I'm not buying them until they've been rock tested

Well it's on the way to be tested…

Design not exclusive to Superstar and cheaper here.

Scienceofficer – don't apologise for being rude this is STW after all.

FYI – BB 1 month old, started creaking at Skiddaw House. Rode to Keswick Mountain Bikes where new Hope one fitted. On inspection bearing had disintegrated on non drive side. Two weeks later bang – axle snapped.

Also had SS brake pads part company from backing plates in the wilds of Torridon.

Moral – if you buy crap goods expect crap performance.

Also had SS brake pads part company from backing plates in the wilds of Torridon.

I had some bikefridge pads shed, and some SS ones that wore out very quickly, but I have to say the SS sintered pads last well and haven't given any problems beyond occasional squealing.

Surely this Superstar BB is moving in the wrong direction. They are marketing the pop it out and regrease feature. We want sealed fit and forget, not to go back to the days of stripping components and regreasing every five minutes. Their pedals and their chain guides are great though, good value and quality. I've never had a problem with their disc pads.

indeed matt. If it had grease nipples I'd think differently of it tho – I think the ability to add grease in situ easily would be very useful

I think i'll stick to the multi million pound company that actually test their products, rather than letting us test them for them.

Shimano XTR
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=38336

Patented taper roller bearings are over 400% larger than normal HT2 type deep groove bearings, and are not far off the size used in car rear stub axles. Taper bearings are used in headsets to allow for sideloads on installation and in use, so we packaged this system for BB use. This solves the main cause of HT2 early death, and the easy maintinence solves the other problem of seized bearings. If it can cope with 400kg of weight per wheel on a car, then it sure as well can cope with anything you throw at it!
5 YEAR WARRANTY on this part as only neglect will kill it off. If it gets packed with mud or water then pop out the bearing and lip seal, scrub clean and regrease. Simple, sturdy and long lasting. Look after it and it will keep you rolling for years.

I wouldn't buy anything that came with this description, there are so many things wrong with it!

He says the bearings are 'almost' the same size as those on a car. So they're not the same then? Then he ignores that a car wheel bearing has a lot more of the rollers, so are completely different in terms of performance. Then states it can cope with the loads of a car, as if it was the same bearing. So is it a car bearing or not? That's a rhetorical question.

Then it has to be installed by a mechanic for the warranty to be valid, yet it appears to be ok for the user to take bearings out and **** about with them? Or does that invalidate the warranty too? Another rhetorical question.

As said already, people don't want a bottom bracket that requires maintenance because most people aren't going to start popping cranks off to see whether the bottom bracket needs work or not.

I wonder if KINGTUT's link had been posted first and not Superstar, would
they have been so roundly dismissed?

Is it too late for Octoporn?

Wayhey, its another "lets slate Superstar" thread.

YAWN

come on davey boy he brings a lot of it on himself.
his products on the whole are a mixed bad ks-posts bb & pads are not very good but the pedals & chainrings are its his attitude to wararnty that is harsh but to be honest there msut be so many who are trying it on .

Mattbike – Member

Surely this Superstar BB is moving in the wrong direction. They are marketing the pop it out and regrease feature. We want sealed fit and forget, not to go back to the days of stripping components and regreasing every five minutes. Their pedals and their chain guides are great though, good value and quality. I've never had a problem with their disc pads.

I have one of their chain guides, and whilst perfectly competent, it is very cheaply made. Very few miles have killed the lower jockey so it moves around and is noisy as anything – its getting bodged to run an MRP roller for the weekend.

Not sure its any better value than a more expensive piece of kit (if that makes sense)

I suffered from the first batch of dodgy pads where the pad compound fell off. For the price though, and after contacting Superstar and dealing with Dave (?) I decided to take 4 pairs of their kevlar pads to the Alps last summer and they were faultless. That was in August and I'm still on the second 2 pairs – faultless throughout a winter of riding up until now and they're still going strong. Ordered two centrelock>6-bolt adaptors the other week from them. Again, cheaper by a mile than other companies offerings and so far, so good.

I just get bored of everyone slating Superstar in every other thread. Granted, their first batches of pads were shocking and cost me the entry fee for HTN1 where they disintegrated and I had to get my caliper rebuilt = end of race after 1 lap but my experiences of them since have been very good.

I just think they need a little praise instead of getting a battering from forumites, a lot of whom I guess have never even used their products.

Oh, and to add, I'm not associated in any way with SS but if they're reading, I'd be happy to test one of you new BBs and then feedback to everyone on here whether they worked well, fell apart, caused my cranks to snap, a black hole to swallow me up etc.

Dave – serial HT2 BB wearer-outerer

Its really easy to replace the bearings in HT11 bottom brackets so theres no need to shell out for complete units.You can choose your quality of bearings,from 2 quid on e-bay to 10 quid for a top brand.Did mine yesterday and with the cups out less than 15 minutes.

I just get bored of everyone slating Superstar in every other thread.

it's more complicated than that. Neil didn't help himself by posting puff pieces under and assumed name and insisting that all faults were user caused (he did it to me too). Quite a few non-numpty members of my club have bought things which failed within weeks of fitting.

There do seem to be loads of SS knockers

I've been using the SS kevlar pads since March in all weathers – they worked well enough but took alot of bedding in and didn't seem to like the Formula discs I was running. Now running Magura Marta SL discs and they are working superbly.

Also seem to last well – still on the first set of SS Kevlar pads after about 800-1000 mainly off road miles.

I've been using one of the KCNC bb's (as linked to above) for about 4 months on the road bike I use for daily commuting and general bad weather road riding. Still spinning fine, but it's not getting the same hammer as it would off road. Since I tend to get about a year out of shimano bb's on my mtb and tend to stick with cheap deore or tiagra ones, I'm not sure I'll be to fussed about spending that much for my mtb unless I really believe there would be any rsignificant increase in longevity.

pads fine ss doofer fine never tried anything else but Neil/fruit was a nutter on here…I do miss him though more entertaining than Brant IMHO.

I just get bored of everyone slating Superstar in every other thread. Granted, their first batches of pads were shocking and cost me the entry fee for HTN1 where they disintegrated and I had to get my caliper rebuilt = end of race after 1 lap but my experiences of them since have been very good.

If that was my experience with a company's product I would never use that company again.

err howabout just not droppin your bike on its side, problem solved.

DezB – Member

"I wonder if KINGTUT's link had been posted first and not Superstar, would
they have been so roundly dismissed?"

Bingo. Much the same as the guy on here who dismissed Exotic forks as "cheap ebay carbon" then bought the Nukeproof ones, which are the exact same forks with a different sticker and a far higher price tag.

billybob – normally I wouldn't but for £35 for 4 pairs of brake pads with a satisfaction guarantee, it was too good an opportunity to miss.

And I've been laughing ever since. Not even the original Shimano pads which I regard as being some of the best wearing and functioning pads you can get aren't a patch on these, hence why I'm happy to pay very little for what seems to be very good kit. Just ordered a 10mm QR for the rear end of my Blur. £8 vs £35 minimum for a DT RWS one which doesn't have the best reviews 🙂

are these the same?

New Outboard Roller Bearing Bottom Bracket from KCNC

as linked to earlier in the thread – yes