[Closed] BB30 Bearings - SKF worth it??

They are 6806-2RS bearings nothing bike specific, so I would just pick some decent ones up from a local bearing supplier.

SKF bearings are top quality - they are a recognised industry leader. With bearings it's all about tolerances, material hardness and seals. The cheaper alternatives are likely to be inferior in all respects. Hard to say if it's worth the extra money though. Why not try the cheap ones out first? They might be okay in which case you've saved some cash. If not, you will know it's worth paying extra.

Ditto to moshymonster skf have been around for years,& used in every industry ,the only bearing that you may consider is ceramic but a bit dearer !.

If it's a PITA to change them, go with something that will last longer, but if your current ones are needing changing after only 1k - then I wouldn't be replacing like-for-like...

When you reassemble the BB, smear some bearing fit compound on the crankset axle where it fits inside the bearing inners. This will prevent the dreaded BB30 creak, which most people wrongly attribute to the bearings moving in the sleeves.

I tried some SKS in a bottom bracket and they didn't really last any longer than the budget alternatives. I'm now on a set of ceramic hybrid’s for £20 per pair from eBay. These have been in for over a year on the bike I use for commuting most days and muddy rides. They still spin silently and have no roughness or noise.
So in my experience when I buy I'm choosing from the following

Cheap non branded from local supplier (£4 per pair) = cheap but replace more often. Easy to do with the correct tool.

SKS (£24 per pair) = better quality on paper but in reality didn't last much longer than the cheap ones above.

Ceramic (£20 per pair) = so far perfect with no maintenance. Bit of a gamble buying non branded bearings but not the end of the world if they fail. I didn't buy into the reduced friction etc. and it certainly isn't noticeable when riding.

You got a link for the ebay bearings seller you used, out of interest?

In 10k of BB30 riding I've changed the driveside bearing twice for £3/4 ones from the local bearing shop. I think the first one was a bit iffy but I checked the latest version recently and it seems good after perhaps 3k so bearing (get it) in mind how easy they are to replace Im happy with that.

Are SKF four times better and/or value for money?

Fine if you're building an F1 engine but not necessary on a bicycle

Google your local bearing stockist they'll have them for a few quid

BB30 makes loads of technical sense, but in practice the bearing wear rate is a joke. On my Cannondale Rize I get about 300km before they get grindy and maybe 500km overall from the cheap bearings, and not much more from the pricey ones. The grease just seems to migrate out of them at a rate of knots. Sometimes I remember to re-pack them in time, but it doesn't double the lifespan. I am riding mostly in wet, muddy, gritty conditions but I don't powerhose.

Best bet is to buy cheap and repack with grease (or just change them) often.

Also, the recommendation of using bearing compound is a really good one - it totally eliminates creaking. Just remember to clean it off between changes.

Get The ROTOR ones, Enduro bearings and as good as anything at half the price.
http://www.velotechservices.co.uk/shop/vclose2.asp?prd=118127&cat=7410002023

My Jekyll has a grumbly bearing. Found the shell was full of water, which must have travelled dwon the seat tube. this kept the bearings wet and made them fail. I have now put extra grease in the seat tube to stop this from dribbling down. Contemplating drilling a hole in the shell as well. I bought some bearings of ebay, which i will pack with marine grease and see if that works.

My local bearing supplier always tells me that expensive bearings like SKF for bike applications are a waste of time. They'll fail anyway, because of sealing, not because of any other quality or lack of.

I just checked my e bay account and the bearings were sold by a company called trailbrightmtb who don't currently have anything for sale the description was Trailbright Thin Section Sealed Ball Bearing Bike Wheel Hub Bottom Bracket Cycle.

Rocketman is correct about the higher spec being over kill for bikes but its the seals that need to be good on a bike bearing. The owner of my local bearing company told me that even the highest quality bearings seals wont stop dirty water getting in and contaminating / purging the grease which is the cause of bike bearing failure.
I asked if it was his money would he buy cheaper and replace more often or buy better and not replace as often. he said buy cheap and replace more.

I put some INA bearings in last time I changed mine, it's been fine ever since, tried cheap, and cheap packed with grease and both went crunchy in a short amount of time.

Marine grease. Pop the seals pack with that & reseal. You'll get double the lifespan in my experience. I've seen a few people do greaseport mods on BB's don't know about BB30's but it seems that they are regarded as a disposable item now which seems a bit mad.

If you read the actual manufacturers specs and apply a pinch of salt you'll find that top-end bearings have ratings far beyond anything they're likely to encounter in a bicycle application.

You could say exactly the same for the cheap ones too. The load ratings are unimportant in this application.
A quality seal and decent grease is going to be the important part. Some of the cheap ones I've seen are not even greased at all. You also want to avoid full complement bearings on this application as they will seize up in no time.

I put some INA bearings

Another good brand. You could also try FAG

I tried some SKS

Did you mean SKF? as there are also SKS bearings. SKF are the quality ones.

Sorry yes I meant SKF

Thanks all - much appreciated. Will probably try the the Rotor bearings and see how they go. Just got to find some bearing fit compound based on the advice above.....

Would copper ease work (if that's what it's called these days)?

No, Copaslip only stops the creaking for a couple of hundred miles. In the end you need to smear some bearing fit on the interface between the alloy axle and the bearing inners. Put it on the bearing track on the drive side of the axle and inside the bearing inner on the left hand side of the bike, so as not to "wipe" the compound off the axle as you push it home.

Here's a pic of my FSA alloy BB axle; note the strange pitting and erosion on the area that fits inside the bearing inners; this is what causes the creaking on BB30. You will get a small bottle of bearing fit compound from your bearing stockist.

[img] [/img]

Bearing fit compound 😆

Just use some quality grease, something like LM, copper based greases shouldn't be used near bearings. At the end of the day it's a bottom bracket rotating at not more than 200rpm, it's not a central bearing in an RB11 jet engine.

benji - Member

At the end of the day it's a bottom bracket rotating at not more than 200rpm, it's not a central bearing in an RB11 jet engine.

Speak for yourself - personally I doubt there's much to choose between the two, power-wise.

I'm tempted to check out [url= http://www.bikerumor.com/2014/10/16/found-cyclingceramic-bearings-from-the-pro-peloton-bottom-brackets-jockey-wheels-more/ ]the ones from Cycling Ceramic[/url]. The linked [url=

video[/url] is impressive.

Thanks all. Globalti - I've just googled bearing fit compound and it seems that it's a mild form of loctite, in effect, that will adhere the shaft to the inner face of the bearing and if used around the outer face , adhere the outer bearing face to the shell. In other words it does the opposite of grease in that doesn't lubricate the surfaces to reduce creaking - it sticks the surfaces together to remove the cause of creaking which is the movement between the two surfaces. Example here:

http://www.bearingboys.co.uk/Bondloc_B641_Bearing_Fit_10ml-81564-p?gclid=CJ6a3MeUtsECFSsXwwodfpMALA

Is my interpretation correct?