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So while I applaud the idea of improved sustainability and I can see the attraction if you’re a high mileage rider with limited maintenance opportunities – eg: you’re riding round the world – I’m not sure it’s an attractive proposition for most of us.
Even then, I'd want to see a lot of hard data before switching away from the current Shimano BB.
having looked into this i find them to be cost prohibitive. im also hearing that they are not best suited for bb's etc due to a higher initial friction.
i havent any experience of this however.
12mm id bearings were coming in at 35 quid each for my stumpy frame!
Sorry if I've missed this, but are they offering them in frame bearing sizes? Particularly the little bearings in the back of four-bar bikes that always seize?
I could live with marginally more friction when new in exchange for them not being solid and brown in six months' time.
chapping
Sorry if I’ve missed this, but are they offering them in frame bearing sizes? Particularly the little bearings in the back of four-bar bikes that always seize?
It's always puzzled me why tiny roller/ball bearings are used in that application. Surely it should be a decent sized bush in a sealed housing with a grease nipple?
It's absolutely one of the prime areas for improvement on FS MTBs.
Bushings might indeed be better. I think it's been tried hasn't it? Perhaps they wear too quick or lead to frame damage?
A very nice email back from Cane Creek answering the questions i asked about 'only 1 year warranty'. But basically Cane Creek dont know how long the bearing will last or if they will actually be better. They are taking an educated guess based on the application of the technology in a different industry. A 'lifetime' warranty is baked into the overall price to pay for the replacement of any that fail - which makes sense.
Even though Hope BBs have skyrocketed in price over the last few years, i still think that I will buy Hope and as the bearings are user replaceable 'if' the technology works buy a pair of these SKF solid bearing in a couple of years when the Hope ones die
In the case of our BB's, there are a few variables that we don't immediately have answers for. We pulled this technology from another market, specifically the food industry. Nobody has ever done this before for bicycles, and so we don't know for certain what long term failure rates will be. The cost of production is quite a bit higher than a typical high precision stainless steel bearing. We have pretty high expectations for the long term viability of these bearings - they're rated for pressure washing, and there is physically no space for contaminants to make their way in, which are the primary cause of worn or destroyed bearings. We believe they're the nicest bearing for BB's out there right now, and we have high expectations that they will work better than any other bearings out there. But at the moment, they don't have the decades of testing behind them to verify long term fatigue rates like high precision stainless steel bearings do, and so we don't know with certainty what long term failure and fatigue rates will look like, so increasing the price and baking that guarantee into the price doesn't make a ton of sense at this juncture in time.
I would be surprised if we don't ultimately increase their prices and include a lifetime guarantee after we've had a few more years to let the technology mature, reach more bikes and riders and get a better sense of fatigue rates, but for the moment, we're just providing what we believe is the best bearing on the market.
Im a bit put off by the increased drag over normal ones for a BB...
I don't need more resistance for my puny legs and lack of fitness to overcome...
But, I do intend on (slowly) replacing my pivot bearings with these, its too expensive for me to do all at once, and not every size I need is available, but think thats the way Im going to go as bearings get rough, the ones in my transition seem to have a much shorter life than my previous bike.
Sorry if I’ve missed this, but are they offering them in frame bearing sizes? Particularly the little bearings in the back of four-bar bikes that always seize?
I could live with marginally more friction when new in exchange for them not being solid and brown in six months’ time.
tbh the ones behind bearing covers on my stumpy were like new! im going for bearing covers for the win.
I have some in my Angleset headset or more specifically the hellbender bearings from Cane creek which are the same. A slightly more resistance in turning the bars in the garage but not noticeable on the trail and still running nice after a year of use (5000+ miles).
I tried them in my 350 DT Swiss rear hub and the increased resistance was felt immediately with slower times to certain points on my ride. I now see in their literature that they say they are not for everyone due to this, but say the initial increased resistance does get easier and then stays the same. I took them out and replaced with Enduro ABEC 3s as I'm still interested in being quick uphills as well as down, but if I wasn't then I would leave them in. My bike shop said they were impressed with the lack of wear over a Welsh winter. So for general trail riding and Enduro I'd use them in hubs for lower maintenance and I think I'd go for them in the frame next time round as I tend to trash frame bearing every 10 months to a year with my m mileage and living in Wales
I bought a set from Germany a couple of months back in readiness for needing them.
A couple of weeks ago I checked my bearings and they were all smooth still so not yet fitted/tried them.
So transition original enduro lasted ~9mths
Kinetic (also enduro) bearings I replaced with so far ~18mths and going strong.
Read into that what you will..
But they are in the draw for when needed but only pivot bearings so, I don’t expect a little extra drag will be noticeable for that application.
I find the neo skf bearings awful. Does not spin freely enough. Gone back to the hellbender 70.
Maybe will put them on my freeride/dh rig.
buy a load of em and install them down just one side of his or her entire bike and say a set from enduro down the other and then report back after our 6 months
A good idea in theory, though IME bearings don't fail evenly in any case. Usually the drive side goes first, except on SRAM Bottom brackets where the sealing is noticeably worse on the non-drive side...
One consideration when using these for suspension pivots - they are NOT a full complement bearing (like some of the other suspension specific bearings), so the load rating will be lower. Not sure how that balances out in terms of life. Probably depends on whether you hose your bike or not.