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Hollowtech II - keep riding after wearing out?

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Hollowtech II - keep riding after wearing out?

Old 04-03-20, 03:50 PM
  #1  
wle
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Hollowtech II - keep riding after wearing out?

I have a road bike with Hollowtech II. After 3500 miles, I have worn out the bearings. There is play, creaking, noise. This is the 2nd set. My question is, what happens if I just keep using the same ones? Will the BB lock? Will it just be more friction noise and play? Will they seize and break the whole frame.??

3500 miles is TERRIBLE! I got 40,000 from the earlier square taper 2000-era BB on the same bike!

They are famous for short life ( as i found out LATER! ).

I don;t think there are any adjustment options.

BB shell is threaded.


thx wle
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Old 04-03-20, 04:10 PM
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Originally Posted by wle
I have a road bike with Hollowtech II. After 3500 miles, I have worn out the bearings. There is play, creaking, noise. This is the 2nd set. My question is, what happens if I just keep using the same ones? Will the BB lock? Will it just be more friction noise and play? Will they seize and break the whole frame.??

3500 miles is TERRIBLE! I got 40,000 from the earlier square taper 2000-era BB on the same bike!

They are famous for short life ( as i found out LATER! ).

I don;t think there are any adjustment options.

BB shell is threaded.


thx wle
Take the crank out and see if the bearing move freely. If the bearing move freely, the bearings aren’t the problem. Play and creaking could be loose cups in the frame. You may also need to tighten the bearing load binder on the nondrive side when you reinstall the crank. That little plastic piece that looks like a huge Torx bolt actually serves a purpose and if it is loose, the crank can move on the spindle.

From personal experience, I’ve never had a problem with the bottom bracket bearing and I have this crank on a number of bikes with lots of mileage on them.
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Old 04-03-20, 04:21 PM
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Same as Cyccomute. I've got 24,000 miles on mine with no problem. Take it apart for a look. Maybe you have bad bearings or left and right side are not aligned which screwed up the bearings.
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Old 04-03-20, 04:50 PM
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I wonder if the OP's bottom bracket shell needs facing.
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Old 04-03-20, 05:06 PM
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Hollowtech II bearing life can vary greatly due to installation errors. That plastic threaded plug on the non-drive side is for bearing pre-load(really just taking play out of the system) and too much pre-load can destroy the bearings in a very short time. It should only be finger tightened until there is no side play in the crankset. You should get way more than 3500 miles out of a properly installed Hollowtech II.
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Old 04-03-20, 05:58 PM
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Originally Posted by cyccommute
Take the crank out and see if the bearing move freely. If the bearing move freely, the bearings aren’t the problem. Play and creaking could be loose cups in the frame.
This ^^. I had play in a bottom bracket cartridge that turned out to be cracks in one of the cups. The bearings were smooth as silk.
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Old 04-03-20, 09:03 PM
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If you keep riding it without fixing it, though, your spindle is turning directly on the inside race of the bearing. Keep it up long enough and you will polish a groove on the spindle, meaning you'll have a loose fit when you finally install new bearings. Hollowtech II bearings are cheap.and easy to replace.
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Old 04-03-20, 09:09 PM
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Originally Posted by sweeks
This ^^. I had play in a bottom bracket cartridge that turned out to be cracks in one of the cups. The bearings were smooth as silk.
I hope you still fixed it.
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Old 04-03-20, 09:12 PM
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I've got a BBR-60 with ~16,000 miles on it, still smooth as when it came out of the box. I've only got ~4,600 miles on a BSA30 BB, but it's still good as new, even with wafer-thin bearings.

If you're only getting a few thousand miles out of a Hollowtech BB, something is wrong. Curious as to what model "wore out" so quickly.
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Old 04-03-20, 10:24 PM
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Originally Posted by dsaul
Hollowtech II bearing life can vary greatly due to installation errors. That plastic threaded plug on the non-drive side is for bearing pre-load(really just taking play out of the system) and too much pre-load can destroy the bearings in a very short time. It should only be finger tightened until there is no side play in the crankset. You should get way more than 3500 miles out of a properly installed Hollowtech II.
Yes, the bearing preload shouldn’t be too tight but it shouldn’t be loose either. Unlike the top cap on a threadless headset, it can’t be removed after the pinch bolts are tightened. If it comes loose, the left crank can work off the spindle. That can make the crank loose as well as round out the crank arm.
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Old 04-03-20, 10:33 PM
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Originally Posted by dsbrantjr
I wonder if the OP's bottom bracket shell needs facing.
I second this answer.
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Old 04-04-20, 12:53 AM
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As mentioned by others HT2 generally has a pretty reasonable bearing life on the BB; you are experiencing uncommonly short service life. One concern raised by others is that external bearing systems are more sensitive to shell alignment because the alignment of the bearings is determined by it solely, whereas a cartridge BB maintains much of its alignment simply by being manufactured as a single piece. Also replacing a HTII BB takes all of about 10 minutes and they cost $15-30.
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Old 04-04-20, 07:29 AM
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Originally Posted by oldbobcat
I hope you still fixed it.
Of course! I sourced a replacement BB. Now solid as a rock.

Drive-side cup with crack (American Classic BB)

Close-up of inside of DS cup.
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Old 04-04-20, 10:45 AM
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What you have is not a Hollowtech style BB. It's either a square taper or ISIS style old American Classic which as you mentioned had many complaints. What is the crankset you're fitting it to? Almost any price level of Shimano's equivalent BB should last for tens of thousands of miles and can be had for cheap.
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