Help me get over my fear of pressfit BBs

Bookmarked as my bikes are all HT2 or sq taper.

Interested as to what advantages press fit has over HT2 which for me both reliable and easy to dismantle with minimal tools. Useful on a touring bike getting packed into any available box for a return flight.

2000 miles on my pressfit bb now. It's on a Norco Optic that gets used all year so plenty of winter rides and washing down afterwards. It hasn't given me any issues at all, and I'm very sensitive to noisy bikes. It's still dead smooth too so hopefully it's still got a fair bit more life in it yet.

My oldest PF BB is in my Cube road bike. It's been replaced once in 12 years and was an easy job. I have a PF BB in my Occam - it's been done once in 7 years. It's an easy job and I wouldn't let it put me off a frame.

I almost didn't get a bike due to a pressfit BB. Turns out it has better longevity than any screw in BB I've used. Obviously YMMV, some have nothing but issues. I think proper alignment of the BB shell is a big part of that, if the frame manufacturer hasn't done it right you could get a lot of problems.

Removal and installation is pretty easy, but worth getting the correct tools so you're not worried about damaging your expensive frame IMO.

I’m running a Hope PF46 on a carbon frame. It has the advantage of having a central tube to connect the two bearing cups of the BB.  In a way it’s mimicking a threaded BB in this regard and has been trouble free for about 3 years.

All you need are the right tools and they're easy to remove and fit. 

The only bad thing about my bike which I love otherwise is that the press fit has become notchy on the NDS after just 650 miles and 8 months.

I’ve had a Wheels Manufacturing pressfit screw together BB in my Boardman commuter for about five years, it’s been used in all weathers with zero maintenance and has never creaked and never had a bearing replacement.
I get that some seem to be junk but I’m not sure that pressfit would put me off a bike.

My opinion is that press fit BBs are a terrible idea that have the main advantage of saving on manufacturing costs. 

My experience has been that they are quick to fit and remove and are at least as durable as any external BB I've gad the dubious honour of owning.

I'd certainly not overlook a bike because of one.

I was also nervous but 5000 silent smooth miles on my giant defy in all weathers. I had the chain off last week and the cranks were running so smoothly and couldn't feel any play with over zealous torquing ( not sure if that's a word ! ). I know that giant bikes have had a bad record on here for warranties but its the one brand I would really trust to get press fit bottom brackets right - I really rate their attention to design / detail backed up by huge volume of sales, but I could be in a minority here!

Most I've had have been fine, to be fair.

Wouldn't put me off a secondhand bike, but if I were buying new I'd take my custom to a brand that had gone back to external BBs.

I'm just about a year into my first ever PF BB equipped bike and it's been fine so far - I think things have moved on from the days where they used to creak badly etc.

I had a BSA BB cross thread during removal on my last Enduro bike resulting in the thread needing to be re-tapped - that couldn't happen with PF

My Revolt is out in all weathers, gets a cold hose down and a wipe with a rag and GT85 between rides if it's particularly filthy... no issues in the 2500+ miles it's done this year.

I've had a few issues with removing seized, worn out square tapered BBs over the years but so far creak free on the Revolt.

As crossed says, wheels manufacturing thread fit bb is the answer to your concerns

Some, particularly the early days of them, were rubbish. Most now, especially if you use an aftermarket solution such as the Wheels Manufacturing screw-in sleeve, are rock solid.

Admittedly the WM solution wouldn't have been needed if press fit hadn't been invented as a solution to a problem that never really existed but here we are!

They've got a slightly dubious reputation - based mostly on the early days of them but all mine have been completely trouble free and the one on my gravel bike has lasted years with no issue. It certainly wouldn't put me off buying a bike.

Had bb30 on a Cannondale caad 12 for years with no issues - although that’s metal bearings pressed into a metal frame.

I have pressfit on a carbon gravel frame at the moment - Shimano one that has plastic cups with bearings in. Pressed in much easier than bb30 and so far so good. It’s on a commuter / turbo bike that’s seen a bit of much but isn’t a year old yet.

My plan is if the bb expires quicker then I think it should, then I’ll go with a screw together type bb to replace it. Either Token or Wheels etc.

My Defy is pressfit Ultegra, so 24mm cranks, 6000 miles on the original BB. My Jeffsy is pressfit, had to replace the BB twice, but it's PF30 which really is a stupid idea. It was easy to do, at least. My XTC was pressfit, again 24mm Shimano, no problems at all.

