My XT HT2 BB has bitten the dust. We get lots of water up here in Mid Wales and I’m not one for stripping my bike down each time I do a water crossing. Am I better to just replace the BB every year or are there some nice sealed fit-and-forget BBs on the market for the lazy cyclists amongst us?

Shimano square taper ftw.

Most HTII BBs will need to be changed fairly regularly (~yr) depending on use.

A Chris King BB might be of use to you though, because it has a grease port. Therefore if you give your bike a thorough soaking and are concerned, you can push some more grease through. They are quite expensive…

+1 for a king, haven’t managed to get much more than a year out a shimano.

I guess they aren’t that expensive anymore in the grand scheme of things. I know a few guys around here have gone the CK route and invested in the grease port tools too.

Fit and forget = Shimano HT2. Fit them, forget about them for 8>12 months. Replace them.

Easy.

+1 for square taper

CK as above although mine died after 18montgs with regular greasing. The bearings disintegrated, they did replace it under their warranty though, it’s on 20months now from original purchase. Next time one of my Dhkmano ones go they will be replaced with King.

Shimano UN72

Are UN7x square taper BB’s still available?

I’ve got UN53 on three bikes, haven’t touched them is ages and they still run much smoother than a new HT2 BB ever did.

Innovation isn’t necessarily improvement:

I had to replace the bearings on one of these after 10 years regular off road riding as one side had got a little rough!

+1 for Middleburn square taper and Royce bb combo.

Any cartridge BB, square taper or octalink

UN54 again – (Other than the plastic cup it’s the same as the old 72s as far as I can tell as they now have a hollow axle).

I have HT2 on my ‘good’ bike but only on the acceptance that the bearings won’t last as long as the square taper BBs on my other bikes that get hammered through the winter (and summer!) crap.

I’ve been to mid wales twice on MTB’s, both times I came back with buggered BB’s (UN52 and 72) and the second time my freehub became completley free!

I’ve got a superstar BB, the original bearings were pap, failed after 8 rides, bought another (why?) and they failed again in about the same time. However the bearings are a standard size, so knocked some SKF ones in (£25 from local transmission shop), being carefull with the top caps (still mangled them but been fine so far.

So far theyve been beeten to pices in Spain, and dragegd through gallons of Swinely mud and have only just loosened up/bedded in!

£20 for the BB
£25 for the bearings.

So far its thoroughly recomended.

NOT Pace. Utter garbage 😡

+1 for square taper 😉

Hope Ceramic has been doing a job for me – outlasted the Shimano by a factor of three already and still going strong.

I’ve seen the Superstars disintegrate a couple of times, so I’d pass on them.

At the moment I’m using a Phil Wood one; 6 months in and it is still smoother than the proverbial posterior of an infant

+1 Phil Wood square taper, 2500 miles mostly on the beach and alot of salt water and only on 2nd set of bearings (£12 a pair!)
It was not cheap at £145! (100mm BB) but would last years away from sand

Fit and forget = Shimano HT2. Fit them, forget about them for 8>12 months. Replace them.

+1

Mid-Wales sounds like a vicious place though. Could it be even “tougher on kit” than the legendarily fierce “Peak”?

http://wheelsmfg.com/content/view/897/68/

I got one of these, I was told it’s great, we shall see.

Then again I’ve got 2.5 years out of a XT BB, so I probably have too much mechanical sympathy to test things properly.

I’d be more tempted to try pace/CK greaseport BBs if you could actually grease them without dismantling your cranks first.

Square taper last ages, octalink are OK too but not as good as sq.

(the ’08 xt HT2s on my etsx have are still running fine but I don’t use it in nasty weather)

Bottom Brackets never seem to last long with me either.

So this time I’ve opted for a Truvativ Howitzer that looks like its been constructed from discarded bits of rail bridge. The external bearing are **** huge. I’m hoping this will fare a bit better

Have been away from HT2 for a while, but I’ve got hold of a Race Face bearing puller, so I can replace the bearings in them now, so going back to HT2 so I can use some Hone Cranks that have barely been used. £50 for the puller I think, will save that much in 18 months of broken BBs I reckon.

They are unnecessarily shit though aren’t they? You’d think someone would have made one that works and stays working by now!

I’ve got a square taper fitted to my bike. It’s been there so long that I’ve forgotten which one it is. It was bought as a temporary measure while I was waiting for a Ti one to arrive.

I suspect it’s Shimano though, so that’s true fit and forget.

Shimano XT HT2 has been in my bike for two and a half years now, still smooth and no play. Back in the olden days, I used to kill a UN72 about once a year.

I’ve been running a GUB Ceramic HT2 BB. Bought from eBay for not much. It’s done a year in Jersey (very salty and corrosive beach rides) and also about 6 months now in the Peak. Not a hint of anything breaking on it. Smooth as you like. If you can find one I highly recommend them.

This is the guy I got mine from…

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/allez-bid-bike/Bottom-Brackets-/_i.html?_fsub=370402419&_sid=673120339&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

XT HT2 lasted a year and a bit, Hope seems to be doing well so far.

UN53 on my singlespeed is going on 5 years of rarely being cleaned, still goes round in circles very nicely

Mid-Wales sounds like a vicious place though. Could it be even “tougher on kit” than the legendarily fierce “Peak”?

Maybe, but riding in mid Wales a frequent occurrence can be BB / axle deep watersplashes or river crossings, followed by addition of mud = tough on kit; Beacons and Black Mtn also add in sandy grinding paste

btw just fitted a Hope hollowtech compatible BB and it feels fabulously silky smooth, having ground up Shimano one in a year, riding in mid Wales

square taper’s definately the way to go if you want genuine fit-and-forget, my commuter’s 18 years old now and only on its 3rd BB. But that’s not going to get me to give up my XTR HT2s- Shimano HT BBs are good enough IMO.

I like the idea of the roller bearing one that superstar do. Anyone tried it yet? Although my xtr one is nearly three years old and still like new.

Bought a Hope 2nd hand off the classifieds this afternoon. Will see how it goes and if that fails in a year maybe I’ll look at the Royce/Middleburn combo. I’ve always wanted to anyway.

Run square taper (UN52/53/54) on all my bikes still…can’t remember the age of the BBs but I haven’t replaced any for years, they just get swapped from bike to bike. For example, my PA has a Shimano ST unit that came on my 1999 Klein Attitude…it’s still going strong.

I know most people know this/do this, but just in case: After wet rides and washing, remove seat and pour out any water sitting inside the frame!

Had a Hope Stainless one for 18 months, still fine, cleaned/regreased it once, I reckon it should be alright for another 18 months, then around £20 for some new bearings. I’m happy with that.

I have an ht2 that came with the new slx cranks I bought last july. I ride most weekends in the peaks and lakes and there’s nowt up with it. That said I do look after my bikes.

I have several octalink bbs – they just work. The only ht11 I have swas a race face – failed very quickly and replaced with a hope. If that fails then the bike is being converted to octalink,

ht11 is a horrible bodge with the plenty of opportunity for flex and misalignment and very difficult to protect the bearings.

iv been on my one23 unit for about 6 months now and the bike never gets cleaned still smooth after bristol clay/mud