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Probably been covered a multitude of times (if so, apologies) but the BB on my '09 Giant Trance X4 has been noisy for a wee while.
Got it disassembled, and (I'm being naive here) not like the BB's I've known and loved.
The drive-side is out, and so is the LHS, and it seems to be a shaft with a bearing on it. Spinning the bearing shows me that its pretty short.
Some googling tells me that RF seem to want me to use pullers and presses to replace the bearing. Which seems a bit of a faff (and I don't have the kit.) Is there an alternative I could use, like a bog-standard ISIS or something?
Raceface X-Type is exactly the same standard as the Shimano external bearing BB's that they use on their Hollowtech 2 chainsets. It is a stiffer interface than BB's of old, the only downside being that bearings don't seem to last as long. Raceface BB's have always been known for their short bearing life, others aren't as bad and some are actually pretty good. You can go the whole hog and spend mega bucks on a Hope BB with ceramic bearings, or even a Chris King, but personally I'd save the money... Shimano XT replacement BB's are £12.75 each from Rosebikes, which is much cheaper than getting your bearings replaced even let alone a Hope or CK BB. The bearing life is OK(ish) on XT BB's too, not as bad as raceface certainly. Buy a few at that cheap and treat em as throwaway items when they wear out...
Cheers Mboy, that's what I'll do.