Hope PF41 bottom bracket installation

Do I really need the tool or can you press it in with some blocks of wood and a g clamp or something?

thanks

I tried it without the tool. I bought another one and the tool…

You’ll need the tool, or some other way of winding in the centre part.

😯 £40 for a tool to install a BB? Wouldn’t an LBS be cheaper – or maybe someone near you has one?

the “wrench” end of an old-fashioned BB removal socket nearly fits snug and I used that (tried with a coke-can shim but that wasn’t a goer 🙄 )

I bought the tool afterwards though – for when I need to get the bugger out again

I have to laugh at people who buy expensive BB’s and Headsets, but then won’t give their LBS £5 to fit them using the proper tools…

Where are you charliemort? If you’re anywhere near me, pop in to my shop and I’ll fit it for a fiver, and I’ll show you exactly why it’s important it’s fitted with the correct tool.

FWIW, got the Hope PF41 in my road bike, done almost 2000 miles on it now and the bearings still feel like new. Didn’t get much more than 500 miles out of either a Shimano BB51 or SRAM GXP BB by comparison!

errr I’m in Kent……

mboy – Member
I have to laugh at people who buy expensive BB’s and Headsets, but then won’t give their LBS £5 to fit them using the proper tools…

my lbs is an evans – itll cost a lot more than 5quid, i doubt theyll have the tool and the mechanic is not the best

£15 for us to fit one-minimum workshop charge. As I’m sure many LBS’s have.

Can you use the tool to remove and install the bearings from the cups of the bb if so its not a bad price as it would be more useful

spoken to mine – free fitting if you buy bottom bracket from them – and I normally get 10% discount

it’s more the hassle than the cost though

Where are you mboy (or anyone with the tool) – my LBS, an Evans no less, did fit mine for nothing but it creaks a lot and is driving me mad 🙁

I am on the verge of buying the tool myself so I can remove it and start again but if anyone in or around London has or can lend the tool that would be amaze – in exchange for appropriate reimbursement of course.

Bump just in case – the creak goes on 🙁

Can’t help with the creak (mine was creak free) but the bearings lasted 5 months! Ended up putting a cheap Shimano one in instead. It was a b***er to get out without the tool but we managed it. There was quite a lot of hammer action tho!

Alex – interesting, and not good! I did ask Hope themselves about removal to pre-empt my intention of taking it out and trying to reinstall it a bit better, and they basically said tap it out gradually with a suitable sized bit of metal and a hammer… haven’t yet done that, of course…

I fitted one the other day, fingers crossed no creaking here. Haven’t seen a vid for removal but presume you would need to tap out the nds bearing first to access the centre tube to unscrew it.

The Shimano ones go in with little more than hand pressure, last pair I fitted, I seated them happily with a soft faced mallet and just gently tapped them home.

I think if was going for the Hope version I’d buy the proper tool TBH. It does everything properly and the Hope seals and bearings are all separate, so I’d want to do it properly

I asked my lbs to fit mine but was told that they are the only bit of hope kit they don’t recommend, creaky and shirt bearing life, saved a lot of cash and went shimano

I’ve still got mine installed and still creaking 🙁 Can’t decide whether to just bite the bullet, whip it out and get a £20 Shimano replacement, or to get the tool and try to reinstall it. Annoying, it’s the most irritating sounding £80 I’ve ever spent on a bike 😡

I bit a bullet – it’s in at Condor now and they’re going to remove it clean it up and reinstall it, hopefully properly and creak free this time! If this doesn’t work I will not be pleased 😡 😆

Had one on my pivot. Creaked terrible. My lbs had fitted it and the refitted a couple more times and it still creaked. Swapped for a shimano one and all is quiet.

Hmm, not promising – I was in two minds about just whipping it out and going for a Dura Ace instead… may yet have to by the sounds of things!

ok, having got the summer bike out again recently, the creak has worsened – I suspect due to a recent service at a shop who didn’t have the right tool and have made the problem worse. 😡

I now have the tool, and will be attempting a removal a full clean and liberal regrease of all bits, and a reinstallation. If anything goes wrong during the tapping out for removal or if after all that the creak hasn’t gone then I’m giving up on the whole thing and going Shimano instead! Anyway, I am in North London and now have the tool, so if anyone needs to borrow it at some point it may be possible!

For all those reporting creaking, are you greasing all the mating surfaces as per the instructions? Mine has been the most silent b/b I’ve ever owned. 5000km on mine now and spinning as sweet as the day it went in, very odd.

I’ve never been involved in the installation or removal / refitting process of mine, so I can’t be sure. I’m hoping not, and that now that I have the correct tool, once I have done so it will be sweet as a proverbial nut…

Is the PF41 Hope BB essentially the same as the PF46 one? (but a different size obviously)

Was thinking about getting the PF46 one but all this talk of creaking is making me nervous…

The removal of mine was a complete PITA. I managed to remove the inner insert (without the correct tool) using the reverse of a cassette lockring tool, but removing the cups was a complete nightmare. Hopefully (an given that you have some creaking) your cups will be looser than mine.

Mine never made a peep once installed. I removed it only so I could go SS.

Daffy – Member
The removal of mine was a complete PITA.

Hopefully (an given that you have some creaking) your cups will be looser than mine.

Oh god 😆

…admittedly. and if taken out of context, my above collection of words could be misconstrued…

Ha – I wasn’t actually thinking of that, more laughing in resigned despair that the complications could well not yet be over… 🙁

If you get stuck, fire me an e-mail and I’ll let you know what I did to get the BB out.

I’ve fitted a handful of these. All have been trouble and creak free. Perhaps part of that is the fact I used to specific tool and I’ve a nice crowsfoot for the torque wrench to use on it as well.

Ok, job done – nothing like making good use of a Friday night, means I can take that bike away with me for the weekend now!

Daffy, cheers, bearings and cups actually came out without too much trouble and less than I was fearing.

So, everything installed properly, liberal grease in the right places and all nice and nipped up tight. Cranks spinning ok, let’s hope that’s done the trick! If not, maybe the creak is something else! 🙂

In the interests of balance, I should update that I took the bike out for two decent length rides over the weekend and the BB appears smoother than ever, and also crucially creak-free throughout.

Promising progress, and now that I have taken apart and reassembled the BB entirely with personal TLC I am more enamoured with it! 🙂

Isn’t the tool just a normal press but with the large hex end to screw in the centre section?

Does anyone know what size the hex head is?
Motorcycle front wheel spindle removal tools are similar but much cheaper. Would one of those in the correct size work for fitting/removing the centre section?

Essentially it is, yes – various sized press faces for the cups and bearing races, and then the hex section which inserts into the non drive side cup to screw the sleeve into the other cup.

The large fixed hex section of the tool is 27mm, and the hex head is slightly smaller – at a guess 24mm or 25mm looking at the difference in size on that basis.