so my hollowtech II BB has died (non drive side anyway)… I stripped the BB last night and have managed to gain a few more weeks use out of it (i hope), but this leaves me with a little dilema… replace with the same, upgrade to a spankig new stainless (hope or similar) or just bang in some enduro or stainless sealed bearings?
anyone used the enduro over hope, are the stainless bearings worth the extra cash?

Have you looked at the superstars web site their bb’s are cheap as chips.

They’re also shit, I had 2 in a row erlier this year that lasted less than 8 rides each. Of course I’m mechanicaly incompetent so they aren’t covered byt the 2 year warrenty apparently. Neil must be psycic as I don’t remember telling him that though……….

Buy Superstar, accept they wont last any time at all, then replace the bearings carefully to preserve the top hats. Or buy acros (they still use a top hat spacer unlike hope, enduro etc). It’ll last a few years, then replace the bearings. A pair of SKF bearings (which will last quite a while) for either is about £30, the price difference between them showing just how poor quality the superstar bits must be.

BETD?
i was looking at these…
but then i just bought a hope stainless

cheers guys. superstar is a big no. Tried there pads and they f**ked up my rotor big time when the pad decided to blow off during a peaks crossing.
Not seen much on the arcos but i know NWMTB sell em so might have a look.
sam42… yeah there the enduro bearings i was looking at… dont think theres any point in replacing the cups when they work just fine… was thinking i might as well spend the money on the bearings inside…
do you know anyone whos used the enduro’s?

Enduro bearings after 6 months (not mine, but a friend’s). Lasted about as long as the original Shimano, with no obvious difference in conditions or maintenance (no jetwash)

warpcow… thats the sh*t i needed to see… looks just like mine did last night LOL
i think ill bang some medioka bearings in and upgrade to a hope or similar stainless when it dies again.

I went the across route and then the Chris King route. Water and dirt penetration are what kill mine, so a monthly squirt with the grease adapter on the king has kept it running sweet for a year so far.

Had good results from Hope stainless, been in for over 18 months now, and still spins smoothly

I don’t think any will be better, just buy a few sets of replacement standard bearings off ebay or a bearing supplier, knock the old ones out and put new ones in. Cost ~£5 a set for SKF bearings. you can get a lot of them for the price of a hope BB.

I have a hope stainless. only been on a couple of rides, but has had the same treatment as shimano bb’s. It runs sooo smooth – much more free running than the last shimano one i had in. no signs of any corrosion/stiffening after two muddy rides and two washes. Which is more than can be said for the last two shimano b/bs.

captaindanger – where have you found SKF bearings for shimano bbs for about a fiver a pair? Everything I found was at LEAST about 7-8 quid each.

cheapo ebay bearings to suit HT2s are a fiver a pair, SKF etc are more like 15+ quid a pair. I have a pair of each waiting for my current BB’s to die then I can replace and compare life. Ive managed to get the top hats out of shimano and raceface by tapping them out from the inside as you would the bearings (rather than prizing them out from the front). Seems pointless to spend ££ replacing the cups.

What ever you get it might be worth carefully popping off one of the seals and packing the bearing with as much grease as you can, which is how (whisper it) kaesae supposedly adds value to his.

looks like i dodged one there then……..
btw the hope stainless is about a year old and running just fine.

The Enduro bearings aren’t anything to get excited about, i know that much. Tried to service a mate’s Acros Clockworx a while back and it needed a bearing puller, no way to get a drift on the inside of the race to knock it out, which was a bit of a downer, don’t know if they’re still like that but I wasn’t impressed. Small bearings too.

northwind, thats good to know about the acros. if im gonna replace the cups for something bling i at least want to be able to pull t apart when things **** up.
Have managed to get a bit of life out of the shimano for now but one thing that worries me is how long replacment bearings will last if you manage to damage the cup seals… there only plastic and dont seem very forgiving to me! with that very question in mind im now looking at the pace RC with grease port (50 notes on wiggle) or the hope stainless.
Thanks for all the info guys, great resource to have when your tempted by the thought of something bling or some good old fashioned tinkering!