If you have used one which one did you use? Are you happy with it? And finally, how does it work?

Cheers

Ed

I use a Praxis PF30 to HT2 converter – the BB30 version is the same but doesn’t have the sleeve. It works, bearings spin as well as if not better than on my Hope ceramic BB.

I to have a praxis pf30 converter and works very well

SRAM do a threaded sleeve that presses into the bb30
Shell with a little strong glue , but I’ve never used one myself

Do you still use the BB30 bearings? and the Praxis thingy then acts as a sleeve which reduces the axle diameter to HTII size?

Sorry just trying to get my head around how they work? Oh and do you need any special tool to fit them?

Praxisworks conversion BB

I’ve used the Wheels Engineering ones, I have them for sale.

They are not great:
1. because they press up against the bearing seal they create a point where mud and water can hang, imo they help reduce bearing life as it’s difficult to clean without removing them,

2. they can seize on the crank spindle and/or inside of the BB bearings, which makes removing the cranks very difficult,

3. if your BB30/PF30 bearings seize up (which happens if water gets in and dries the bearings out) the crank spindle will turn within the adaptor, which isn’t their intended use

4. in my case with PF30 they create a lot of friction with the PF30 plastic, cranks didn’t spin freely

IMO less parts is better with the BB30 and PF30 formats, use BB30 cranks and have a spare PF30 BB or BB30 bearings in your toolbox, put up with replacing every month or so,

I have also run PF30 to BSA adaptors to run a GXP crank, different problems, now reverted back to PF30

Thanks Amt, much appreciated.

And cheers Lee also, I had seen the Praxis option and thought it looked interesting. Can anyone explain what the deal is with bearings? Do you have to replace the whole Praxis unit or can you simply change the bearings?

Thanks for all the great help so far. 🙂

I used the wheels engineering adapters, but they creaked and couldn’t get rid of it.
Replaced with the FSA press in sleeve, this was easy to fit and totally silent

Vaguely related, stuck a KCNC PF30 BB in a couple of days back. The thing looked the biz, clamped in very easily. Sadly any pressure and the bearings really stick. Even barely touching it doesn’t spin as well as a fresh Deore one.

Not quite sure I’m getting this BB30/PF30 lark. Seems to be worse in every way. 50g lighter frame! 100g heavier bb, for triple the price, err with a tiny lifespan. Hmm.

Not quite sure I’m getting this BB30/PF30 lark. Seems to be worse in every way. 50g lighter frame! 100g heavier bb, for triple the price, err with a tiny lifespan. Hmm.

it’s great for the frame manufacturers, less time and skills required to make a frame, no thread just a shell = more bucks in the bank,

also they pass all the blame onto SRAM who have to service and replace them, again less cost for the frame manufacturer in providing customer service service,

it works fine if you’re a pro athlete with a few mechanics to service it before your 1.45hr uci world cup race, different for us mortals,

Just checked my frame and it looks as though its a PF30 🙄 so after all that fussing about BB30 I have to investigate the nuances of PF30, kinda wishing I had not gone there now. 😕

I’m in the same boat. I’ve bought a frame with a PF30 BB. It did make me think twice about getting the frame but seeing as there are adaptors out there i’d give it a go.

I want to run XT cranks so looking for the best way of fitting them. So far I’m looking at the SRAM PF30 to BSA adaptor (£24.99 on CRC).

Not sure if that’s what I’m going for yet as I’m not sure what my options are. Possibly different crankset?

I have a salsa spearfish which requires a PF30 BB. The sram ones are fine IF you run BB30 cranks, the adaptors that push in to the sram bb are poor. Ive gone for a praxis now, machined alu adaptor that fits in the frame and has normal eternal bb style bearings, runs a lot smoother than previous adaptors.

Yeah, as I say, for that exact solution I used:

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/BBSRPFKCNC-BLK/kcnc_sram_pf30_adapter___black

I’m using an XT chainset with it. It could well turn out to be great with a bit of riding, definitely feels to be loads of friction at the moment though.

