Subscribe now and choose from over 30 free gifts worth up to £49 - Plus get £25 to spend in our shop
Daft question I'm sure but are the BB shells on road bikes with press fit BB's all the same diameter so they can accept any standard of press fit BB to suit your crank?
I've just bought a new bike and looking to swap the groupset onto another bike. It currently has a Shimano press fit BB for the Shimano crank but could I fit a BB30 or GXP or whatever other standard there is by replacing the BB also? Since I'm buying a crank for the new bike there are various good deals around for specific cranks so would like to take advantage of the deals so would like to know if I can fit any crank standard to my bike.
Cheers.
Afraid not.. Â all the various pressfit standards are different widths and diameters.
BB30 is narrower than most others, BB90 is a Trek standard that has bearings pressed directly into the frame without cups, PF86/92 is similar but has composite cups for the bearings, I believe this is the most commonly used standard. Â PF30 is similar to BB30 but uses composite cups again to overcome tolerance issues, BBRight is a Cervelo standard that isn't really seen on other bikes and BB386EVO is similar to PF86/92 in width but is for the larger 30mm axle standard.
Basically you need to find out which BB standard your frame has and get a BB to match, there are several manufacturers that make BB's to fit most combinations of frame and crankset.
#Edit: Whoops.. Â slightly misread the question. Â Yes you'll pretty much be able to fit whichever crank you want to buy, it's just a matter of ensuring that there is a BB or adapter set that converts from your frames standard to the crank standard although you may not be able to do it with a BB30 crank as they have shorter axle's than most.
Hope, Praxis, Rotor, Acros and C-Bear all do BB's that will do what you need depending on your frames BB standard and the crank you want to buy.
You can fit Shimano PF86 or GXP pressfit, you 'can' fit BB30 cranks to an 86 frame using something like the Hope/Enduro bearings, but I really wouldn't as they wear out in no time at all.
Thanks chaps. Shame on BB30 as it seems there are more deals around for BB30 cranks. Not too keen on fiddling around with things to make things fit especially on a BB - like to use stuff as intended in the original design.
Fitting 30mm spindle cranks to a BB86/PF41 can be done with something like Rotor PF4130 BB but the bearings are tiny and aren't very durable as the bearing is only 6mm 'thick' - you'll need a BB386 or BSA30 crank, not road BB30 as the spindle is too short. I would stick to a regular 24mm crank like Shimano. The best BB86/PF41 BB I've found is the Wheels Manufacturing Screw-Together which doesn't need a press to install and the design means that bearing alignment is maintained - you do need 2 oversize BB spanners though - plus it comes with proper external seals to sit outboard of the bearings whereas Hope just has crappy plastic washers which don't really do anything, plus its more expensive.