Bottom Bracket Life

[Jenkins]

On one of my Van Nicholases the BB had to be changed at around 3500 miles while on the other one it is giving no indications of needing anything doing at the same mileage and the BB on the Planet X Carbon has been replaced twice after around 1500 miles on each occasion. SRAM GXP on all of them.

 

[buzzy-beans]

What grease do you use, could the type of grease increase/decrease the expected durability?

My wheel axles and bottom bracket are all packed with blue marine grease and so far I have never experienced any problems with them.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Swings and roundabouts. I replaced the PF30 on the CX after 7000 miles off all weather riding, zero maintenance aside from a repack of grease at about 6000 miles.
Trek with square taper managed 1000 miles before it was knackered, OEM one mind.

I had the same experience with the BB on my brother's Trek. I replaced it with a cheap VP that I had in my spares box until other components started to fail too (at around 1700 miles) when it had a general upgrade.

Very disappointed with what is generally considered to be a good make.

 

[bpsmith]

So it would appear, albeit from a limited number of examples, that the PF30 BB is not as bad as we are led to believe.

 

[wonderloaf]

On one of my Van Nicholases the BB had to be changed at around 3500 miles while on the other one it is giving no indications of needing anything doing at the same mileage and the BB on the Planet X Carbon has been replaced twice after around 1500 miles on each occasion. SRAM GXP on all of them.

Spooky, changed the BB on my PX pro-carbon a couple of months ago at around 1500 miles (1514 according to Strava) so guess I know what to expect in the future. Luckily it's not too expensive or time consuming to swap them out!

 

[cosmicbike]

So it would appear, albeit from a limited number of examples, that the PF30 BB is not as bad as we are led to believe.

That's what I've found. The replacement one is creaking, but that's my own fault for not using Loctite on the installation as I couldn't find it at the time, and needed the bike!
It's on the list of things to do...

 

[jefmcg]

Just data, I'm on the 3rd BB on my avail, and the previous ones lasted about 13,500 and 15,500 km

 

[gbb]

FSA omega BB4000 on my entry level Bianchi were renowned to be short lived, often less than 2K miles, occasionally less than 1K. I think mine did ok but needed new bearings as the old ones had gone rusty etc.

Still on my Veloce cups on the Ribble, originally brought in 2012. I did feel a little knocking earlier this year so cups out, seals off the bearings, cleaned, regreased....all smooth again. Can't say how many miles.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

The Tiagra one that came with my Croix de Fer work bike lasted less than a year before wearing out. At a guess about 4000 miles. Since then I've been using 105 standard but they don't last much longer, about 18 months if I'm lucky. Much preferred the old square taper style that used to last for years and years.

 

[Johnno260]

My Merida Ride 400 BB is starting to creak, it gets much worse when out the saddle and on a steep climb.

Bikes done around 700-800 miles.

I have no idea what the BB type is on this.

 

[Gravity Aided]

My best bikes, both 1980's sport-tourers, still have original square taper non sealed BBs, but both bikes were well cared for by previous owners. Re-grease at the end of the season with marine bearing grease. Maybe change bearings, if examination shows that necessary.

 

[Jody]

The press fit on my MTB was still going strong after a good few thousand miles of abuse. Swapped it when the frame bearings were serviced and the replacement is still donig OK.

On the other hand my mate destroys PF BB's in no time but he is a bit heavier than me.

 

[DCBassman]

I have very limited experience with BB failure. When I bought my Trek in 2001, I could detect a slight motion in the pedals that seemed, to my then inexperienced feet, like you would get with a very slightly loose cotter pin (showing age!). When it had its service, I mentioned it, but they were not able to solve it. It's still the same today, so I've never bothered much about it. When I was assessing the Scott I eventually ended up with, the BB movement could be measured in fairly large fractions of an inch...so that day I learned to replace a BB. I'll be interested to see how long this one lasts!

 

[BurningLegs]

I just had an FSA PF30 fail on me after 2,400 miles. Most of my riding is on the turbo (unfortunately) with quite a bit of “climbing” so out of the saddle with high resistance. Has probably suffered from sweat ingress too...

Would have hoped for more tbh but when a replacement is just under £20 and £15 to fit, I suppose I can’t really grumble.

 

[huwsparky]

About 15k miles on my defy, still on original, still going strong.