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Fed up of lobbing Shimano units in the bin, it seems so wasteful and despite my best efforts to disobey the "don't take them apart" markings and regrease them it seems they are in fact not designed to be user serviceable.
This is for a bike that's ridden fairly regularly but not every week and particularly used in yucky conditions when I don't want to grind up the pivots on the good bike or it would clog up with Hampshire filth.
Something with truly awesome sealing and/or user serviceable bearings and that won't seize up if put away mucky and ignored for 2-3 weeks would be my preference.
Edit: I also fancy the third moon of Jupiter on a cocktail stick with strawberry sauce. 😉
Hope?
I have Token on one bike which has seen 9K touring miles with no worries and Shimano (what ever model is £8) on another which has seen 2 years worth of mtbing but was stuffed full of moly grease when installed. I don't use a jet wash.
Shimano Deore BBs don't seem to survive one wet ride, but the XT BB has bigger bearings, better sealed & mine lasted through a winters commuting and regular hosing down.
Gusset EXT24 is my go-to... Not too expensive, come in pretty colours. The standard lifespan is good but also, they're very easily serviced and take a standard bearing. You need to be careful not to damage the tophats when you swap but other'n that it's all good really.
search out the exact same thread i find out how long ago... maybe 2yrs now
uberbikes ss one, its been regreased twice so far, its on the ht which gets all the local, winter, wet treatment, v. impressed
Shimano Saint. Utterly bombproof and in blingy gold too. Had the same one on my high-mileage road bike for the last 2 1/2 years and it's as good as new still.
Have not found the same with other Shinano offerings, so they must do something special to it for those hairy downhillers.
Hope, bikes seem to outlast the bike. Current one 3 years no fuss.
soobalias - Member
.........uberbikes ss one, its been regreased twice so far, its on the ht which gets all the local, winter, wet treatment, v. impressed
cheers good tip - on order along with a bargain ceramic tapered headset
I seem to get 3000mile or so* from Shimano XTR BB's at £16 each from bike-discount.
Gusset GXP in the fat bike on Northwinds advice, nowhere near enough miles to comment on that though.
*3000miles +1 wet ride usually, they never die slowly just size.
My older Hope BB was put into my Boardman in mid 2010. Then moved to my Soul in early 2011. Then moved to my Zero AM in early 2016. It started making funny noises in recent weeks so I removed it, popped the bearing seals for the first time ever and cleaned and regreased it. Between those bikes Strava has logged about 4500 off-road miles, plus there's quite a lot of unlogged commuting use. I ride in all weathers and this BB was in either my only MTB or my winter MTB (after I got a full-sus).
My younger Hope BB has been happily spinning in my Spitfire for almost two years.
I've managed about 3 months before killing a SRAM BB and 6 months before killing a Shimano one.
Another vote for Uberbike... Ceramic BB on my hardtail has been abused all winter & when I finally checked it, the bearings still looked like new & actually still had grease on them!
shimano saint here. Been running in my winter bike for 3 YEARS unchanged. had others that lasted very well too.
Hope steel: have 2; 4 and 5 years of regular use all year round with zero issues or maintenance respectively.
Oh, PS, don't get the gusset ceramic, it's more expensive and doesn't last as well.
My Chris King bb is over 3 years old and still flawless.
Another vote for the uberbike one here. I have 2 of the ss ones and they are still spinning like new after a year of daily all weather use on the commuter and HT.
I have a Hope ss on my main bike, it's now been on 3 bikes that I know of over at least 4 years and is as smooth as my head.
i'm not sure about XTR seems to hold water in too well. Probably due to the better sealing. slx/XT level ones seem to last a little longer.
I used to get endure max bearings put into old shells. price of BBs has dropped a bit. Enduro bearings went up. now it's not worthwhile anymore
I use xtr. They're cheap. I think the amount of preload is key in how long they last. Most people put far too much on I reckon.
Seem to recall Saint BBs are the same as XT apart from a different inner shell
Nevertheless have got two Saint BBs the go at the moment and they are showing no discernable signs of wear, the oldest one will be two years old this November
Hope, Chris King, Saint, XTR
Thanks all. Always good to get some real world experience.
I'll check the prices on the top nominations and get something ordered.
Phil wood HT2 user here quality is better than Chris King and cheaper as well 3 years old now and used everyday on my surly ogre and is still butterly smooth before the ogre it was on my Genesis
Best Buy I've made in 20 years of biking
Uberbike ceramic; been running smooth as for months!