ColonelSanders

I think my Bottom Bracket may be on the way out and whilst I do have a ready made replacement at home for it, thinking long term about this, I was wanting to get people's thoughts and recommendations on what BSA 68/73, 24mm Hollow Spindle External Cup Bottom Brackets, last the longest.


Other than lasting longer, I'm not sure if there is much "performance" difference between various models of such Bottom Brackets, but would be happy to be educated about this too, if I am wrong on this.


With how cheap Shimano XT & XTR bottom brackets are, does it make much sense paying 3x to 10x as much for other brands with their ceramic ball bearings and what ever other goodness is in these very expensive bottom brackets?


My current bottom bracket is the one that came with my M591 crankset by Shimano, so I am sure it won't be hard to improve upon that, but wanted to find out about other people's experiences and choices.

Dan Burkhart 

For value, performance and durability, it's hard to improve on Shimano. Are there marginal performance gains to be made with uber expensive ceramic bearing cups? Maybe, but it would never be worth it to me.
The bike shop I work at has a display on the counter, two Hollowtech II cranks, one mounted in Shimano cups, the other in Enduro Ceramic. The point is to demonstrate how much easier the ceramic bearings spin.
The difference is dramatic when spinning the cranks by hand, but how much difference it makes on the bike is hard to say. I'm inclined to think it's fractions of a watt, but someone somewhere has probably done a study to quantify it.

dksix

This is about as good of a value as you'll.

Shimano 105 5700 Bottom Bracket $9.66
https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano...ket-49200.html

Maelochs

Shimano Hollowtech is bang for the buck and strong as can be. Ceramic bearings cost hundreds of dollars for what amounts to infinitesimal gains (great in a turbocharger spinning at x00,000 rpm----wasted on a bicycle spinning at 90.)

mstateglfr 

Yeah, +1 to everything above.

I have HT2 BBs on my MTB and gravel bike and they are simple excellent. Simple to install, simple to maintain. I will never be good enough to take advantage of the benefits of a bottom bracket with less drag than the HT2.

John_V 

Don't know how many of you are high mileage riders but if you're putting in close to or over 1,000 miles a month, you wouldn't care what the BB cost you. The difference in ease of peddling between a Shimano (including DuraAce) and a BB such as Hawk Racing or one with ceramic bearings is very noticeable, especially on climbs and headwinds. I have Hawk Racing on my 2012 Ace and recently purchased a new Colnago CRS. First thing I had the shop do was to replace the Ultegra BB with a Hawk during the assembly. No regrets.

FrontRanger

As others have said, it's hard to beat the price/performance of Shimano BBs. I've also had good luck with Wheels Manufacturing's BBs. They cost a bit more, but they last longer (especially the 24/22mm versions for SRAM cranks).

mstateglfr 

Per HawkRacing literature...
"Our bearings utilize a lighter seal than ceramic bearings, and they will get you to terminal velocity more quickly and easily."


Funny way to describe getting up to speed quicker.
Those who can reap the benefits of a bottom bracket costing 10-12x more than a standard Shimano should absolutely use it. I am not worthy of such a component.

DrIsotope

For the money, I don't think it's possible to do better than the Shimano BB-R60. 15 bucks. Lasts for ages.

Beware anyone who recommends ceramic bearings for an application that sees less than 150rpm (that is, anything on a bicycle.) I have plenty of ceramic bearings here... for R/C brushless motors that spin 100,000rpm.

John_V 

In January of 2012, I bought my Ultegra Colnago Ace. With the miles I put on the bike, the BB was toast by June of the following year. I replaced it with a Hawk, that cost me $100.00, and have ridden on that BB since. I replaced it last month with another one, not because it needed to be changed, but because I had put over 40,000 miles on it. It's still tight and spins as good as a new one. With the mileage I put on a bike, I wonder how many Shimano BBs I would have gone through in the same time period?

Marcus_Ti

The only thing not to like about Shimano Hollowtech cranks.....is their limited choice of gearings, especially WRT road branded parts.

DrIsotope

I got around 16,000 out of my cheapo OEM Formula BB that came with the bike. Everything about the BB-R60 is better made, but even if I only get another 16,000 per BB, it's still better than 1,000 miles per $1. So the Hawk would have to last at least 100,000 miles to be cost comparable, and have to last longer to save money. I'll take the +/-
5 Ultegras.

John_V 

In 2013, when I bought the Hawk BB, the Ultegra BB was $68.00 at several places I went to. Didn't go online for one because I needed to replace it for a ride on the day after the old BB failed. The BB is a BSA, English threaded BB and a DuraAce BB was the same price as the Hawk. I could have picked up a Tiagra BB for around $28.00 but I'm a firm believer in "you get what you pay for."

Also, when I replaced the Hawk with a new one, there was nothing wrong with with the one that got replaced except for the mileage I put on it. So, we really can't say it wouldn't last more than 100,000 miles. I also replaced the chain, cassette and chain rings in the event I decide to sell the bike.

However, riding every day and putting on the mileage I do on a bike, I would rather pay the extra for a BB that makes it easier to pedal because of better bearings and less friction than go cheap and pedal harder with more effort.

dksix

I bought an Ultegra 6800 Italian threaded BB about 3 months ago for $10.49 at Merlin. That BB is now $15.00 not on sale.

John_V 

That's a great price. I wish they were going that cheap back in 2013 when my Ultegra BB went out on me.

dksix

I did look back at my order history and the $10.49 is correct, ordered on January 30 2017.

Maelochs

Pays to shop around. and to stock up. My wife wonders about all the boxes on the shelf, but prices never seem to go down, and sometimes stuff does wear out.