[Closed] How long would you expect a Bottom Bracket to last?

FSA PF30 in my "nice bike" lasted 600 miles and one wet XC race, which was what probably killed it.

Uberbikes ceramic lasted the Tour Divide and developed a bit of play.

Shimano BB that came with my SLX cranks 1900km of poor weather/Wales/Bikepacking

Hope stainless BB 25,000 km and counting on commuter.

How long would you expect a Bottom Bracket to last?

Sram - minutes

Hope ceramic PF41, 4500 miles on the summer road bike and still going strong.
Shimano Ultegra screw in on the all weather commuter, 2500 and still going strong.
Hope stainless screw-in on the hard tail, 2800 and still working.
Truvativ something on the cargo bike, 500 dry miles and it threw up its bearings. Now replaced by a Shimano job.

There's a reason why I remove SRAM drivetrains from my new bikes and replace with Shimano at the earliest opportunity.

Repack sram ones from new unless you only ride in the dry.

Hope ceramic on the road bike - 20,000km and counting
Hope pressfit on FS - 3,000km and counting
Shimano Deore on fat bike - 3,000km
Sram GXP on commuter - 1,000km
Raceface on HT - 1500km (this was the original BB)
Hope stainless steel on the HT - This replaced the Raceface and has had one change of bearings at about the 10,000km mark, new bearings at 7,000km over four years or so and counting.

There might be a pattern above.

If the bikes been ridden in the wet regularly over winter without mudguards, stored away with the bottom bracket shell full of water, then you've probably had your money's worth.

I have a Shimano UN5x that's been in my commuter for about 8 years, prior to that it was in at least 2 other bikes, probably over 20 years old, so I'd estimate it to have seen about 40-50,000 miles or more. In all weathers. I think the BB in my wife's bike may possibly be even older. Square taper isn't just for Christmas...

Just replaced my dub BB this morning. Strava says it's done 529 miles. It's been through lot of pretty rubbish slop. Felt it start to go rough two weeks ago, two rides later and it's squealing and lumpy. Looks as though there is hee haw grease in it now.

Shimano UN73, 20+ years and 40,000+ miles on my commuter bike. It'll probably outlast me....

Shimano UN73

'Ooh lah-di-dah, look at me with my fancy hollow axled and slightly lighter BB'.

Show off.

Same shimano octalink bb thats been on my 2005 stumpy HT since I bought the bike. I have no idea how many 000s of miles its done in 16 years and I do not maintain the bike very well at all. I bought a new one when I upgraded other bits thinking the original would be knackered by now, but I have put the original back in and have a brand new as a spare.

As above, depends.

On the road bike the plastic top hats wore out before the bearings.

Off-road, people have been moaning about bearings since mountaimbikes were a thing. A UN72 might have lasted 40,000 miles On a commuter, but I remember them being an annual thing on MTBs.

British winters off-road kill stuff.

680 miles sounds bad. But I bet if you replace it now, it'll probably last all summer and most of the winter before failing next spring (assuming no jetwashing or degreaser).

RaceFace thing about 6 months/1000 miles

Hope stainless steel about 6000 miles, then replaced bearings, cups still going.

old square taper moved from bike to bike 20+ years old, still smooth.
Hollowtech shimano, one lasted 5 years, I'm still on the second which is 6 years old and fine.

British winters off-road kill stuff.

My commuter regularly gets used off road (the BB was on at least 2 MTBs prior to being installed on the commuter). And seldom cleaned. The amount of much it sees is horrendous. The grinding paste that is to be found on urban roads is pretty destructive, trust me. External type BBs don't last that long in town.

How long would you expect a Bottom Bracket to last?

The figures posted seem to suggest "as long as a piece of string". It does seem though that BBs last longer on a commuter bike than an MTB. Who'da thing it?

