Ridiculous deal

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/mountain-bike-chainsets/fsa-gravity-light-chainset.html

But it uses the ISIS BB. I don't think I've ever heard a good word about them so is it best left alone?

they are so cheap you could afford to wear out a few bb's. I did have ISIS drive crank and the bb's normally lasted about a year. Also if you buy FSA they have a two year warranty on the bearings so you can get a replacement if they wear out (which they will!).

I'd give it a bash for that kind of money

I have ISIS on my HT. The only ISIS BB I've had that lasted is the Superstar one, probably due to being large loose bearings rather than dinky cartridge bearings.

SKF Isis, if you can find one. The only half decent one I've ever found. The rest are awful ime.

I've had reasonable life spans out of the bearings in ISIS bottom brackets.

I don't like the non-tapered interface, it relies on crank and bb being made accurately to the same size and shape which is unlikey to happen in two factories a thousand miles apart.

had the superstar bb for some time now, maybe over two years I can't remember. it's been well and truely hammered in some terrible conditions and still spins very smooth.
pace are selling old stock of skf bb's at reduced price but still not as cheap as the superstar item.

165mm cranks though, even my legs arent that short.

I only used to get one ride out of FSA ISIS BBs before they started to develop play in the past (so ditched the idea entirely), but had some nice ISIS DH cranks kicking about when building a wee mini DH bike so thought the superstar BB might be worth a go.. one year of DH abuse and it's still running smooth with no play.
165mm cranks are sweet on any low BB frame (and I honestly doubt you'd notice too much of a difference if you're used to 170s).

ISIS bbs have been OK for me – wouldn't be my first choice but you should get a year out of them. Certainly wouldn't pay any attention to the 'Oh Noes! it only lasted TWO RIDES!!' nonsense you see posted in places like mtbreview.

never had one last longer then 3 months. sq/t lasts years 😕

wouldn't pay any attention to the 'Oh Noes! it only lasted TWO RIDES

FSA one lasted 11 rides over 3 months. I truly am not making this up. [x my heart]

Crank Bros ones come with a 5 year guarantee. I've been using mine for about 2 years now with no probs.

There seems to be a slagging-off campaign on here, usually based on the "everyone knows from the internet that ISIS is no good" argument. As an actual owner, based between the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons, and being quite a heavy, non-to-smooth rider; I think I'm a pretty happy customer; many years per set of bearings, five minutes to swap in a new set, I can't imagine a more economical product. Having watched the new "answer to all our problems" external brackets fail at an amazing rate I'm surprised the focus of the vitriol hasn't shifted to the far more expensive and therefore less value option.

Garry – the last ISIS BB I fitted was FSA Platinum pro DH to a DH bike, first ride after fitting it was a day of push-up DHing at a local DH track, it's a long push so I generally section it on the way down and it had developed play by the third run (so approx 6 minutes riding time).

I've only had one ISIS BB, but it only lasted 10 bone dry rides before disintegrating.
I only weigh 11st too. Not good in my experience.

In comparison, HTII BBs seem to last me about 2 years.

I've just moved a Superstar one from the first to the second frame after 2 years. No probs so far.

I only weigh 11st too

lol
stop the ironing ;p

I must be the only person alive with a Truvativ ISIS BB that is over two years old… been on two bikes and still feels fine.

Mine is a RaceFace Signature. The original bearings were replaced after eighteen months, cost me around eight quid, IIRC. That original installation was carried out correctly by my LBS in 2003. The same BB is still in use, with the same second set of bearings on a different bike just over six and a half years on. That's five years service from a set of bearings, so if these go soon, I could easily get close on fifteen years out of a BB, just by replacing a cheap set of bearings. It's all in the torque settings, 'cos don't forget, there's none of that BB shell facing needs doing that'll wreck an external BB.

I must be the only person alive with a Truvativ ISIS BB that is over two years old.

Nope same here 😉
Mine has been on the mtb for about 9 months and is now on the commuting machine getting a daily dose of grit and shite.
Still running smoothly.

pace are selling old stock of skf bb's at reduced price

just some cheaper 118mm left – Tarty bikes bought all the 128mm bfr ones for £24 or £29 each.. now selling them on their site for £58.. that sucks when you wanted two! 😥

Aye, but these £8 RF bearings are now £20 on CRC. Wouldn't mind so much if they were £12 to £15 (which is the kind of price they should be) Anyone know an OEM source for RF ISIS catridge bearings?

I get about 8 months out the RF jobs and replace around 10 months so £2 a month. Bought the Superstar thing at £30, developed play at 10 months and now it's totally knackered at 12 months so £2.50 month

Oh, and I use a torque wrench so not buying the 'it's all in the torque settings' argument. The bearings are miniscule that is the beginning and end of the story…

lol
stop the ironing ;p

❓ ❓

They're OK, I usually get over a year out of them and they're cheap and easy to replace. They're not the best thing ever but IME they're not the disaster that a lot of people make them out to be either.

Sorry glenh I meant to type spot the ironing 😉
It was for the only 11 stones 😉
This one always makes me chuckle

iv been searching for an SKF ISIS for ages cant find one….any one got one? know where i can get one? was gona go crank bros but not convinced…

Still confused. Are you suggesting 11st / 70kg is a lot? 😯