What’s the nearest thing to a fit and forget Hollowtech?
Is there anything you can do to prolong the life of one?
I know you can buy bbs cheap from Germany but I would rather something that doesn’t creak for half of its limited lifespan.

Hope last a long time but cost more. I worked out you can 3 or 4 XTR BB’s from Germany for the price of 1 Hope 😯

hope (£70)

uberbike (£35)

gusset ext24 (£24)

they all use sealed bearings, and have some form of effective baffle/seal to add further protection.

the Gusset BB is VERY well shielded.

all my shimano BB’s have died as a result of filth+water getting past the rubbish seal into the open bearings.

Chris King £99 at Wiggle.

Last longer than any other, easy to strip and relube without any special tools.

I worked out you can 3 or 4 XTR BB’s from Germany for the price of 1 Hope

throw-away society. Less waste replacing bearings in a Hope, rather than entire Shimano…

Hope fit once lasts 2-4years+

But it’s all recyclable metal and plastic so not really waste.

took the old bearings out of a knacked HT2 and replaced em with enduro stainless steel ones with an extra seal

cranks run directly on the bearings with no top hat, and so far (4 months but not much rain) they’ve been pretty good

cheap as well…£19 quid off ebay,so significantly cheaper than any of the other options

Gusset EXT24 is a good call- just as servicable as a Hope, and far cheaper. Uses standard bearings of your choice. I find mine needs a little TLC- if left alone it outlasts an XT, but if cleaned out and lightly greased every so often it outlasts XT by a lot (it’s basically a shield + seal design, cleaning out behind the shield from time to time helps the seal)

Yes, disposable is bad, but it’s on a trivial scale considering riding as a whole.

Oh and as ever- if you’re not getting decent miles from an XT or above Shimano BB, you’re probably doing it wrong. The biggest advantage of Hope is that they’re very resistant to overtightening tbh.

I’ve tried the Enduro bearings. Lasted 6 months/2000km in my road bike (albeit through some filthy weather)
Just about to fit genuine Hope ones again.

I don’t like the concept of the plastic top-hat spacer

I don’t like the concept of the plastic top-hat spacer

The HT2 enduro bearings dont have a top-hat spacer…the crank runs directly on the bearings

The normal HT2 bottom bracket uses a top hat spacer which is pretty good at helping to protect the innards…the bearings are open on the inside so are more prone to water ingress from the seat-tube or if bottle cage bolts are missing

I know. Which is why I’ve only used Hope and Enduro bearings in the past. Sadly the Enduro don’t seem to be as good as Hopes (buy cheap, buy twice…)

Normal HT2 bearings are sealed on both sides. Or at least the ones I’ve opened up are.

My enduros were terrible, incidentally, sub-deore lifespan and not even cheap.

In a dry and dusty Oz the last HTII on the missus bike lasted 8 months. Pointless really, if we had time to order one it would have been hope, will be next time