Depends how hard those miles are I suppose. I think my current gxp bb is about 18 months old and this last winter it’s been dragged through some awful slop. Got a slight clicking now - so either it all just needs to be taken apart and given a good clean / regrease or it’s time to put in the new one I’ve got.

I’m on my 2nd DUB bb at the moment - I didn’t wear the first one out - I just fitted it to a bike I built on the cheap for my nephew with the NX crank I had. Replaced with a new DUB bb about a month and a half ago with a descendant carbon crank. It felt tight when it went in but the cranks now spin unbelievably easily. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing 🤷‍♂️

All of the above are 73mm threaded BSA bb’s.

My commuter regularly gets used off road. And seldom cleaned. The amount of much it sees is horrendous. The grinding paste that is to be found on urban roads is pretty destructive, trust me. External type BBs don’t last that long in town.

Yea, but I've never had to replace brake pads after a single commute, which is a fairly common occourance off-road.

Similarly the external BB on my road bike (the one that wore out the plastic bushings before the bearings) gets used all year round and did 10,000+ miles on the poverty spec FSA bearings.

Isn't DUB the one where they made the bearings tiny to squeeze in a larger 28.99mm axle? Asking for trouble. That said, 680 miles through winter doesn't sound terrible. I once had a Deore BB last a week.

 It does seem though that BBs last longer on a commuter bike than an MTB. Who’da thing it?

I think it's the basic design of square taper and similar with the bearings inboard of the shell and proper sealing. I've replaced in 10 years, thousands of miles and 2 bikes worth of commuting.

shimano xt ht 8yrs (second hand) and still going on the the 4 season singlespeed.

It's an interesting one this. I saw 680miles and thought 'that doesn't seem long' but it really does depend.

not sure all my rides are logged to the right bike but Strava says winter hardtail has done 1000 miles. Generally ride it for about three months through winter, once a week, 20ish miles each time - that's only 250 miles a year so while the SRAM BB on it did last over 4 or so years, it had probably only done about 800 miles when it was replaced but it only gets used in filth.

The Full sus has a Hope stainless BB that's been in there over 4 years and is still running well. That bike has done a some 1000's of miles but not that many of them caked in mud.

My record varies between 12 years and still going for a UN74 and 25 hours for an FSA titanium ISIS one...
All bar the UN74 on the Stinky are now Chris King and Hope and the Hope ones appear to be better.
Oh, and one Dura Ace Octolink one, no idea how old that is but it's fine

Dunno. The NDS on my Shimano HT2 is starting to grumble now after a few years in all weathers but it's still fine. I don't wash my bike though- just a quick wipe down if it's really bad before I put it away- which might help with the longevity of the BB.

Sram – minutes

This, unless you're particularly lucky. Think I got under six months with the one which came with the bike. Press fit shimano was a fair bit better - a year and 3,500 miles. Now put in a Wheels Manufacturing screw-together one which should do as well if not better before it needs new bearings.

Powerspline bb just replaced on my fs. About 400 miles. But that’s 2 winters and lots of wet rides. I used the hardtail a lot last summer due to lockdown. This is a calibre sentry and the Facebook owners group is full of people replacing it with a dub and new cranks. If I were to change cranks I’d fit shimano every time
Hope bb I bought in 2006 had to replace the bearings in about 2014 I think. Third frame by then.

As said above - it depends on what type of BB it is, the quality of it and what kind of conditions it's ridden in. That aside, I've always thought that the bearings for 30 mm cranks and sram DUB cranks in 41 mm shell diameter PF BB's are just too small and weedy to last a decent amount of time (regardless of the quality of the BB).

The quality of BBs fitted to off the peg bikes are usually poor as they are 'unseen' and a prime part for the manufacturers to save money on. The plastic Shimano RS500 PF BB in my Norco Search XR A1 lasted 159 (mostly road) miles before the drive side cup failed and started creaking and walking in the BB shell. The drive side cup pretty much fell out of the frame when I took the cranks off, it had broken into about 3 pieces. Baffles me why you would make a BB from plastic?!

