Neolise

Hi all, I'm researching different fatbikes aa I plan on buying one again.Ive heard alot of folks saying stay away from pressed bb
on some brands. I know giant uses a pressed bb on the yukon .
Can anyone explain why threaded is preferred?

CrimsonEclipse

Pressed bottom brackets have a habit of creaking.
It was a stupid technology meant to make manufacturing cheaper and put the burden of problem on the owner.

I'll only purchase a standard threaded BB

Neolise

I see I wonder why giant uses it on their higher end
fatbiikes then? Cost cutting I can only assume?

CrimsonEclipse

Kinda. Higher end has the possibility of higher tolerance fittings making press fit less likely to creak

Some company thought press fit was a good idea, other companies went "me too", users hated it, voted with their wallets, many (some?) manufacturers returned to threaded bottom brackets.

Are there ways to quiet a creaky PFBB? yep
Do I want to bother? Nope!

Fat bikes have a smaller set of frame options, so my next frame will likely be a custom one.
Seems like the only way I'll find one to my taste and size.

Not to mention most of their paint jobs are absolutely atrocious.

As for Giant... They and many other larger builders "me too"d the fat bike wave and looks like they are giving up on the concept.
Most of their solutions look half hearted anyway.

With all of the deals in the Fat Bike sector, now is the time for a good deal for your winter bike.
(or all year around bike if you're like me)

Edit:
Also, if you're a winter rider, al of the moisture plays hell with the... well, everything and PF could get contaminated and corrode

SpedFast

Welcome to the forum. I actually prefer PF with sealed cartridge bearings for ease of repair, especially if the crank set is a self extractor style. I have upgraded square taper with loose bearings to thread in cartridge style BB's. But I still prefer the press fit and I've never had one creak on me. I imagine a low end frame might not have the tight tolerances to prevent creaking, but thread in can creak too.

Neolise

Nice to hear the other side of it. The farley 5 is at a great price at the moment and they run press bb.

Neolise

After hearing about the rear hub ssues with giant probably steer clear of them. I rode my last fat bike year round so I'm looking for some good off season deals!

CrimsonEclipse

Agreed, Giant doesn't impress me.
Most models don't.

I need a small frame (good luck) and through axles and want a normal bottom bracket and a color selection that doesn't look like an acid trip or a rainbow yawn.
That eliminates 80% of them.
Lack of availability eliminates the rest. so wheeeee!

veganbikes

Press Fit isn't in itself horrible as headsets are press fit but the unfortunately there are a ton of different standards and quality between frame builders that can border on terrible. Threaded there is generally fewer issues and it is easier to deal with.

Giant also makes a lot of excellent bikes they just never sport the Giant logo however they are one of the largest manufacturers for a lot of other brands.

In the end if the frame build and the BB manufacturer both make a good quality product and it is installed properly there aren't issues but alas that is not super common and especially now with T47 you have the larger bearings which can be a benefit of PF with the generally fewer problems or more easily fixed issues of threaded.

MarcusT

I have never had a press fit, but I've known a few riders who despised them because they believed anytime they rode through deep water they needed to clean and re-grease the BB. Between special tools and the risk of wearing out the fit, I prefer threaded.
As mentioned before, the headset. One does not need to remove the headset to clean and re-grease. I believe/hope it is a tech that will eventually go away.

Viich

The comparison isn't really with square taper, it's with the same cranksets and external BB types. They come for 24mm, 30mm, 28.(whatever DUB is), 19mm and 22mm axles that I'm aware of.

SpedFast

Yeah, I was just quantifying that I have some (not much) but some experience upgrading bottom brackets. I've upgraded all my vintage to sealed cartridge BB's to get away from the loose bearings, but I prefer working on PF BB's.

Neolise

Trek seems to have had a good run with it's Farley
Series running pf. Im really liking the farley 5 at the moment

But I might have a shot at a 22 bigfoot 1 for bit less dough!

SpedFast

I haven't seen any real world reviews on the bigfoot, but I like what I read about it. Seems like a solid choice to consider.

prj71

This^^^

Run away from press fit BB if you can. Little by little manufacturers are starting to go back to threaded BB because they realized the service nightmares and warranty costs of a creaking PF BB were costing them more than using a threaded BB.

Neolise

Great discussion for sure! I was about to pull the
trigger on a farley 5 ! At $2399 up in mb canada at the moment. But out of the blue I came across a 22 bigfoot 1! Tubeless studded cake eaters to boot! Loving The norco!😎