Soifur Rahman

Hi, has anyone had the following problem with a Trek BB90? Below is the note given to me by Evans who were informed by Trek.

"I just received a call from Trek about your bike. Unfortunately they cannot repair your frame. They explained that not only the bottom bracket shell Is oversized but also worn inwards. They offer 20 per cent off of a new frameset. (Retails full price at £2200)."
Can anyone suggest a fix to this problem? Can the BB sleeve be replaced or can resin be added to where they say it's worn?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Soif

dsbrantjr

Apparently there was/is an oversized "V2" bottom bracket bearing available for frames which have been worn oversized: https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/e...g-kit/p/07269/
Not sure if it will help your "worn inwards" frame.

cxwrench

I'd think that if that warranty claim happened in the US it was get approved and they'd send a new frame. There is a V2 bearing, it's OD is 37.1mm instead of the standard 37.0mm. Lots of frames were worn past that point and Trek would repair them in Waterloo. It seems like it got to the point where they were doing a ton of them so Trek decided to let dealers make the repair. It's easy, you ream out the bb shell and bond in a carbon ring to bring it back into spec. From the OP's description this probably won't work for his frame...I'd think they'd replace it. I can't remember ever seeing a warranty claim for a bb problem denied. They know it's a **** design, they're going back to threaded on the carbon bikes.

Soifur Rahman

The bike was sent back to Trek by the OP under the warranty claim. After Trek failing to fix the problem, they sent the bike back and refused to replace it under warranty. Apparently that part of the frame isn't covered by warranty and Trek is blaming my lack of maintenance/servicing. I've had the bike for 5 years and I only ride it one day per week and mainly during the summer time. And in that time the bike has been fully serviced a fair few times. So I can definitely say I've been looking after the bike.

My only option is to take it to a carbon repair company who say they can fix it but are quoting me £150 -£300 per side. At this price it hardly seems worth it.

But anyway, thanks for your time and advice.

deacon mark

I know this is been beat to death but it confirms that thread BB are still the best. I have always avoided bikes with press fit BB. That part of the frame gets a lot of action and to me a threaded BB is still way more reliable and easier to deal with. I wonder if any of the big three will see the light and go back to them. I know Specialized did on some but I wonder where that it. I personally have always like a Trek over Spec but never would buy a Trek given the BB. I have road Madone's on a test ride and admit they are light and smooth but I just cannot deal with the press fit.

DaveSSS 

Hambini has one of the few solutions that may be worth trying. BB90 is apparently a big failure. Other types can be salvaged with BBs from wheels manufacturing, bbinfinite and hambini.

https://www.hambini.com/product/trek-bb90-bearing-kit/

Toespeas

yes welcome to the wonderful world of TREK bikes , biggest POS company there is , im sure if you knew and engineer like hambini he could get it fixed better than the dunce team at trek could , but you could also try token ninja thread fit BBs!

cxwrench

Hambini is a quack. He's right every now and then but for the most part he's an over caffeinated idiot.

Toespeas

he is right about bottom bearing not being aligned properly , and the tolerances being terrible !

Soifur Rahman

I have watched many of Hambini's videos. Although he does have fixes for misaligned BBs and those with awefull tolerances, I am yet to see him solve the problem of an inward worn BB shell (whatever that means?). Essentially my problem isn't one of creaking but its one of too much lateral play in the chainset and apparently it has been caused by a ceased bearing in the BB shell which caused the inwards ware. I still don't know on which area/part this inward ware happens/happened on? Does such a thing exist or did I just get fobbed off by Trek as my frame was 5 years old and they didn't want to replace for free under warranty??

Whatever the reason, Trek aren't going to replace my frame and didn't offer to pay for the repair even though they are aware a repair is possible. Apparently this part of the FRAME isn't covered by the lifetime frame warrenty. All they offered was a 20% discount on a new frame which still comes to £1760 after the discount.

So I'm on here to see if anyone has come across a similar problem with a BB90 shell and I'd they were able to fix it for cheap? I got an over the phone quote of £150-£300 per side. So a possible repair cost of £600 for a frame that is 5 years old is a bit too much I think.

lasauge 

As long as the outer faces of the BB shell aren't deformed I can't see any reason why you couldn't use the Origin8 Revolvr Thread-Together BB90/95 Bottom Bracket as a replacement. This is a threaded insert so it won't rely on the now-damaged pressfit surfaces to keep the bearings in their proper place. Note that it requires special tools for installation; I have no idea if any other splined tools would be an exact match...

Soifur Rahman

Hi,
Thanks for the recommendation. Do you know what the special tools are for installation?

Does anyone else know if this would work?

Thanks

DaveSSS 

The tool is a j&b 610756. See the website.

https://northwestbicycle.com/product...b90-95-j211565

eastsideride

Are you the original owner? I saw you list OP which could mean original purchaser. If you are not the original owner, you are not entitled to a warranty if the shop that submitted the warranty knows that the bike no longer belongs to the original owner even though he/she brought it to the LBS. These sorts of things are documented and this would make sense why your claim was denied and warranty is only offering you a discount towards a new frame (which is generous if you are not the original owner/purchaser).

eastsideride

^honestly surprised no one else asked this before jumping the gun.

Soifur Rahman

​​​​​Yes, I am the original owner. Sorry, I thought OP meant something else... actually thought it meant operatives, as in shop operating on behalf of Trek. New here, so still getting used to the acronyms. Not sure what LBS means either so can comment on that. Trek refused to replace the frame saying that the BB shell was damaged due to lack of maintenance and it wasn't a manufacturing defect. But going by the experiences of other people on many other forums, it sounds like its a common problem for many carbon Trek owners. And when I brought this to their attention they out right refused to accept any fault and said they can't go on what's written in forums. But looks like every Trek that has a carbon bb90 shell has this problem and even Trek has realised this and made an oversized bearing to try and fix the problem.

I am now looking into thread-together BB which might solve the problem rather cheaply as opposed to getting the BB repaired by a carbon repair company which could cost up to £600.

Soifur Rahman

Thanks DaveSSS