I think what’s bugging me even more about PF30 is that you can’t buy chainsets with PF30 BBs as stock in the UK. How is that in any way a “standard”.

My Stumpy HT frame came with a Direct Mount 140 brake adapter on the back too, which is even more grief. I completely failed to find an adapter, ended up buying an Avid one, which doesn’t work with my Shimanos. Just going to accept defeat and use a 140mm rotor.

thanks for the link Toasty. They look much better than the SRAM. Have more confidence in aluminium than plastic! I assume they will also work with Hope BB’s?

My current bike has a 73mm BB, hope BB and Shimano HTII. My new frame is 73mm PF30 BB. Now if I install the KCNC adaptor will a 73mm Hope BB and standard Shimano HTII crank work? Won’t the BB width be greater than 73mm due to the adaptors?

thanks for the link Toasty. They look much better than the SRAM. Have more confidence in aluminium than plastic! I assume they will also work with Hope BB’s?

The KCNC one IS a bottom bracket. You stick your chain set straight into it. Sounded like a tidier solution to me, not convinced yet, it was very easy to fit though.

I’m surprised so few people have tried them to be honest. Mine hasn’t been ridden, completely run out of funds building a bike up 🙂 Relying solely on the “spin the cranks around” test.

So I could use my SRAM gxp cranks on my new enduro which is pf30
I’ve used SRAM pf30 to BSA plastic adaptor , hope bb with gxp washers
It’s been 6 weeks now and no creaking spins nice

Was Ment as temporary solution as I had all the bits from
Old bike till I save some more funds but working so well might just leave it alone

oh right so no need for Hope/shimano BB. That makes sense although I would have preferred to use some trusty Hope BB’s. Anyone used Tripeak adaptors?

A mate of mine has a GT Staystrong racing bmx.

He tried all sorts of cranks, mods etc, In the end we got a sleeve, and pressed it in with a headset press.

Now just works like a normal frame and uses deore bb’s.

Do you know what brand sleeve it was? Any issues with it?

I asked Jamie on here about machining me a sleeve for my frame PF30x73mm, would have been a brilliant solution butwith internal frame cable routing it would have been a PITA if I’d eve need to replace the cable outers.

FSA make a Alu BB30 threaded sleeve and will have a PF30 version coming out soon.

In my opinion the Praxis converter is by far the best option out there – they make BB30 versions too. You press the nds side in, thread in the ds, crank it up using your std BB tool and it does not move, no creep no creaks nothing.

They aren’t too cheap but so far so good, I’ll say it again, they spin brilliantly.

You replace the whole unit not the bearings.

CK released their version this week too, but it needs adaptors to run Shimano.

The KCNC adaptor looks like a sensible solution but LeeW makes a compelling case for the Praxis option. Bit of a mine field, ends up potentially spendy! 😕

Do you know what brand sleeve it was? Any issues with it?

This one, that a few people have mentioned.

FSA Sleeve

Works perfectly fine, you get some glue with it. A shop will do it for you. If I bought a BB30 frame one of these would be going straight in,

That would be perfect if it was PF30. Hopefully FSA will make it available soon as LeeW mentioned.

One thing I would be mindfull of with the press in sleeve is the manufacturing tolerances of the BB shell. If it’s slightly too much of an interference fit it may put strees on the BB sheel which may lead to cracking. Possibly.

But I am a ninny.

I might give that Praxis ago, sick and tired of the BB30 in my road frame.

Vaguely related, stuck a KCNC PF30 BB in a couple of days back. The thing looked the biz, clamped in very easily. Sadly any pressure and the bearings really stick. Even barely touching it doesn’t spin as well as a fresh Deore one.
Not quite sure I’m getting this BB30/PF30 lark. Seems to be worse in every way. 50g lighter frame! 100g heavier bb, for triple the price, err with a tiny lifespan. Hmm.

Was the KCNC easy to fit? I just got a PF 30 version for my Stumpy FSR and it seems pretty tight fit. Bearing in mind you have to screw the thing together I’m not sure being such a tight fit is the best thing.