapped many square taper bb spindles, (im 21stone) then switched to isis think that was in 05′ and it was a truvativ bb changed that after 3 years service in my azonic ds1 bearings went wibbly wobbly then changed for another truvativ and as far as i know (still see the bike as i sold it) same cranks and bb to this day, isis is stiffer and stronger due to the machining and general design, u try snapping a length of small square profile steel, then try snapping a larger diamiter splined steel, its just basic engineering, although i do know pleanty of trials riders running middleburn square taper cranks n bbs but thats a different riding style. I prefer isis over the new style hollow 2pce set ups.

I can also recommend the Superstar isis bb. Mine has lasted a good few years

quite tempted by the superstar, though would ideally like to get a fair bit under the £30 mark!

i know i may be being unrealistic about this… 😆

SKF

End the thread now.

This is what you want:

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=31

£30 + free post, works really well. I have square, external, isis, on various bikes. Good isis BB’s like this one work really well, last a hell of a lot longer than external BB’s and are noticeably stiffer when cranking under pressure than square taper. They also spin very freely, which is nice (unlike many external bb’s).

SKF do sound good but either £95 from Compass in the states or non-existent, as far as I can see!

Got to admit my ISIS BBs have been brilliant, far better than anything else I’ve had before. Had both a (good) SKF one and now a Ti FSA one that was going silly cheap at CRC once.

Rachel

gotcha, cheers binno – you may have convinced me. 🙂

IME the Superstar ones last longer than the skf

My Superstar one lasted 3 1/2 years of Yorkshire grinding paste before going wobbly , I’d definitely buy another!

ok cheers. the pic on the superstar website doesn’t show the profile and there’s no fitting details.

is it a one of these:

type situation?

Got a Race Face one in the shed for £20 posted with spare cups IIRC. I did have a Superstar one as well but I imagine that got binned as it was notchy.
Cheers
Tim

you mean you’ve got one to sell? if so, what size are we talking?

isis is stiffer and stronger due to the machining and general design, u try snapping a length of small square profile steel, then try snapping a larger diamiter splined steel, its just basic engineering

True. But a large diameter pipe required the bearings and seals to be useless in order to fit.
THe spines on the end of my MB X-types look the smae as isis and they are fine, it’s not the splines which were the issue. I never had any issues with square mind, was quite happy with them. My big bike is on it’s second BB in 13yrs…
.

original only lasted 9 months (FSA)

Mine, a posh ti FSA one, lasted 25hrs!
Fell out with CRC over it. Ordered the BB and asked for a tool to suit. They sent the wrong tool, but I fitted it OK with a wedge and mallet (in a rush due to race the next day) Bearing died at the first hint of mud. Sent it back. “Can’t do a warranty claim on that you’ve not installed it properly.” Well I would have done if you had sent the correct tool in the first place! And that wouldn’t affect the bearing seals anyway. Argued with them for a bit but they wouldn’t back down. I have never bought anything from them again.
Previous isis BB, an RF one had lasted all of 3 months. Gave up and went back to square.

I’ve got a RaceFace one in my InBred 567, which was previously fitted to my Cove Hummer. It’s the top-end one, and it was first fitted in 2003, it had the bearings replaced eighteen months later, and is still working fine. Hasn’t seen so much use over the last two years, but no reason why it won’t keep on going, and the bearings only cost me about five or six quid. The trick is to not over-tighten them, apparently.

I had a superstar one that lasted a good long time, if you really want to stick with isis, that would be the way I would go, although I do hate superstar now!

I used to use FSA Platinum ISIS BBs. They were ok, fairly light, but never lasted that long, probably changed it every year.

I have had 3 Raceface BB’s and the first two were replaced under warranty – lasting only a fairly short time. At that point I would have been counted as an ISIS hater. The third has been really good and has lasted a long time (c8 years) on my old ’95 CinderCone. This bike due to its relative simplicity has been my go to option for riding locally when it is really foul… This has changed my perspective on ISIS BB’s. The only maintenance in this period had been 6-monthly BB removal and lubrication through the bearing grease nipples.

Additionally, my brother used one of these below on his only bike for a number of years and this has also been faultless:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mobile/MobileModels.aspx?ModelID=17720. Relatively good value at £29.99

J

Yeap, for sale.
Will take a measure and post details tomorrow when I can find it.
Cheers
Tim

I used to use SKF’s that Pace used to sell. No idea if they’re available anymore, but they were very good

I tried a few ISIS BBs before I bought a HTII crankset. All were terrible, lasting 2 months, except for the Superstar which lasted ~10 months before developing a little play.

oh by the way tim, cheers for the offer but in the end i had crank issues to go with the knacked BB and went for a bargain full set off ebay so i’m all set. cheers all for pointers as well. to conclude i’d happily have an SKF if someone foots the bill for me. 🙂

race face signiture Ti ISIS bb.

Cost about £120 10 years ago, has a guys name etched into the shell, axle is made from Ti and is hollow, has FOUR rows of bearings yet still weighs not a lot. The idea is if it ever breaks or wears out, you ring RF and ask for a new one, lifetime warranty against defects/WEAR/FAILURE!!

However, since 2005 it has been on my hack SS bike, and done many many many out of the saddle knarly climbs, been cleaned with a pressure washer and left outside for months on end.
Needless to say, its still perfect (and the 10 year old hope enduro needle bearing headset), however the rest of the bike is a wreck.

Phew, spent far too long sorting out tools and totally forgot to dig it out the spares bo :O/

>The words ISIS and ‘fit and forget ‘ will never appear in the same sentence. On account of ISIS BB’s being fundamentally appallingly designed, badly made crap!!! No matter which one you buy<

Actually, I’d call BS on this assessment. As Brickman indicates the RF Signature was actually rather good. I ran the non Ti version (just 2 bearings) on a Bullit for many years and I got far more mileage out of it than the current Shimano external B/B. Bearings were much smaller of course but they were way better protected / sealed.

Oh, I have tried the Superstar and another cheapo clone and they both fell apart in 3 months

well i went superstar in the end, having got some bargainous cranks off ebay. I will update this thread as and when the BB dies/lives gloriously unscathed for months.

+1 for Superstar.
SKF wasn’t bad, but it lasted its exact warranty period.

And never, EVER touch a Raceface one….. (for that matter, never touch anything Raceface with bearings in, not just ISIS BBs)