I run 24 mm axle diameter cranks and Hope BBs on all my bikes (41 mm diameter PF and BSA threaded BBs) as the bearings are bigger, last longer and can be replaced without taking the cups out of the frame. Yes, Hope BBs are expensive - but i'd rather have a long lasting, reliable product and not have to go through the faff of replacing BBs regularly.

Yes, Hope BBs are expensive – but i’d rather have a long lasting, reliable product and not have to go through the faff of replacing BBs regularly.

It's not that much faff on a non PF.
My hope bearings lasted well but it was too much faff to find new ones cheaper than a Saint BB.
I expect a year or so out of the Saint in which time I just need to find a pair of hope bearings cheaper than £15 (based on best price being £19 EACH that seems unlikely) given that and the fact I bought 2x Saint BB's it seems likely it will get replaced by another non SLX/XT/XTR Shimano one... (which necessitates a new BB tool)

1000s of miles on my nice road bike. I normally get more than one season out of them.

My CX record is one race, so about 50 minutes. Probably 16km.

I've had bikes before that collect water in the bb area. Every time I took the cranks off there would be water in the floor. This killed my bearings. I drilled a small hole to let the water out which made a big difference.

I have a hope ceramic bb that's on its 4th bike and well over 10000 miles. 1 tourer and 3 MTBs. I do remove, clean, regrease regularly.

The other thing to think about, is the bb square? Is it the correct size? Misalignment can destroy bbs.

My gxp is still super smooth 18 months after install on my most used bike. I was expecting it to last a year max given all the stories but it's been excellent. Shimano last forever. Pf30 a year max unless you only ride in the dust.

Mine all have either XT in or Gusset EXT24s with replacable bearings, none of them are amazing but they all last long enough that I don't really know how long they last.

I think when I last had a SRAM BB was the last time I had a BB that was so poor I actually knew how old it was when it died.

1629 miles & 4 years on my original SRAM GXP BSA in my Aeris. I do generally only ride it in the dry though.

Square taper isn’t just for Christmas…

My Token square taper BB was on my bike for 6 months and when I took it off it was very rough to turn by hand. Now on an FSA Pro so see how that goes.

Do sometimes miss proper old square taper, the sort where it was kind of terrifying when you did eventually have to change them because they'd be basically welded into the frame by age.

Do sometimes miss proper old square taper, the sort where it was kind of terrifying when you did eventually have to change them because they’d be basically welded into the frame by age.

To quote someone on here, square tapers last so long that they really make themselves at home, and the difficulty of getting them out is not helped a terrible tool interface. HTII solves this problem in two ways....

I'll raise you a UN91 Dura Ace sealed catridge BB - nearly 30 years. Also a similar age Ultegra UN7? Perfic.

I've come to the conclusion that BB life is completely random. The square taper cup and cone campagnolo bottom bracket on my fixie has never been opened and done multiple winters and is the most perfect I've ever owned. The pressfit sram GXP on my old roadie outlived the bike and did around 20,000 miles over 6 years in all conditions. The race face cinch on my trail bike lasted about 2 years, a hope one on another bike only a few months (very disappointing given how good the headsets are), Shimano hollowtech BBs anywhwere from a couple of months to a year. The shortest lived was an Acros MTB bottom bracket which lasted one event but in it's defence it was a winter 24hr race in apocalyptic conditions.

Another SRAM gxp happy chap here, but always repack with marine grease (a lot), the original scant thin stuff is awful. But do this will all my BB 👍

SRAM GXP on a FS - about a year with regular re-greasing. Replaced with a Praxis BB and it's been much better, but even the enduro bearing on the drive side still needs regular re-greasing. Been on two years though.

