Hope bottom bracket, worth the cost?

My gravel bike has eaten it’s second bottom bracket in short order. Shimano ones aren’t mad expensive, but after the initial expense, (about 95 quid – gulp) it’s still cheaper to replace just the cartridge bearings in a Hope and with any luck they’d be better sealed and last longer in the first place.

Thick end of a ton to get into it though. Man maths or value for money?

Hope 30mm BB has lasted more than 3 times longer than any other I used – RF, Praxis and NP all died in short order.

Imo they’re definitely worth it.

Yeah, pricey but worth it. Got one on my old mk1 Solaris, still going strong after ?? years.

I used to think the old square taper Shimano BBs were unbeatable, but as the years pass I might be convinced otherwise.

I’ve swung both ways in the past, but I just buy Shimano these days. They’re around what, £20? Even if they only lasted a couple of years (and they do better than that), that would be about 15 years before the Hope worked out cheaper.

Yes they last for ages and with the press it’s a really easy job to replace the bearings when they eventually go

I’ve never had to replace one yet.

I’m with @scotroutes on this… I’ve two and I wouldn’t buy them again. I was fed up of replacing Shimano BBs and thought these would be better and at least the bearings can be replaced.

I really wanted to like them. They spin much more smoothly than Shimano, but I’ve found the stainless bearings are too soft and don’t last (I think it’s the gritty sand conditions I ride in), and because they run on the crank surface if they’re anything but in perfect condition they’ve scored the crank surfaces. That’s the killer I think.

I agree that the bearings are really easy to replace (I’ve replaced the bearings with well-greased steel and they’ve lasted better) but at least with Shimano BBs I get two for the price of one – in that they never last me the 2-year warranty period so I get a free one under warranty.

Mine’s on its second bike, first set of bearings.

If you’re certain that everything to do with your BB install and finishing is good, it’ll be fine, but they’re not going to solve any problems if something is up.

I had a poorly finished BSA BB that ate bearings and scored 30mm alu cranks irrespective of what BB was in there, including Hope.

Faced the BB, moved to a smaller axle with plastic spacers to accommodate any L/R misalignment and it’s been significantly better ever since.

Ime, yes they’re worth it, noticeably smoother than a perfectly fine normal bb, very free running.

4x the price is a bit of a sticking point, didn’t bother me though.
sample of 2, i had one then sold the bike. My mate has had his in 3 frames.
but, if i was worried about the cost, I’d stick with shimano, never actually had a problem with those.

They’re around what, £20?

Yeah but they don’t do Purple.

Or orange or orange masquerading as bronze, or green, blue,red. I dont think they even come in silver.

You can have any shimano BB, just so long as it is black.

Even if they only lasted a couple of years (and they do better than that)…

If they lasted a couple of years, I’d not have started this thread!

So, on balance, sounds like most are in favour, but might be worth having the shell faced anyway. Thanks all.

We have Hope BBs on our bikes (I have black, Mrs Fruitbat has blue) and are quite happy with them.

However, I’ve had to replace the cups a couple of times (maybe every 2 years?) as the lip that retains the plastic outer seal becomes very thin and razor sharp and is very easily damaged.

I guess this is due to grit mixing with the wee bit grease in the seal groove creating a sort of grinding paste.

For 24mm, I use Shimano, Hope is barely any better and a lot more expensive.

But for the assorted rubbish BB standards Hope are pretty much always a good shout, SRAM will never knowingly make a good BB

Have one on my wet/winter road bike for nearly 4 years and has been fine. In that time/mileage I’d expect to go through 2-3 Shimano, so marginal cost wise but not as much recycling/waste.

I can justify in my head the jump from Shimano to Hope. Struggle to then jump further to Chris King.

I have a hope PF41 30mm bb bought in the CRC fire sale.

It started to feel a little rough after a few months but hasn’t got any worse 6 months on. I’d be a bit miffed if I’d paid anywhere near full price.

If I was going 24mm bsa, I’d buy a cheap eBay one in the colour of my choice, and get some decent bearings pressed in.

That or find one of the nukeproof horizon bb. Think they’re still being punted on eBay.

Good tip on the Nukeproof BB’s lovewookie. You were right, got one on eBay for less than half the price of the Hope one. And it looks like the same replaceable bearings which will be ideal if I’m right.

Check out peak torque’s YouTube channel, his opinion is that so many bike manufacturers bottom bracket shells are out of tolerance that a lot of the time a cheapish Shimano BB is better than a more expensive metal one as the flex in the BB takes up a lot of the misalignment.

I have no idea what BB you’re running and what his suggestions on specific models are but it’s worth having a research next time you make a cuppa for future info.

Have a 24mm one that’s done 9 years on my summer hardtail and it’s still perfect.
Had a 30mm one on my enduro bike and the nds bearing went very rough after 6 months. Previous dub one was still fine after 18 months, so not an alignment issue. Don’t like the metal shields on the 30mm one either. Needed cleaned frequently as it got really noisy.
30mm one also needs Hope tool that doesn’t fit anything else.

