Is five years a reasonable lifespan for a BB

[XmisterIS]

My MTB is a 2006 model, it came with Truvative ISIS cranks and a Gigapipe BB. After 5 years, the BB is now dead, so I have taken it out and ordered an FSA as a replacement - the reviews of the Gigapipe say it's overpriced crap that wears out quickly, whereas the FSA is £15 cheaper and the reviews say it's bombproof. Even with an octalink tool for £5, it's still cheaper than the Gigapipe (which needed a Shimano tool, which cost £25.

)

So, which BB do you use? I'm stuck with ISIS type BBs unless I want to buy a whole new crankset (which I don't!)

 

[martint235]

5 years? I'm lucky to get a year out of my Shimano 105 BBs on a road bike

 

[summerdays]

Hmm I haven't changed my BB in my present bike which is 3 years old ... I wonder what factors affect BB life (other than if it gets loose and you don't tighten it). Mr Summerdays has had a couple of BB's. Would stronger riders go through them faster?

 

[Davidc]

More mileage related IME.

If it's of any relevance I used to replace the bearing races in traditional type BBs at around 15 to 20,000 miles. For a long time that was a couple of years or less, it would be more like 5 to 10 years mileage now.

I haven't gone through a cassette type sealed BB yet but would expect it to be similar.

 

[numbnuts]

I got 10,539 miles out on my BB on my touring bike

 

[I like Skol]

No idea of mileage but I bought my GT MTB in 1994. The shop replaced the B/B during under warranty during the first year while it was in for something else, saying it had developed some play (I hadn't noticed it). It is still there and doing a great job despite regular mud, river crossings, hosing and standing for months at a time. Not sure exactly what it is but it should be a decent shimano cartridge one as I specced an XT groupset when I had the bike built.

 

[661-Pete]

I'm fairly certain the B/B on my Bianchi is the original, dating from 1999. Can't say for sure how many miles it's done, but 2-3,000 per annum is typical, so a good many thousands! If it still runs smoothly and with no play, why touch it?

And the B/B on the shopper is way older (early '90s) and I know that for sure. The thread inside the shell was stripped bare, so I couldn't get any BB to screw in. All I could think of was to araldite in a sealed BB unit. It's still held in by araldite to this day, no way am I going to attempt getting it out - when it goes, the frame goes. Of course it hasn't done so many miles...

 

[Sleeping Menace]

I've never gotten more than 18 months out of a BB.. used to go through 2-4 per season racing DH.. and in that, there's almost no pedalling..

if you're getting years.. you're doing well.

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[GrasB]

Hard to say, I've killed of BBs in the space of 1500 miles & had exact make/model replacements last for >10'000 miles.

 

[guitarpete247]

My road bike has the same BB axle as when I bought the frame in 1982. Only change the ball bearings every few years whether they needed changing or not. Much cheaper than a sealed unit IMO.

 

[XmisterIS]

I reckon I've got about 3K miles out of the Truvative BB, I hope I get a few more out of the FSA! 5 years is OK though. Mind you, by then they'll probably have stopped making the ISIS style BBs, thereby forcing me to shell out a wadge of cash on some new design, which is exactly the same as the old design, but with different fittings, just to make you spend money getting a new crankset to go with this season's BB. I hate it when the industry does that.

 

[kylemalco]

I know truvativ make alot of good stuff but i really dont rate their bottom brackets

 

[Brommyboy]

My Shimano BB fitted to the touring cycle did not quite make 50000 miles, being short by just a few hundred. It depends on how you treat your cycle, and how well machined the unit was in the first place. The Fag originally fitted to my Brompton got very stiff after some 9000 miles but the bearings were still fine when I replaced it.

 

[spence]

This is joke, right?

A Truvative ISIS BB lasting 5 years, surley you mean 5 months. And that's pushing it.