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I seem to be having great success at killing the bearings on my MTBs at the moment. I can't figure out if I'm just crap at looking after my bikes, or if I'm expecting too much from some components. Maybe I'm not riding enough and they just don't like standing still. In quick succession ...
1) Fulcrum Red Power rear hub: Non-drive side bearing and freehub are dying
2) Fulcrum Red Metal 1 XL rear hub: Non-drive side bearing seized completely
3) Shimano XT BB cup: Non-drive side bearing seized completely
The hollowtech BB bearings I can understand (crap system).
I don't jet wash my bikes, but do give them a decent clean and hose down after every off-road ride. Maybe this is just my unlucky week?
Rather than getting another Shimano BB I'm thinking of getting a Hope stainless steel BB, but it is quite expensive. Is it worth the money? CRC have "disposable short-lived" XT (£17) and XTR (£25) at the moment.
Rose bikes for XTR BB bearings. Very reasonable with proper length threads. Hope can come up narrow with 2 spacers.
You're over-tightening the preload end cap
Just nip it up til there's no float in the cranks then tighten the pinch bolts and loosen the end cap a quarter turn
If you over tighten the end cap then you basically put loads of lateral pressure on the bearings so they don't rotate
Get your frame faced, if you haven't already, and get some cheap Rose XTR in your life.
Fulcrum tend to use 6902 (or is it 6903?) bearings which aren't the best for longevity.. They sometimes pick out the inner seals on the freehub and main hub bearings to make them roll smoother. Possibly the most arsetardedly stupid thing I've ever seen done.
Just nip it up til there's no float in the cranks then tighten the pinch bolts and loosen the end cap a quarter turn
Don't bother loosening it afterwards. It won't make any difference once the bolts are done up. Quite right with regards to the end cap otherwise though
Force of habit really - I do it with top caps too!
@tmb467 : You could be right there. Thanks for the tip.
@bikewhisperer : You're spot on about one of my Fulcrum wheels. When I popped out the bearings the inside seal had been removed - really surprising.
According to Fulcrum's technical documents, the Red Power 1 XL hub needs a RMO-008 bearing, which I think is a 6804 (32mmx20mmx7mm). Of course Fulcrum's customer service dept have been no help whatsoever - I'm beginning to think Dave Hinde is working for them
I'm unconvinced XTR is any better than XT tbh. DIfferent design but it doesn't seem any better sealed. Both work well IMO but yes no resistance to overtorquing at all. I get enough life out of either that I can't really remember when I fitted them.
Gusset's EXT24 is an excellent alternative- a wee bit more expensive, but longer lived, comes in assorted colours, fairly servicable (you can remove the tophats and clean under the outer seal, which extends life if you can be bothered) and biggest deal, uses standard bearings which are easy to replace- so has Hope beat on that front as well as price IMO, and isn't far off on lifespan.
Won't buy another Hope for that reason, got Gussets in 2 bikes and will do the rest when I run out of Shimano.
Oh and Fulcrum customer service is an oxymoron- nice products, awful aftersales. Have you seen the price of replacement rims? 😯 £150 for my Red Zones, at that price they'd better come packaged in heroin.
I run a hope ss bb and a ceramic bb. Very impressed with them . I invested in a hope bb press kit and when they start creaking I remove the cartridge bearings, take the seals off, remove the old grease with degreaser and regrease and reassemble.
I tighten the pre load up until it removes all the play and then back off a 1/4 turn as stated above.
Ceramic one is 5 years old and done over 5000 miles. The ss one was 2nd hand and its done around 2000 miles on my bike.
It is time consuming cleaning the bearings but not much more than swopping for a new bb and a lot cheaper and greener!
I think the bb tool was less than 20 quid.
Another cheaper alternative is the aerozine bb in ss or ceramic . They come in various colours too.
I'm more used to dealing with the road wheels, but I'm not surprised that they do the same silly stuff on the mountain bike ones. Decent replacement ones will be about £8 each from simplybearings. Don't forget that the inner freehub one will have a circlip holding it in.. It can be a ballache to get that one back into place, even with the right sized drift.
@tmb467.. I over tighten the cap a bit to make sure everything is snugged down, then slacken it off and just gently close it down before doing the bolts. There's a couple of o-rings in the crank ends.. They just need to be half squished.
Try an uberbike bb...£35 and every bit as good as Hope IMO. I've had two now and the first is 2 years old and is as smooth as the day I got it without any maintenance (and that's with riding round the Chase in that god awful sandy paste during both winters).
XTR don't last any longer than XT ime, both poorly sealed. Gusset or Praxis BBs at under £30 have much better bearing sealing, the Praxis has replaceable std size 2RS bearings. Not sure about the Gusset but think they're replaceable also. (edit, they are based on NW's post)
Anyone got tips on how to remove the Truvativ top hats from a hope BB? Can't get mine out, they're really tight against each other and I'd like to regrease the bearings, but can't get the seals off without removing the top hats.