My gravel bike has eaten it’s second bottom bracket in short order.

I would investigating why it’s doing that before dropping a ton on a flashy BB. And in answer to the question, for me no, they’re not worth the money, I tend to be pretty on top of routine maintenance and part of that is replacing BB after 18 months or so. At £20.00 a go the OEM ones are perfectly fine.

The ceramic Hope that’s in my Cotic originally started life as a replacement for the Shimano BB that came on my 2006 S-Works Enduro, 17 years old and still running fine.

Issue with Hope BB’s is the axles run straight on the bearings, so over time you end up with wear/fretting of the axle.

I have two XT ones, one on my stumpy that must be knocking on for 5000 miles (it came off another bike) and one on the geometron thats 3000miles in.

If you are killing BB’s, its either alignment or water getting in (no hole in the BB shell to let water out)

Or it’s too much preload.

I have had a Hope bb on my hardtail for 3,000km, ridden in all conditions, and it’s still silky smooth. If I get another bike I will probably fit a Hope bb. I’m just a Hope tart.

On the other hand I have had Wheels Mfg screw-together bb’s on my gravel bike for about 7,000km and FS for about 4,500km and both are is still going strong as well. Both bikes have stupid push-fit bb shells and the screw-together bb’s have been creak-free and solid.

Or it’s too much preload

Oh no, it’s definitely not that Scotroutes, because of the risk of knackering the splines on the NDS cranks, BB replacement is the one job I’m fastidious about torque settings.

If you are killing BB’s, its either alignment or water getting in (no hole in the BB shell to let water out)

I’m going to investigate the shell squareness though, the bike is 1 year old and this will be the third BB it’s had. This one is stiff to turn rather than loose or grumbly. Water pooling in it is something I’d not considered, good point, and something I can address if needed.

the bike is 1 year old and this will be the third BB it’s had.

It’s not your choice of BB that’s the issue then, and a Hope BB is going to be a waste of money.

I’ve not had Hope but just popping in to say that my press-fit Shimano XT that I bought for £15-20 has been faultless for 3 years so far.

You can have any shimano BB, just so long as it is black.

All mine seem to be silver… Saint ones are still gold 🙂

Yeah, there’s a BB shell issue to resolve first, facing it may resolve that? I’ve tended to get decent life out of shimano BBs, and with care the bearing can be re-greased/serviced to get more out of them.

SRAM will never knowingly make a good BB

I’d disagree with that. The SRAM Dub BB in my hardtail is still nice and smooth and it’s been on the bike since 2019.

I’ver had Hope BBs on other bikes and never had a problem with them and have never had to replace a bearing in one yet.

The other thing (if you can be arsed) is to take the seals off the bearings before fitting,and put a decent amount of quality grease in.

All mine seem to be silver…

I miss the silver ones, seem to mostly get smaller black ones that need the adaptor now.

Though I have a pile of bargain Nukeproof ones to work through for the foreseeable future.

Not really though save £40 and get a WMFG one.

Yes they are worth the money, 15 year old SS hope one here. Other half has gone thro 3 shimano ones in the last 5 years. The bikes have seen quite a few river crossings , removed it from a Cannondale Rush that is about 15 years old that I scrapped and it’s on my heavy gravel/bikepacking bike now. Just bought a hope BB for other halfs bike.

I’ve got three bikes running Hope BSA30 and two with Hope BSA24.

The BSA30 on the most used bike got a bit grumbly recently so I stripped it down and gave it a thorough clean and regrease while I waited for the new bearings to turn up. It was running fine so I put the new bearings in the spares box. That’s when I found the new bearings from last time I did exactly the same thing over a year ago.

Little bit of love and they’ll just keep ticking.

After 6 years (2021) I finally got my bb changed…I got the shop to do this because I was struggling to get the old BB off.

The new BB put was shimano…8 months it lasted…so I upgraded to the best  ope  stainless steeel version…..smeared aqua grease all over it before fitting….touchwood it’s been excellent  2 years so far…

Ok, so for anyone that still cares…

And those that said for the second one to go so quickly, there another issue, you were dead right. This is the BB shell of the bike in question, it’s a Specialized Diverge.

See that long stand off bolt I use to space the mudguard, well it was so long it was inside the shell pressing the plastic spacer tube into the crank spindle, and THAT’S why the cranks weren’t spinning freely. 10mm shorter it’s absolutely fine.

I’m wondering if that was the issue with the first one and I just happened to replace it at the same time I took the mudguards off in spring. If only the facepalm emoji worked.

Oops!

I assume that couldn’t install a new BB (well, the tube of it) with the long bolt installed anyway?

That’s actually quite funny

I assume that couldn’t install a new BB (well, the tube of it) with the long bolt installed anyway?

The cups came out fine, but the spacer tube wouldn’t come out, which is what made me spot the issue. 😀

long standoff bolt

facepalm emoji

Hehe, that’s quite funny!

IME, some bikes have wonky BB shells or not faced, and spending on facing is more effective at prolonging BB life than posh BB’s.

That and not shoving bolts through them…