What do you CXers use for a chainset and BB? does a road BB simply just die with the amount of mud and powerwashing it’s subject to?

I have the chance of either a 105 or a Gosamar chainset but the respective BB’s are the problem. A 105 is £15 but the FSA one is £49 😯 is it that much better? will it last longer?

your thoughts please 🙂

I’ve used a S/H Tiagra chainset bought off here throughout the season with a cheapo Tiagra BB. As a rule I don’t jet wash the bike, I usually scrape as much mud off as possible before slinging in the car then wash the rest off at home with a standard garden hose.

BB’s fine after all the abuse, hopefully I’ll get another season out of it.

I’ve been meaning to buy a hand pump type washer since September to get most of the cleaning done at the event.

Ran a compact road inner and swapped the big ring for a 44t half way through the season.

Will the FSA not fit a Shimano BB?

I asked about this recently and was advised I should be able to replace my FSA BB with a Shimano one.

Dura-Ace BBs on my cross bikes. Three seasons old, liberal pressure washing, no problems at all.
Had Ultegra ones in my previous bikes and they’d last about a season and a half.

I’m old school – square taper shimano BB and stronglight impact crankset. All works a treat – though is only about 3-400 miles old 🙂

I’ve had a road chainset on my cx bike for 16 years. It still works just fine.

Shimano Tiagra 4500 chainset on my CX. The chainrings and BB last about the same as on my mtbs – I’ve just killed a BB but it had two years’ use – it was pretty grumbly after the first year – I took the seals off, regreased and it lasted another year.

cheers lads.

so…will a Shimano BB work with the FSA chainset?

STW suggests the Gossamer will: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/are-fsa-gossamer-chainsets-compatible-with-shimano-bbs

I’m waiting to try it out.

I’m using a tiagra BB on a gossamer chainset ATM on my CX bike. It all fits fine and doesn’t seem to die any quicker than the original, overpriced, FSA BB did.