Particularly muddy/claggy rides cause the issues. As bearings are more outboard these days, they are more in the firing line of water and mud. Further inboard, the better

Depends on conditions. My commuter bike never gets washed and gets put away wet so chews through everything. But an XT HT2 BB lasted a year on it and is still going on my SS but that's a lightly used good weather bike

My Jeffsy has the original Race Face BB (amazingly as it was a common failure) but that bike actually gets looked after 😂

I've just replaced the bearings in my mid drive as it was knocking. Out it all back together and starts knocking again after a few miles...balls.

Checked it. Bearing is fine - the knocking is the motor falling out of the frame 😀

I have tried most BBs over the years and they all suffer as I ride all year round (in the wet) and whenever I remove a BB there is always water in the shell which must be going into the bearings presumably.
GXP - worst by far
Shimano hollotech - second worst
Square taper - best

I use square taper on my fixed gear as it suits the old style frame, quill stem etc,. but it is surprising that it is actually lighter than any modern lower cost external BB crankset with a total weight of crank, chainring and BB less that 700 grams. As for stiffness, can't say I have noticed any difference.

I've a Shimano HT BB that is goosed and probably only done 200 miles or so commuting to work.
And it's down hill there, the return has killed it, climbing/stomping on the single speed.
Road bike BB is at 12000km.

In my experience, somewhere between 18 months and 12 years.

Hiya,

SRAM BB's are truly crap. Had similar lifetime with the ones fitted to my cotic. After the original and replacement I switched to Hope, like the rest of my bikes. No problems since. Oh BTW, if you think SRAM are crap, try Raceface, even bloody worse. Only bb that seems to survive our climate is Hope.

JeZ

Just replacing a 30 year old UN72. A bit rough but still spins. Modern external BBs never seem to last me more than 3 years, but I guess that’s progress.

My SRAM GXP seem to last well enough. Just checked my one after 12 months use and it's still ok. Did lob some more grease in to keep it happy, but it was honestly doing well.

My Shimano saint one has lasted 6 years so far, across 3 bikes.... still
Smooth. I bought another on sale thinking it was so good I needed another for when it went. Still in the spares box 4 yrs later and no sign of needing it anytime soon.

My 28ish year old Lava Dome is still on its original BB. Never been serviced/removed/looked at. Its use includes 10 years of commuting

Running gxp for the last 10 years & it seems to vary. I ride all through the year, all weather.
My hard tail tends to eat bb's But I had one last a whole year once 😊 worst entry was around 2 months doing 75 + miles a week in slop, mud, snow & Sun. It just died.
Switched my hardtail to a single speed 3 months ago, put a lovely new bb in & yesterday I noticed a slight amount of movement.....
My full sus has gxp, used it as an everyday bike for a while & the bb is still good to go, no issues but in that same year I destroyed a gx eagle cassette, hooked the front chainring to death & did 4 chains.
BB is still good though....
Soooooo I to have no clear answer 🤣🤣

DUB really stands for Doubly Utter Shiiiote

Hope stainless steel BB. Had one on my road bike for about 6 or 7 years without a peep.  Ridden all year round.

On the 'main' mtb about 5 years before 1 brg started to click from a little fatigue pit. Changed that brg and it still going fine, probably 10 years now.

Thanks folks, that was all really helpful. Particularly like last comment from dazh - 'I've come to the conclusion that BB life is completely random'.

The previous set of DUB bearings lasted 3100 miles, and when they were worn gave plenty of warning, whereas this driveside race died with no warning at all. Not sure the bike makes much difference but they were running on a 121mm fat bike BB, used all conditions all the time, and single speed ... but so were the previous set ...

I note that Hope bearings seem to last for a lot of folks really well - was wary of having to add the shims to fit 30mm down to DUB, and they all seem hard to source at the moment - I kept the not too badly warn non-drive side of the previous set, which are keeping the wheels spinning while waiting for replacement ...

