HTII Bottom Bracket - What is good?

I've never found the need to pay anything more than an XT HTII BB. I do slather a load of extra grease around, which might help? But, they always last a good long time.

I find even the Deore bearings last a long time. I do have Hope fitted on my bikes now but I’m wondering whether the Shimano plastic sleeve is probably a better idea than the steel on steel design of Hope, Wheels Manufacturing and others? I have experienced grooves wearing in the axle unless I pay meticulous attention to removing the crankset, cleaning and re greasing regularly. 
I was swayed a bit by the sustainability argument of Hope etc but the only extra material that needs recycling on the Shimano is the plastic sleeve and the aluminium cup.

 I also believe (I read it in the specs once) that the sealing on the Deore is better than XT, this is based on my more friction = better sealing theory and no scientific investigation!

I could never tell the difference between Deore, SLX or XT once fitted. Always seemed to last ages and perform well enough that I didn't feel the need for anything fancier.

Shimano are fine, but hope are nicer, shinier and freer spinning.

I've got a Hope one that's VERY old and refuses to die, but equally now basic Shimano ones are lasting very well for me.

These days Shimano are fine - especially for the money. I've got Hopes on most bikes, but they're all 10+ years old from the days when Shimano would only last a few months. The newer Shimano ones last 2 or 3 years for a fraction of what Hope want these days

Hope are lovely + the bearings are durable and easy to replace 

but at something approaching a 1 to 10 cost ratio you can’t go wrong with deore. 
worth noting as well that it’s generally the NDS bearing that fails first, so I when I replace a shimano bb I keep the drive side and push the bearing out to refit to the next NDS failure

Agree that Hope spin better....

One benefit of Deore, as generally the shortest lived option, is that you get to take them out of the frame more often and they're therefore less likely to be forgotten about long term and bind into the frame.  Not a problem if you remember to take the Hope/Chris King or whatever out from time to time!  

I use both Hope and Shimano, basing the purchasing choice on how flush I'm feeling each time I need to buy another.  The longest lived BB I've ever had was a Chris King, which at bang on 20 years, had outlived 4 frames that all broke, so quite hard used in the Highlands.  I still have the CK grease gun that helped maintain it.

MT800 (or MT801) do the trick, as said.

bird have some for £15

https://www.bird.bike/product/bc-shim-mt800-bb-kbbmt800b/

I've never found the need to pay anything more than an XT HTII BB. 

+1, bought 4 or 5 when on sale a few years ago, still using the 1st one

Shimano XT work for me. I've a Hope on one bike, bought purely for aesthetic reasons. 

Same. Used to get Hope as they lasted. But now Shimano do the same job for £15. 

A BB is only as good as the shell its going in, I would recommend getting the BB shell faced and chased to get the best out of the BB you chose to fit. I had the BB shell on my (steel) commuter/all road bike faced and chased when I got it as the threads were rough from new. I fitted a Shimano RS500 (Tiagra) BB, the crank arms spin for ages and move under their own weight without a chain fitted, such is the smoothness with a properly finished BB shell. The RS500 BB has done 4546 miles so far, the bearings are still smooth with no play.

The longest lived BB I've ever had was a Chris King, which at bang on 20 years, had outlived 4 frames that all broke,

all near the BB shell?  CK Murder BB!

Not FSA as my mates lasted about two seconds in his new Marin hard tail! Not Sram either, just found a low milage one seized on the bike I wanted to ride this week (before I'll get chance to change it due to stupid Sram making theirs look like a normal size but not being compatible with a normal sized bb wrench, ffs)!

As has been said, cheap = Shimano but Hope are lovely and worth the extra if you want to spend it.

it’s generally the NDS bearing that fails first

It is.

so I when I replace a shimano bb I keep the drive side and push the bearing out to refit to the next NDS failure

Good idea, never thought of that! 

Nobody will agree with this 

Bucklos on Aliexpress 
£5.50 shipped at the moment for BSA threaded 24mm
Standard bearing sizes, easy to maintain and swap 
After the stock bearings wear out, replace with a sealed Enduro Bearing and it will last forever
And so much cheaper 

This is from experience, not just random 
We've had 20 bikes running the same BB's for the past year, and they are honestly perfect 

it’s generally the NDS bearing that fails first

Not just a pattern on my bikes then? 

Shimano now do about a year for me, in the old days it was six months. Hope do a few years. Or rather the bearings do, the cups keep going. Trying an Enduro bearings Maxhit, can’t report on longevity yet. The bearings are built in with those, so only time will tell if they make sense.

While in the subject when did the cup size change ? I've got an XT BB and my BB tool is too big I thought all HT11 would be the same size , silly me 🙄

So what do I need for an MT800 ?

The same tool as the direct mount chainring.

You can get a plastic insert that lets you use the regular style BB tool with XT and 105 (maybe?) BBs.

can you just pop out the bearing from Shimano shells and replace them with SKF bearings or something then? 

Thank you everyone for all your answers

Panda

Posted by: doubleeagle

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can you just pop out the bearing from Shimano shells and replace them with SKF bearings or something then? 

yes, but the correct bearing size is tricky to find, (kinetic bearings have them) 

and I’m on the fence as to whether it’s worth it. One quality bearing is about the cost of a ht11 bb, ….and there we complete the circle to the original post😂