I am looking for the most durable and longest lasting outboard bottom bracket. I finished off an XT in 1800 or so miles, the XTR lasted about 3200. I live in the Northeast. Ride all year, even through the winter.
Although the XTR lifespan seems pretty good for a bottom bracket, I would really rather just never buy one again. Will the King do that if properly serviced? Perhaps I am hoping for too much.
Guessing by the amount of riding you do, sounds like the BB's were subjected to a lot of different elements. Everything from fun in the sun to water, salt and sand. Any BB will not last, even a King, when subjected to that kind of use.
A King will work great, but it will require a minimun of service every 2-3 months. In your case, I would guess more often. You will also need the CK hub service tool to go with your King BB to properly service it.
How did the bearings feel/look after replacement? Did you look into just replacing the bearings inside the cups? Enduro makes replacement bearings for most external BB's.
I never serviced the bearings of either bottom bracket, wasn't sure that you could. Funny you are saying the King would need minimum service at least 6 to 9x before the XTR wore out. I would think thier seals would be better than anything out there.
The one failed XTR bearing had a failed retainer on the inside of the bearing.
I never serviced the bearings of either bottom bracket, wasn't sure that you could. Funny you are saying the King would need minimum service at least 6 to 9x before the XTR wore out. I would think thier seals would be better than anything out there.
I'm only stating what is in the installation instructions from Chris King. I just installed one today for a customer. CK instructions also state that the crank will need to be checked and adjusted periodically until the new bearings break in.
I am looking for the most durable and longest lasting outboard bottom bracket. I finished off an XT in 1800 or so miles, the XTR lasted about 3200. I live in the Northeast. Ride all year, even through the winter.
Although the XTR lifespan seems pretty good for a bottom bracket, I would really rather just never buy one again. Will the King do that if properly serviced? Perhaps I am hoping for too much.
The Shimano XT crank lasts really well, I am into the 4th year...
However the Shimano BB cups don't last very well...I use Enduro cups and bearings, I can get about a year on a set of bearings, and maybe two years on a set of cups...
The Shimano XT crank lasts really well, I am into the 4th year...
However the Shimano BB cups don't last very well...I use Enduro cups and bearings, I can get about a year on a set of bearings, and maybe two years on a set of cups...
Could you elaborate on the cups not lasting well? You mean the interior of the cup where the bearing sits or the outer tool interface? Or both?
I've torn up some Shimano cups using the Shimano tool (TL-FC32), but using a BBT-19 the tool interface remains in much better condition. Haven't had any issue with the interior on pulling and replacing bearings so far but time will tell. Just popped a set of Phil Wood bearings into a set of Shimano cups on my XT cranks the other day, we'll see how they stand up.
If maintained, the stock Shimano bearings are fine, too. I think your riding conditions as well as time used are going to determine the frequency any of the bearings need love. I got the Phil bearings a few years ago and since I was doing a full bb area service, decided to finally pop them in even though the XT's were fine with a bit of cleaning and re-lubing after well over a year's use.
I have a Hope with ceramic bearings and it has been mated with 2 sets of on XT's a set of XTR's and now some Race faces- on about 3-4 bikes. Sadly I don't run near the miles you do but I do ride in NE slop- still going strong. I can't compare it directly with King but it is definitely a contender you should look into.
Philwood make an outboard BB with Stainless Steel cups with there awsome bearings, that could probably be the strongest BB. CK would be second.
Also you dont need the hub tool to services the CK BB. It actually realy easy since they make a grease injector tool that just slips on the bearing and as you squeese in the new grease the old comes out. But you dont even need that, just follow the headset maitanace instruction and your done in like twenty minutes.
Could you elaborate on the cups not lasting well? You mean the interior of the cup where the bearing sits or the outer tool interface? Or both?
I've torn up some Shimano cups using the Shimano tool (TL-FC32), but using a BBT-19 the tool interface remains in much better condition. Haven't had any issue with the interior on pulling and replacing bearings so far but time will tell. Just popped a set of Phil Wood bearings into a set of Shimano cups on my XT cranks the other day, we'll see how they stand up.
If maintained, the stock Shimano bearings are fine, too. I think your riding conditions as well as time used are going to determine the frequency any of the bearings need love. I got the Phil bearings a few years ago and since I was doing a full bb area service, decided to finally pop them in even though the XT's were fine with a bit of cleaning and re-lubing after well over a year's use.
I have the Enduro Seal Cup tool I try my damdest not to remove the cups, however I had to just recently, got it off and back on but I probably only have one more time on that cup...
What happens is salt gets into the threads and welds the damn thing pretty tight...(non dirve side)...
On the drive side I picked up a rock between the granny and the cup so in the one or two revs it was in there it really messed up the slots....so probably only one time to get that one off...
I think the cups are very soft and probably need so heat treatment to harden them up...
I use a bearing puller instead of removing the cups.
The Shimano seals just arn't up to my riding conditions.
Make sure you are fully coating the bottom brackets threads with Anti-Seize Compound.
I find the Park stuff works well but I'm sure the Shimano and other brands are equally good. http://www.parktool.com/products/detail.asp?cat=8&item=ASC-1.
It will leave your cups in almost pristine condition. (Small downside of not being able to use while the cranks are on. But I can't imagine that ever being an issue for me).
The BBT-19 works much better than the BBT-9. It also doesn't mark up the cups like the BBT-9 does. And it also allows you to use a wratchet or breaker bar to loosen stubborn cups.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Mountain Bike Reviews Forum
15.4M posts
515.2K members
Since 1990
A forum community dedicated to Mountain Bike owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about bike parts, components, deals, performance, modifications, classifieds, trails, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!