Cartridge and press fit bottom bracket

[T4tomo]

the only disadvantage with the Square Taper standard was weight. everything that has come since has been suboptimal in someway, but lighter, and because various brands have different standards, it makes it an issue for interchangeability of cranksets.

 

[I like Skol]

If after a couple of years of all weather use, you get a problem with a Square Taper cartridge system you need to urgently replace the cartridge within the next few thousand miles.

 

[Amac]

@Dogtrousers
Cheers, yes it only does it normally once, then not for a while but its started giving 2-3 "clanks" in one go now.
It does it on the big and middle ring, sounds from the front somewhere, I was wondering about the front chain rings, I had the chain and rear cassette changed in the autumn, the chain was well worn.
The LBS id a great job of the chain and cassette, might go back to them. Its hard for them thou, as its does not do all the time.
Oh, I had better double check my knees of course

 

[GuyBoden]

And then, of course there are old fashioned "proper" bottom brackets, with loose ball bearings.

Yes, many of the old type BBs on vintage cycles with loose bearing are still working well after decades of use, you just need to regularly clean, re-grease and maybe replace the loose bearings, but that's too much maintenance for some folk. I find that the Shimano UN55 are great too, not sure about the Hollow tec, it's too early to make a judgement on my Hollow tec.

My old Sakae Ringyo BB is still running smoothly.

 

[iluvmybike]

The one thing i know is that the press fit bottom brackets is prone to creaking.

Depends on the type of press fit. The BB30 type where the bearings are set into the shell of the frame are the worst for creaking as the shell can never be manufactured to a perfect round - whereas those with plastic supporting cups such as the Shimano pf much less so as the supporting cups allow room for imperfect tolerances. Creaking also can be worse if you have a pf bb with adapters for different crank sizes to the original.

 

[T4tomo]

Re my other thread, they have of course discontinued the things - can't be having stuff lasting that long.
They have to be fair introduced a new square taper, though I have no idea how it stacks up against the UN55.
I don't suppose anyone has taken one apart or yet had the opportunity to do a long-term, like 10 years, test.

I'm about to fit a new UN300, so I'll make a note to check back in 10 years to let you know...

 

[Twilkes]

@Dogtrousers
Cheers, yes it only does it normally once, then not for a while but its started giving 2-3 "clanks" in one go now.
It does it on the big and middle ring, sounds from the front somewhere, I was wondering about the front chain rings, I had the chain and rear cassette changed in the autumn, the chain was well worn.
The LBS id a great job of the chain and cassette, might go back to them. Its hard for them thou, as its does not do all the time.
Oh, I had better double check my knees of course

On my first tour I was worried for about a week that I'd knackered my knee - turned out it was the end of my lace slapping on my shoe with every pedal stroke.

 

[matticus]

If after a couple of years of all weather use, you get a problem with a Square Taper cartridge system you need to urgently replace the cartridge within the next few thousand miles.
It is odd that BB went to external cups just after headsets abandoned them. Since ST there have been quite a few different standards that try to incorporate hollow axles with smaller bearings. They cannot match the old standard for fit and forget everday use.

(had to read that twice)

It does seem to be a fact that when square-taper starts developing play you get many hundred miles of use before they give up (in fact I broke a front derailleur because I'd let the play get so bad in a BB, the cranks were too often hitting the deraiilleur - idiotic user error!)

Whereas the modern systems go from noisy to draggy to seized in very few miles. I admit I have no idea why.

 

[Mralexrides]

I started to get creaking from my bottom bracket and I queried whether this was dangerous and bikeshop guys said no. I asked them to replace it for me and was only £25 for the new press fit BB. Was £30 for the labour costs. Do you think the creaking is dangerous or can be? and is fitting such a bb that difficult it can be done by a novice mechanic?

 

[T4tomo]

I started to get creaking from my bottom bracket and I queried whether this was dangerous and bikeshop guys said no. I asked them to replace it for me and was only £25 for the new press fit BB. Was £30 for the labour costs. Do you think the creaking is dangerous or can be? and is fitting such a bb that difficult it can be done by a novice mechanic?

Not that complicated, but you need a specific tool, which will cost you more than £30 to buy......so get the bikeshop to fit it

 

[andrew_s]

Re my other thread, they have of course discontinued the things - can't be having stuff lasting that long.
They have to be fair introduced a new square taper, though I have no idea how it stacks up against the UN55.
I don't suppose anyone has taken one apart or yet had the opportunity to do a long-term, like 10 years, test.

The word so far is that failures have occurred, with subsequent dismantlement, and that they are a substantial step down from the UN55 type, being an axle with shoulders for a pair of cartridge bearings accommodated in the end cups, with a central sleeve.
Basically the same as everyone else's cheap square taper BB then.

 

[Mralexrides]

Not that complicated, but you need a specific tool, which will cost you more than £30 to buy......so get the bikeshop to fit it

my bike still making weird noises though.. im sure its coming from wheel front one. Might it be the hub of the wheel? or something else. Bike shop said it was bb why i had it replaced.

 

[rogerzilla]

PF30 is the usual culprit for creaks. It's a version of BB30 (and uses the same cranks) but is designed for lower tolerances, with plastic bearing housings.

The big pressed-in designs allow carbon frames, with their fat tubes, to flow around the BB area better, as well as offering extra stiffness you probably don't need. And bike manufacturers always like inventing new things for no reason.

 

[iluvmybike]

PF30 is the usual culprit for creaks. It's a version of BB30 (and uses the same cranks) but is designed for lower tolerances, with plastic bearing housings.

The big pressed-in designs allow carbon frames, with their fat tubes, to flow around the BB area better, as well as offering extra stiffness you probably don't need. And bike manufacturers always like inventing new things for no reason.

Press fit has been around forever on BMX - nothing new

 

[Jody]

Not that complicated, but you need a specific tool, which will cost you more than £30 to buy......so get the bikeshop to fit it

He could always make one. It would only cost a couple of quid and also comes in handy if you need to press a headset.