I’m toying with the idea of a new road bike and have found one I think is good but it has this type of BB. Heard a lot of things about press fit creaking and keen to avoid this.

Anyone have experiences with this type to share or know if there’s an easy conversion pathway to threaded available in case it becomes and issue downt he line?

I’ve got 3 bikes with PF BB’s (2 FS MTB’s and a hardtail) – the bearing longevity isn’t great but the replacement BB’s are reasonably cheap and I don’t have any issues with them creaking in general use.

(if you want replaceable bearings then the Hope PF BB has these but costs 4 times as much as a disposable Shimano one)

I’d echo that. I have two bikes with PF BBs. The road bike is now 8 years old and still on the original BB. No creaking or other problems. The BB on the 3 year old MTB had seized up over this last winter so I had to replace it. A few minutes with the correct tools and we’re back in business.

Ok that’s reassuring – thanks

My cross bike has Shimano PF86, no issues at all. My new road bike has Shimano PF86 and not expecting any issues there either.

BB86/PF41 is a solid design – it’s BB30/PF30 that’s a complete crock. Wheels Manufacturing make good BB’s – screw-together design maintains bearing alignment and they come with decent seals.

BB86/PF41 is a solid design – it’s BB30/PF30 that’s a complete crock.

This pretty much. I have BB86 on my road bike, the stock BB creaked a little and was replaced with a Hope job. This has been creak free and free spinning for 3 years with basically no maintenance.

I wouldn’t buy a bike with BB30 but BB86 is fine.

BB86/PF41 is a solid design – it’s BB30/PF30 that’s a complete crock.

+1. Running a 30mm axle isn’t great though, as the bearings end up small and they wear fairly quickly. 24mm axles are more robust.