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Potentially looking at buying a secondhand bike that happens to have a PF BB. Never owned a frame with a BF BB.
Would that be a huge concern for anyone?
I mean would you turn down a nice bike purely as it's non threaded?
Im guessing that even if it does creak or whatever there are ways and means to get such things sorted.
Thanks for info guys.
Yes.. I had a cheap press fit carbon frame and cheap bb and it was crap.
I then bought a carbon s works stump jumper and fitted a hope posh pf bb expecting it to be much better, it's still crap.
There are decent alternatives from the likes of hope etc. now so not a deal breaker (mostly as it's just a handfull still doing threaded)
Which kind of PF BB is it? There's BB30, and there's BB86/BB90/whatever.
I think the BB30 is particularly prone to creakiness.
My road bike is BB86 (or one of those numbers) and has been fine since being treated with threadlock.
Thanks all.
Its an alloy Specialized with an SRAM CS so that's BB30 I think? Really not a clue on PF stuff!
My roadbike with a shimano pf has been fine for a couple of thousand miles, the fsa pf30 in my mtb lasted five minutes. The token pf in my lurcher survived a bit better but was cheap and easy to replace so I'll forgive it.
If there was a bike I really liked that was pf I'd see if a threaded insert could be installed to run normal cranks.
Never had much trouble with threaded or my press fit, although it seems to go through bearings a bit quicker.
Never had any issues with creaking that were down to the cups.
I'm just changing bearings on my PF, used to be a bit wary but can't be assed dragging it to the LBS every time so invested in a few tools and doing it myself. Assuming it goes back in creak-free then I don't have any issue with them, process seems easy enough.
Maybe a cheaper frame could have issues with tolerances etc. but assuming it's reasonable then Loctite seems to be the widely accepted solution.
Edit - you could use an adaptor if you'd prefer an external BB in there, my Focus has BB30 and was set up that way from new. It's never given me the slightest hassle.
Nae bother at all - own a few of them and had no problems, actually prefer the simplicity of BB30, bearing change is trivial.
BB30 requires the BB shell to be machined to a higher tolerance than usual, so if on-one or someone started knocking them out you'd probably give it a miss. I think it's restricted to a few large companies though (standard originally came from cannondale).
Got a pf bb on my fatbike. No probs in six months, and that's about as long as most of my bb's last before they need attention.
Im guessing that even if it does creak or whatever there are ways and means to get such things sorted.
Not from the experience of my riding buddies. I don't think it's the only bb design to ever creak, though.
Had Chinese carbon cx frame bb30 for 3 years no issues 🙂
Mine is BB92 or something, it's a step back from a proper BB but it's not the end of the world, I wouldn't (didn't) let it influence me.
Rotor BB. No issues.
My 4 year old Whyte CX has a FSA BB386 bottom bracket, it's done 10000 miles in some pretty tough conditions and it still going strong, so they're not all crap.
In fact I was looking at the bike the other day and the only original parts left are the frame, forks, BB & chainset (I've replaced the chainrings).
It depends on what you mean by PF BB: I've got a couple of bikes with BB86/92 (PF41) and they've been no trouble in 6 years. BB30 or where bearings are pressed directly into the shell are generally a crock because it requires a degree of manufacturing tolerance not achievable in large-scale manufacture - made worse by inevitable water ingress down the seattube means the bearings are immersed in water, considerably shortening their life. PF30 is slightly better in that the bearing housing overcomes the tolerance issue. There are plenty of adaptors available to convert BB30 to HT2, GXP or whatever flavour you like.
Bb30 across several bikes here, I find they last well. Two cross seasons on one of them, three winters worth of road miles on one, and the other on an MTB. All still running smoothly.
PF86 is OK, I'd prefer threaded but with a Hope BB it's been OK. Not entirely creak free but close enough for it not to be a worry.
BB30 I would avoid like the plague and would not buy a frame with it.
I have 10 bikes, I'd say 7 different bbs between them and none are worse than others.
I've never had an issue with BB30 in my scalpel or ISIS in my commuter. If anything is looked after it will last.
Running a few Specializeds with PF30s in them. Only had a problem with one of them, swapped it over for another SRAM and its been fine.
bought a second hand stumpy last year which came with a pressfit, after a few months i had to replace it, 'aw sh*te' i thought, ive heard about these pressfits, took it out and noticed the date stamp was 2012! if it lasts that long ill be happy, dont know how much the last owner thrashed it though
The BB92 (or maybe 86 I can't remember) has been pretty good in my Trek. It's been replaced once in 4 years so seems to last better for me than the HTII external BBs in my other bike.
I don't mind them. Last 6 months to a year. But at £25 to replace its not a big deal.
Easier to replace than a threaded bb which doesn't last much longer.
Smack them out with a hammer, clean surfaces, Loctite and press in with a long bolt/homemade press.
I wouldn't let it put me off a bike!
Believe my 2015 Giant XTC Advanced 3 has a PF bottom bracket, it's currently done just over 1500 miles in all weather without issue and is still perfect! Although I've probably just jinxed it 😀
I was annoyed with PF until I spent the money on a Hope PF BB, so fitted one straight away to my latest frame.
They seem to last better than external bearings in my experience in recent years, but they're not so easy to replace obvs.
Minor annoyance.