arrg. Now two left hand bearings have seized solid in two seperate shimano bottom bracket cups… replacement time.

Pondering Hope stainless, but just noticed that superstar have got this with a 5yr warranty:-

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=353

Any users? Any comments?

Not after ss slagging!

Quote “only neglect will kill it off” its not a FIT AND FORGET item. It will require regular stripping & lubing. Most BB failures are a result of poor seals & inadequte lube, not poor bearings 😉

Ive had the £19.99 one for 3 years it’s still going strong, haven’t even regreased and it’s seen some s@it…..oh and been pressure washed a few times. Good value for money.

Depends whether the 5year warranty is worth the website its written on… SS wouldn’t warranty a BB which was only 3 months old and had seized solid.

The Gusset Ex24 (about 25-30 on crc) is ment to be a very good bb which has cartridge bearings so they can be replaced but fivespot is 100% right that they need to be looked after but I have to admit I am not the best for it either but being at uni all the time doesn’t make it easy for me to maintain it.

yeah, all above thoughts had already gone through my head…..

think i might splash on the hope!

I have a apare rock should you decide on the Superstar after all.

2.5 years out of a SS ceramic so far. The best of the rest was 1 year out of a HT11. Some Race Face and Truvativs have been less than 3 months. Can’t speak for the one the OP linked but the others are at least as good as the other manufacturer’s. Of course YMMV.

change the bearings.
It’s not hard to do.

change the bearings.
It’s not hard to do.

I’ve stripped two pairs to find they have the 6mm wide bearing. That bearing isn’t standard and I cant find reasonably priced replacements.
7mm wide bearings are easy to find, but no use if the original is 6mm.
Interested if anyone can tell me more.

use 7mm bearings then and use 1 less 2mm washer, jobs a good-un.

use 7mm bearings then and use 1 less 2mm washer, jobs a good-un

But if you don’t use one of the spacers then surely the centre spacer pipe will be the wrong length, so you’ll have to either junk that and loose the internal o-ring seals or cut a couple of mm out of it…

or are you referring to another spacer?

Get an Enduro HT2 bearing upgrade kit – about £15 from RWC USA (when you buy three sets – it’s the shipping that costs). You can ditch the tophat and run the bearing directly in the shaft 24mm

Maybe but I’ve not had an issue, I think there are pretty poor tolerances on these things (otherwise they would last last longer 😉 but if your going to bin it anyway then what have you got to loose?

or do what sv says.

arrg. Now two left hand bearings have seized solid in two seperate shimano bottom bracket cups… replacement time.

Water sitting inside the bb shell?

jim – there was yes, but the inside seals & surfaces of the bearings were clean and dry, so it looked like the o-rings on the internal plastic tube did their job.

The seals on the outside though were full of crap.

It was the left heand cup bearing which failed. The first (XT) lasted about 400 miles, the second (deore) lasted about 100miles. both are just seized solid – the crank axle just rotates on the silly little plastic sleeve, so effectively a crude bush. popped the seals off the seized bearings and they are a mess.