I had a commuter bike once with a square tapper bb. Had a new one fitted and it lasted about a week, took it back to the shop near work that had changed it. Next one lasted less than a week. Changed again and attempt 3 lasted a week again. Took it somewhere else as to embarrassed to go back in.

BB30's in cannondale road bikes are shite, i think they are all fsa. I've had a few and they have all been shit.

Sram external are a bit crap but IME were cheap and easy to change. The Sram bottom bracket on my Scalpel seems to be lasting ok but then this bike doesn't tend to get used in horrible weather.

Shimano external better than Sram but still cheap and easy to change.

Hope stainless steel external much better than the above but probably not 3-4 times better despite being 3-4 times more expensive. Does save faff though.

Shimano square taper do last incredibly well but can develop an annoying creak.

FSA external were the worst I've come across, they are just crap. Not a fan of FSA in general, their headset bearings are equally crap.

Had a Shimano pressfit bb on my cross bike over the last 10 months and seems to be lasting well.

Worst bearing offenders though are the ones in main stream frame manufacturer full sus frames, just garage. And are bloody hard to replace too.

The love for SRAM above pisses me off royally. Yes, the bb cups and bearings themselves are great. Unfortunately, tying them to a shit 'stepped-axle, non pre-load, padded out with a fragile tophat spacer' design makes them annoying.

Cheap Shimano bb's last me about 6-9 months being ridden around 35 miles a week in all weathers. In terms of cost per mile they certainly aren't top of my worry list on the components front.

In my experience, SRAM is <3 months. Utter garbage. Been on an Uberbike ceramic bearing BB for years now and it's been faultless

My gxp is still super smooth 18 months after install on my most used bike

My GXP lasted 2 years before it started to get a bit rough, it wasn't that bad but I changed it before an Alps trip. The Uberbike I replaced it with lasted that trip and a couple of months into the winter before I went rough.

My wife's was the same story. A lot of people rate the Uberbike BBs so maybe we just got unlucky. I was going to put a SRAM GXP one back in hers but can't find them in stock, so new bearings in the Uberbike when they arrive.

Got a second hand Hope BB in my Hardtail with SLX cranks which have been in two bikes over 5 years, I have no idea how many miles but I think the cranks look like they may wear through before the BB dies.

On the full suss which gets mostly dry weather with the odd wet race, I think the SRAM GXP driveside Bearing crapped itself pretty quickly. Its got a Praxis in at the mo as it was a reasonable price, and in stock at the time.

Absolutely could not stand square taper BBs on an MTB, yes the bearings would last but the cranks either stayed on for life or creaked or the non driveside would loosen, killing the crank.
Same goes for Octalink.

My wife’s was the same story. A lot of people rate the Uberbike BBs so maybe we just got unlucky. I was going to put a SRAM GXP one back in hers but can’t find them in stock, so new bearings in the Uberbike when they arrive

The Praxis M24 seems quite nice in mine and reasonably priced. Time will tell though.

Funnily enough I stripped and re-packed SRAM DUB driveside BB this weekend. Lasted 2 winters/860km but started to feel pretty rough. Non-driveside was fine, I assume because driveside gets more exposure to degreaser? Will see how long it lasts!
Mind you, it's done better than the FSA headset...

FSA PF30 in my “nice bike” lasted 600 miles and one wet XC race, which was what probably killed it.

Don't think so. My understanding is that if water gets in the bearings have already worn to the point the seal doesn't sit tight any more.

Square taper Shimano in my Dekerf, 15,000+ miles and all good. Interestingly as are my CK headset, and, my American Classic wheel bearings.

A lot of people rate the Uberbike BBs so maybe we just got unlucky

I bought an Uberbike on those recommendations - it’s also started going crap pretty quickly. Started clicking and creaking, took the cranks off and the bearings were rough as. It’s not had a hard or long life

If you have quality ceramic or stainless bearings and know how to repack them correctly, you shouldn't have to replace for years. Started doing this with quality grease and have been very pleased with the results so far.