Killed my Shimano over the weekend so need a replacement and since it seems theres a bit more choice these days I thought I’d see what people thought.

Obvious answer is to go for a new Deore level one (~£20 on CRC) but other options that’ve caught my eye are the Blackspire one (few quid cheaper) and the Superstar one (out of stock though at the moment). Theres a few others on CRC for sub £30 so just wondering what was the verdict? Used Blackspire stuff in the past and its been good…

Don’t need the stupid comments about running square taper cranks either ta.

How about stupid comments about just buying new bearings to stick into the dead Shimano one?

Have heard of plenty of people not getting good life out of Superstar ones (the cheaper ones though), but I bought one of the SKF bearing Superstar models about 9 months ago on special offer (£20) at Mountain Mayhem…

Now, the key with pretty much any HT2 BB is to make sure the bearings have got enough grease in before you install it. Sure enough, true to form, when I popped the seals there was literally no grease inside the high quality SKF bearings! So… Just packed em full of grease, reinstalled the seals, fitted the BB and went riding.

It’s still as smooth now as when it was fitted…

I’d say it almost doesn’t matter what you buy (though SKF bearings are the highest quality you can get), it’s making sure there’s plenty of grease in them that’s the biggest issue. The bearing size (68052RS) is designed for high speed, low torque applications, where they are constantly immersed in oil. In a low speed, high torque application, where they have little or no lubrication (ie. on a Mountain Bike BB), they are prone to early failure! Packing them full of grease is the best way to prevent this…

Didn’t realise that was a stupid comment. How and where might I purchase such things and do they work out sufficiently less money to make the faff worth it over the £18 Blackspire one?

If you look at http://www.rosebikes.co.uk you can get an XTR one for 17 quid. I think, it’s a less than clear translation and may only be the actual shells, but I dont find any other options so It may well be the whole BB. I’ve ordered one, I’ll let you know what arrives.