[Closed] HT2 bb - Hope or several shimano BB's as they wear.....

I am in the same predicament...

Deore ones don't last well at all in my experience. Not convinced XTR is actually any better than XT- they're slightly different in construction but they seem to last about the same.

SLX/XT works out better over time than Hope IME- you can get 4 or 5 for the price of one Hope, and that should last longer (and o'course that avoids the upfront cost). Just don't overtorque the cranks- seems to do for Shimano ones pretty quickly (and let's be honest for a moment, practically everyone overtorques their cranks)

If it lasts even close to 3x or 4.5x as long then I'd consider it worth it for the time saved changing BBs and the satisfaction of throwing away less stuff.

Just to confuse things you can buy bearing for the hope bb in both ceramic and stainless.

And don't pretend the chance to have colours does not matter

King ?
Picked up a s/h one recently. Was going to buy the tool but LBS charged me £6 to purge the old grease out, so didn't bother.
Not sure if King bearings ever need changing, guess they will at some point, but even with the high initial outlay & a couple of greasings a year, must be a pay off after couple of years.

FWIW, if you like colours then the Gusset EXT24 could be worth looking at (they outlast an XT BB by about 50% for me, though they do benefit from an occasional clean out behind the outer seal) and the bearings are a piece of piss to change if you're so inclined.

relevant with this weather!

Hope bearings really do hugely outlast anything else with non-stainless bearings - for me. i think my original hope bearings from about 2008 are still running, they are actually wearing out and developing play, rather than rusting out and seizing like the others. because the seals never really work in my experience,they just delay the fail.

anyone else make BBs with stainless bearings then? or just buy the hope bearings and push them into whatever BB you've got, Hope have a unique shaped seal lip but i doubt that makes much difference?

For some reason though i'm about to fit a Shimano XT/XTR bb, just curious if they've got any better since 2008 i guess.

My neither of my ceramic bbs have been replaced.

Bikes have seen some abuse - one was from 2008 and survived a full 24 solo puffer , most of relentless and 10under the ben as well S associated riding inbetween

Almost like having square taper again . The xt it replaced lasted 3 months !

any word on the newer angular contact bearing type BBs? presumably stronger, but do they last? do they turn well? are any stainless?

King. Twice as much as Hope, but last forever.

You don't need the tool to change the grease; that is a myth. It's quicker, but the method is explained in the instructions.

Stripped my oldest one over Xmas and it is still like new inside. After about 4 years.

Gotta agree - Chris King.

I was close to heart failure spending £80 - £100 on a BB but wow that things is smooth - it spins noticeably better than any of my Shimano, FSA or Hope BB's.

AND... it's re-greaseable.

AND.. it should last forever (well,a long time anyway).

Although expensive, KIng is cheaper really - spend £80 on one that lasts forever versus £30 ish every 12-18 months...

I had this predicament - so I went to my lbs and £38 (40% off) later I had a shiny new hope stainless one - can't complain at that price and its been excellent so far. Feels extremely smooth and better put together than the shimano stuff which just feels cheap in comparison.

The xt on my main bike is over 2 years old with no issues so far. Wouldn't consider spending the price king or hope ones go for.

Went for hope. Just the extra waste with shimano disposables v hope replacable bearings. Have a load of drive side shimanos sitting idle because the non drive fails first. Waste of money and material.

How many miles are people getting out of this kit? Suggesting stuff's a year old or whatever doesn't really quantify how much work it has done.

I traded up to an XT crankset(& BB) after the original octalink BB failed at 1100 miles. The XT bearings are still fine after 1600 miles, as are the chain rings - just wondering how much further I could expect them to last. Apologies if that's a slight hijack.

AND.. it should last forever

Your only problem in the future will be finding a frame it fits in. 🙂

[b]ScotlandTheScared[/b] which LBS do you use? was that price mates rates or can any tom dick or rusty mac get one at that price ? 😉

email is in my profile if you don't want to broadcast it on here.

Another option to hope are these guys

http://endurobearings.com/

As the axel sits on the bearings like hope it reduces drag and the bearings are replaceable so you don't throw the cups away when they are done. They also sell a bearing press tool to swap out the bearings. Having send that I have always had good results using hope.

slinkybike - Member

As the axel sits on the bearings like hope it reduces drag

Um, how does that reduce drag?

I like the idea of the enduro bearings but the reality of the terrible bearing life means I won't do it again... Worse than Deore, and more expensive.

Do like the point up the page about Shimano uneven wear though- they should probably come in a pack of 3 with an extra nondriveside one.

done some more digging, there are 3 companies (other than Hope) doing stainless bbs, all around £30 so half hope's price. anyone used any?

Uberbike
Wheels Mfg
Pro-Lite (this might be Dave Hinde!)

if they do crap out i figure i can buy a pair of hope bearings for £30 and theyll be easier to change then a shimano bb anyway.

For goodness sakes, buy HOPE!
Ceramic if possible, it will give you years of joy and smooth spinning.

I have just bought a Token b/b really to see how it lasts.

£20 and comes in a good range of colours.

First impression is that it feels a lot smoother than a new Shimano unit.

Rusty - it was kind of mates rates. A guy who rides in our club works at the lbs and basically went to the manager and said that this hope BB had been sitting around for ages so asked if it could be sold at staff rates (i.e. 40% off). The manager said yes 🙂

Its the wrong colour for my bike, but do I care? Nope.

I reckon I got about 400 km (total garbage) out of my last shimano XT HT2 BB, vs. about 2000 out of my last superstar ceramic one. To be honest, I want more than either of those numbers from a BB - hence I went hope to see if that'll work.

Scotland Figured as much, will keep an eye out at the big online places for deals and discount code and see if i can pick one up at a good price

personally speaking, have had more bottombracckets than punctures... which is quite depressing really. but the hope ceramic ones are very good, i had 3 years out of my last ceramic hope it eventually developed play which i lived with for about a year till it began allow my chain to fall out of the chain device lol (running 1x9)....and to be fair it wasnt even creaking, just lots of play. this is compared to 6-9months for every other BB from, raceface, shimano, fsa + superstar.
so for ease of maintenance and only double the cost I would suggest it is well worth it to go for a decent quality ceramic BB

a bb is pretty simple, metal cups and bearings. if you put the same bearings in any cups it should run and last about the same? (unless hope's seal design makes much difference). lots of people say hope last longer than shimano, and i'm sure they do, but probably just because most people use the bearings they come with.
am i missing something? have to decide whether to replace to replace my Acros (shit, they shaped the cups wrong so tools slip AND SKF bearings rust) with an XT/XTR, or buy another Hope, or try a cheaper stainless like Uberbike. A cheap non-stainless like Superstar are a waste of time, check the reviews..

can't see hope under £60 right now (£30 of bearings, £15 each cup roughly).

as for King, no clear verdict on whether they outlast Hope, and they're £90 at CRC.

@curvature, first impressions mean ****, could just mean worse sealing!

also looking at the King, don't like the shape, looks like tools will slip like Acros, or you need King's own tool? yes chamfers are pretty but hope have the right idea with square edge.

By running on the axel there is less drag between the seal and bearing they run a simple dust seal instead I wasn't very clear sorry. I think the trick with endro bearings is to use them and then replace the standard industrial bearings that they use instead of replacing the whole cups and bearings.

just seen price of CK bb grease tool (no point buying CK bb without it) - around £50. can get 2 pairs of hope stainless bearings for nearly this. based on how my 1st hope bb lasted, that'd set me up for a decade. in 10 years, no frames will have threaded bb? thus, no point buying a king :p
Hope again for £60 i think it is.