[Closed] BB - cheap alternative

Or, for the price of a Hope one, buy 4 XTRs from rose bikes....

Shimano BBs use 6mm wide bearings, everyone else uses 7mm.
No off the shelf bearings available in 6mm, so the cups aren't much use.
Get a secondhand Hope BB and put new bearings in then (£15 per bearing) or get a gubbed Hope / Superstar / Whoever and pop some decent quality 6805 2RS / 61805 2RS bearings (£8 ea) in there with top hats (£5 for 2) to reduce the diameter down to the axle size.

FWIW, I have a SSC BB which I bought with a view to replacing the bearings with 'decent' ones when it died but it's going strong about three years on. Now, I'll make clear that I don't do silly miles these days but it's certainly gone through some horrible conditions and I've had Shimano ones die much quicker so I'm very pleasantly suprised...

As someone has said, XTR from Rose for 15 quid. It feels sorta cool having a spare XTR thing in your parts box.

i've got a gusset ext24 jobbie off ebay, for £24.

The machining isn't quite as nice as my hope BB, but the bearings are very well sealed/hidden.

(same bearings - easy to replace too, standard sizes unlike shimano)

I got two XTR's from Rose bikes for £40 delivered and they gave me a free rucksack as a new customer gift as well 😀
Which the mrs promptly took off me as its perfect for her kit when she goes swimming.. 😥

Uberbike Compnents BB is standing up very well on my muddy weather hardtail.

So - will the 3 XTR's last as long as one Hope?

Gusset EXT24 gets my vote too- well sealed, and also very easy to replace the bearings when they wear out (you can also access them easily which makes it possible to clean and regrease them if you choose). Standard bearings, but you do need to be careful not to break the tophats.

Not sure there's any point to getting XTR- they're a different design to XT but it didn't seem to make any actual difference in mine.

Thanks all - gone for a Gusset (£24 Tredz) 🙂

(same bearings - easy to replace too, standard sizes unlike shimano

that's the problem - Shimano are a standard size bearing (25mm id), its Hope which aren't, as the axle is 24mm OD

+1 for 2nd hand Hope, retrofit with 24mm Enduro bearings.

I won't touch enduro bb bearings again, absolutely dismal. Still better than Truvativ but then you could grease a Shimano bearing with mud and it'd still outlast Truvativ. But my Enduros lasted less time than a deore.

Stick with the Gusset?