Howdy, I ride a lot in the rain and have worn out a few Shimano BBs including the Saint ones so I’m in the market for a long lasting BB. Hope comes to mind, but on paper these RWCs seem to be a superior product at a similar price- Angular contact bearings and deeper threads for starters.

Mainly looking at the chromium steel bearing and the 440C stainless versions at 80 & 100 dollars respectively. I’ve read mixed reviews on them, but am interested to hear your opinions.

How do they how hold up in British riding conditions?

It’s not the same product but I’ve used Enduro’s bottom bracket bearings before and they were appalling, sub-deore rubbish. So that would put me off…

Hope are fine but it’s not a common bearing so that makes it more hassle/expense to replace in future. TBH economically mine worked out worse than Shimano XT, the only compensation was less garage time but it takes minutes to swap a BB so that wasn’t enough, for me. (I found XT and XTR last pretty much the same, Deore are too shortlived though, I killed one in exactly 6 hours once)

I like Gusset’s EXT24 (standard not ceramic) it’s a good price for a fairly servicable and decently longlived BB in the first place but it also takes a completely standard bearing so cheap and easy to service.

XTR has been working well for me. Lasted a lot longer than XT or deore

Woah, they’re really that bad in real life? Hmm…

I just looked up the Gusset one and the price is similar to the Saint BB which is my go-to model out of the Shimano range. Very tempted to give one of these a try when the current BB craps itself. Thanks for the suggestion!

Perhaps I’m fooling myself into thinking there’s a near-immortal BB out there that can withstand British conditions without needing touching for at least a solid year of abusive (and stack-prone) riding. 😆

In fairness to Enduro that was a completely different product. But it’s more about trusting the brand for me, that and their customer service over that failure put me right off. They’ve got a good rep but I can’t figure out how.

I bought the needle bearing shock kit from RWC and was impressed with the quality and attention to detail of the kit and is still going strong since fitment.

I’d go with the Hope. Angular bearing cope with axial loads better but if you don’t over tighten the Hope one, it lasts really well. I’m about two years in on my original bearings. You almost want a gnats bollock of play on the axle before you tighten up the pinch bolts. Get it to the point of not being able to tell for certain if there’s a smidgen of play or not. You don’t want any side load on those bearings.

I like race face bb’s as I made a tool to press in new bearings which can cost as little as £5 to replace. These don’t last long though so last time I put some ceramic hybrid bearings in which I think have lasted around 3 years and have been used on my bike that gets used all year in the worst weather. I have a hope stainless steel Bb on one bike that is probably 5 or more years old and is still as good as the day I bought it. It has had the outer seals popped off twice in that time and new grease added. Again this has seen a lot of very bad weather and mud. Worst case on a hope you can buy new bearings at around £15 per side and in my experience the non drive side goes before the drive side so you could always stagger buying replacements.
Just go for the hope.

Gusset EXT24 are easy to pop out and regrease. .

I also ride a lot in the rain and after wearing out a SRAM and a Shimano BB in only a few months I swapped I replaced both with Hope bottom brackets. One was fitted in 2010 and is on its second frame, the other about a year ago. Both still running fine on original bearings.

Funnily enough I’m also using hybrid ceramic replacements in race face cups. Been using them on the fat bike for a year and a half with zero maintenance. Packed them with Phil Woods grease when new, but that’s been it. £18 a pair from local bearing supplier. Knocked them out using a screwdriver and used old bearings as spacers to tap the new ones in.

I would second the longevity of Hope, I recently took the bike in for a checkup and asked them to replace the bearings and they said no point. I’ve got a Shimano BB as part of a group set package which I’ll use on another build as I have it but once it’s dead I’ll put on a Hope.

I would say I have had good luck with the Enduro bearings I have used so far.
I was killing Shimano BB’s in a matter of two or three month’s.
XTR quality as well.
I bought the bare Enduro cups rather than the complete sealed unit which were very expensive.
Then I bought the seperate bearings and pressed them in.
Cost was about 40 odd quid at the time.
That included two sets of bearings and a set of cups.
I generally find one bearing will last about a year and a half with this set up.
The other side will go shortly after so not bad after some hard use.
Saying that I have had a Deore one recently in my other bike.
That has lasted well over year so I think they have improved!
Thanks,
Max

Find Hope excellent. As long as they’re not side loaded, as the strong-accented chap in their installation video is at pains to point out.

Alternative to the gusset is the uberbike but for basically the same reasons. They also sell replacement top hats for when you inevitably break one changing the bearings. Would probably fit a gusset too.

IIRC correctly the hope bearings have the same OD as the other two so you could perhaps buy a standard bearing and a top hat to refit a hope on the cheap. Could be wrong there though.

All my hopes have lasted extremely well.
The current bike has done over 3000km in all manner of conditions including some very sloppy wet crap, had no special treatment and is still sweet, the previous 2 bikes probably did more in all UK conditions and I think I changed on set of bearings in that time, the older BB’s are in the tool box for a quick build/spares but have never been needed.