Forum menu
Just thought I'd let you know - if your looking for a posh BB
My b&b seized the other day and on the basis that it had lasted a good long while I decided to treat myself to something sexy ( I'm still talking BB's here).
Thought about Chris King, looked at Hope Ceramic and dreamed about Enduro XD-15 "the best BB we've ever tested" (bike radar).
CK about £100, Hope about £100, Enduro around £170 / £180 ouch !
Decided to go balls out tried to buy Enduro from Sigma Sport in London. They made a sime process so difficult (lots of questions about numbers of splines and chain line length etc etc).
In the end I called the distributor BETD to resolve my issues and they not only did that but sold me one for £105 inc postage.
Ok it's a lot for a BB but it should outlive me and the rest of the bike and saving £70 is a bargain in my book.
£180 for a BB!!! **** that.
That's nearly ten years worth of XT's.
But none of the labour....... 😀
It takes about ten minutes.
About 20 to swap the bearing and then its £6 a set.
They saw you coming...
Jambo, if it goes onto my next bike like my CK headset has done, then over time it will well pay for it's self. I have no problem with buying well once, over buying tat several times over. Fit and forget is the way forward. I totally accept others may disagree. Each to his own.
Hope it works out for you and your BB doesn't score your cranks like your CK headset will to your steerer tube...
My steerer is perfect. After 7 years.
Poor installation ?
£180 for a BB!!! **** that.That's nearly ten years worth of XT's.
Or 50-100 years worth of LX or XT Octalink BBs!
Jambo, if it goes onto my next bike like my CK headset has done, then over time it will well pay for it's self
I look forward to buying both bottom bracket and headset off you secondhand for my old commuter when your next bike needs a BB92/BB30 or whatever the next latest standard is
It may outlast cheap XT 10 times over but its no good when frame manufacturers change things so often
I read a bike radar review of a touring bike earlier, apparently cable-disc brakes are a poor choice for touring due to the unavailability of spares.
I doubt i'll ever take them seriously again.
I don't know what the Enduro bottom bracket is but i had the Enduro bearings (from Bet'd) fitted to Shimano and RaceFace cups and they've lasted well. Smooth an well sealed. Cost about £25 i think.
I need a new b/b for my commuter and was looking at the Deore chainset from Merlin for £50 so i can replace the worn rings too. Seems like a good move.
takes me about 10 mins to prise the top hats off, clean, repack and re seal the BB on my daily commuter. That said, this month I'm going to treat myself to a new tiagra BB if I get my new job
I gave the ceramic bearings in my 2 year old Hope BB a complete overhaul the other day. Completely degreased, washed, flushed with GT85 and then Repacked.
Pretty sure they'll keep going and going.
I think the real point here is the London dealer mentioned who blew an obviously profitable sale trying to over complicate a process.
I was not aware that any considerations other than 'how many 2.5mm chainline spacers are needed?' (3 is normally more than enough although BB shell width is usually all you need to know here) and 'is this an HT2, SRAM GXP, square taper crank or one of the various spliney things?' was a consideration ... Granted if its a splined crank you may be into counting things to make a right first time ID without seeing it... Suppose could get complicated with wider axle sizes but even so a very short short list of possibilities should cover all options.
Personally I'm looking at the Hope BB90 for one bike and the Hope stainless for all the rest and I reckon I can do nearly three bikes with these items for £180... All take standard replacement bearings when the inevitable happens.