froze

Well you know that old cheap stuff, I only got 145,000 miles on my Suntour Superbe bottom bracket, that Suntour crap just doesn't last long!!

thewalrus

I just did the math on that, you have an average of 6904 miles per year for 21 years on one bike?!?!?!

impressive!

froze

Your math is quite good. When I raced the bike I averaged 12,000 miles a year for first 5 years of the bikes life beginning in early 84, so thats about 60,000 miles. Then for the next 3 years I was burned out after racing for 15 years so I stopped riding all together! So for 3 years from early 89 to end of 91 I did 0 miles. Then I resummed riding again although this time not competitively and I average 8,000 miles a year starting in early 92 until late 99 (8 years) for about a total of 64,000mi. Then life got too busy and had to cut it down to about 5,000 miles which I've been doing since 2000; so for the last 5 years the totals would be about 25,000. if you add those miles you get 149,000 miles which is about close to what I said considering that in 2003 my miles dropped that year to about 3,000 due to contacting Epstein Bar virus; and last winter I was only at 3500 due to not riding much in the winter outdoors and instead riding a trainer with a mtb bike on it (this winter I been using the Trek 660 on the trainer). Since these miles are rounded (I use to have all the records on this mileage business because I had all the receipts for tires as well as computer mileages recorded when batteries died that would jive with each other-I think my wife secretly threw that stuff away when we moved from California to Indiana in 2004) there could be a up to a 5,000 mile error either way!

cs1

I'll resist the urge to say what I really think. First, 7,000 miles on a ACH or SCH Campy BB is a lot. The newer Centaur black BB has 3 sealed bearings like a Chorus and should last a lot longer. How can you complain about $27 for springs. If it were a Shimano you would have to buy a new shifter. I seem to remember that they cost a whole lot more than the price of 3 springs. What you might want to do is to have the frame prepped by a shop. Thread the BB shell and face it too. That is a one time charge. Buy the new black Centaur BB and make sure it is torqued down properly. It should last a very long time. I just installed one and it is great.

Tim

Figaro

My square-tapered Shimano A550 bb gave me 20,000 miles. It has been retired in excellent condition. Retired on ly because that bike required a new crankset and I had to switch to splined.

Figaro

What manipulative, sanctimonious crap.

Figaro

You say that because it hasn't happened to you.

Figaro

My fault, I guess. Sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry!

froze

7,000 miles is a lot? Did I read that correctly? That means every other time I buy a set of tires I should expect to replace the bottom bracket? Does any of that make sense to any of you? Is this the state of quality I can expect from new stuff? So let's see; buy a new bike for $2500, every time you replace your tires you have to replace your chain and gear cluster, every other time you replace your tires you have to replace your chain, gear cluster and bottom bracket!

Either people out there don't know how to care for their stuff or component manufactures are making trash. If it's the latter then I'll be dam if I ever buy a newer bike! But personally, I think it's the former-people don't know how to care for their stuff.

zaphodbeeblebro

so, some little springs that cost $9-15 to replace and what is admittedly not a very good bottom bracket crapped out at 7000 miles? do youself a favor, spend $50 and get a decent bottom bracket:
https://www.greenfishsports.com/index...ROD&ProdID=414

replace the springs and keep riding. So, every 7000 miles you spend $60 on your components? not too bad.


Also, as for shimano bottom brackets, just replaced the bb on my mtn bike, un72 had approximately 10000 miles on it after 7 years on my mtn bike, still spun fairly smoothly....Mike Curiak, if you dont know who that is, google great divide race 2004, see what type of bb he used for that race (hardest mtn bike race in the world)

toomanybikes

Bingo - I have NEVER worn out a bottom bracket.

I use cup and cone barckets with loose balls - open them clean them and re-pack them.

They turn smoother, they have less resistance and they last forever.

Nessism

...as long as you don't get water in there which leads to rust and pitting of the races. Also, R&R'ing the cranks causes the square taper hole in the cranks to spread which eventually leads to looseness. Not an issue if one is puttering about, but not an ideal situation for a heavier rider and/or a rider that sprints a lot.

sydney

Make sure you do it in a timely manner.Even cups with 'seals' at the spindle aren't water tight, and I have pulled more cup and ball BB that were trash due to rust and pitting than even the cheapest cartridge type.

toomanybikes

Well, I have been doing it for thirty years. Never had one pit or rust. And I have never had the cranks wear out, go loose or otherwise be damaged.

I guess the assumption is that I must not know what I'm doing.

Service regularly, use good quality grease and noproblems have ever surfaced.

Of course, now that Ihave been doubly warned I can expect the cranks and axles to fail immediately?

pigmode

Yup.

I used to be a clean and service guy as well, but now I embrace the concept of the sealed throw-away. Makes life more simple and leaves time for other stuff, since service interval is usually shorter than replacement interval.

DocRay

7000 miles is about twice what I get from BBs, and better than what you would get from a shimano hollow axle BB-they have tiny bearings. You can get parts that last longer, but then you'd be *****ing about how heavy they were. If you want to last longer, replace with a external bearing BB.

classic1

I love the cup and ball brackets and was alway concientious about maintenance when I was racing, but it's still possible wear a bracket set out in one race with some poor weather, bad and muddy roads and a bit of bad luck.

froze

I can tell you and I don't know what we're doing. I mean mine have never rusted or pitted either after 145,000 miles, I must be doing something wrong.

And then the comment about the cranks being heavy if they used larger ball bearings instead of the small ones Shimano (actually Shamano) uses? "You can get parts that last longer, but then you'd be *****ing about how heavy they were." Really? How much more heavy could we be talking about? maybe 25grms more for better bearings that will last far longer. Is 25grms that obscene? Dam, I don't know if I can bear moving another 25grms of weight.

gcasillo

We can all complain about one part or another. Your beef is with the bottom bracket life, specifically that found in an AC-H bottom bracket like the one in the left of the picture.

So? Campagnolo addresses the problem and updates the Centaur BB to that in the right of the picture (black). Similar to Chorus BBs of late, while the Chorus BB is closer to Record models. Such is the nature of production.

Provided you get the right spindle length, you can usually upgrade to a better model. It isn't uncommon for 105 users to roll with an Ultegra BB. Doesn't mean the rest of the 105 group isn't a solid performer.

flatlander_48

What is that in Dog Years?

Patriot

Even if my BB only lasted 7000mi, you can buy Veloce and Centaur BB's from ProBikeKit for $15-$18 a piece. It honestly wouldn't bother me to change out a BB once every year or two of it was only $15. I spend that much at Starbucks every week just on Mochas.

froze

In light of all the comments about how short lived bottom brackets are these days, I third the Phil Wood bottom brackets. I knew a person that toured on Phil Woods bottom brackets and hubs and he had more miles on that stuff then I do on my Suntour!!! I would rather pay a bit more now and keep it for a long time then to keep paying for replacing the cheap crap over and over and over because eventually your going to pay for what it cost to get a Phil Woods anyways. So to say you spend the amount of what it cost for a bottom bracket a week on coffee is an ignorant comment. Wait till your "cheap" bottom bracket breaks while riding 50 miles from home!

mellowdave

geee freakin whiz.


Want a cookie?

of course, since youre such a "serious" rider, you prolly cant eat one...

Elvish Legion

Angery much?

56/12 and 22/28

That's what I said.

Eh?