I was looking to do the same and was just looking at these tools.

https://www.burtonbikes.com/store/

Where to get the barings from.

Is that all thats needed plus some grease ?

They're rubbish imo but it is a solvable issue... 

Get a Hope PF46 (or equivalent for your particular type of pressfit) and forget how rubbish they are. 

There are probably other nice expensive fix it once solutions. 

Basically budget for a significant one off cost when the initial bearings implode and buy what you want. 

I had pressfit on an old cube fs bike, felt uneasy about it, so shelled (ha) out on a hope screw in adapter, don’t know the part number, but it worked perfectly, as a side note it was notably smoother/free running compared to the original, which was actually still fine. <br />i have a pressfit BB on my carbon gravel bike, had the bike 2 years, still running like new, although i did pop the seals off the bearings when the bike was new to ensure they had plenty of grease in there. <br />worthy of note also, I’m heavy, c 120kg.

summary, I’m a skeptic, but I wouldn’t let pf put me off a bike i liked. 

My first two PF experiences weren't great. A very squeaky boardman roadbike that was cured by removing and regreasing everything and my mk1 Salsa Spearfish that had never seen rain until a thetford winter series race and the BB seized up afterwards.

Since that I've had an On One Lurcher, Salsa Cutthroat and Warroad that have all been fine. I've recently replaced the cutters BB with an Airbike all metal one that costs a tenner. Knocked it out with a small headset rocket and squeezed the new one in with a headset press.

I wouldn't be put off getting another bike with a PF BB anymore.

Incredibly easy to change my pressfit bottom bracket on my Trek Crockett, literally a 5 minute job with an old big flat head screw driver and a plastic faced hammer. They're cheap too, can be bought for less than a tenner. No chance of cross threading them or them getting seized like a threaded type. They don't last 12 months, which is not great for the environment. And they can creak like a bastard.

I think I nicked the sleeve in my Cube Attain when trying to press the old one out with a shit tool, now it creaks slightly (which it never did before). However, the creakiest BB I had by far which made an absolute racket compared to the Cube was an HT2 on my previous road bike.

Now the real question is to add grease or not when installing them.

From what I've read, it's best to grease a metal frame but not to grease a carbon one, but I'd be tempted to use a retaining compound as I read that carbon bottle bracket aren't the roundest.

I can't remember the model numbers, but the ones that use plastic cups are generally OK.

However ones that involve bearings directly pressed into the frame can cause problems. Somebody I know who worked on a lot of Treks when they first came out with the idea, reckoned the frames were only good for 3 or 4 bearing changes, before the pressfit became sliding fit.

Hope was one solution, but although it cured the loose bearing problem, all those metal parts often required regular stripping and re-greasing to cure creaks.

The bearing life itself isn't any better or worse than threaded bottom brackets.

i had a pf 90 xt bb in a carbon frame. it never creaked

The type of bb isn't a problem. The problems come when either the bb on the bike is over or under sized, the actual bb is over or under sized, the holes are not aligned, the bb was installed incorrectly or the bb is fubard from lack of maintenance.

If your buying a new bike and your concerned, get the shop to check the bb size and alignment. If they won't or can't maybe try a different shop.

They should do this when they are building the bike. Often there's some over spray needs cleaning out. It may also need facing. If the bike shop isn't checking the bb and just installing it, again, consider another shop.

@Mapdec do some great videos on it. I think they are based in kendal if your close enough to take it there.

Technically a threaded bb is a push fit bb as the bearings are pf into the bb then installed into the bike.

I built my own bike with a pressfit BB, using that Burton Bikes tool linked above.

Shimano MT800, plastic cups. It's lasted 3 1/2 years so far and been absolutely fine.

I pressed one side at a time and used a small amount of grease, on the recommendation of the frame manufacturer.

I'd get one of these tools for removal: https://www.merlincycles.com/unior-1625-bottom-bracket-removing-tool-113862.html
I have a BBB pressfit BB installation/removal [url= https://www.tredz.co.uk/.BBB-BracketKit-Tool-Set_78215.htm ]toolkit[/url] which worked fine on my bike, but my son's Commencal had very little surface area for the BBB one to press against. Was a bleedin nightmare. All the years and all the threaded ones I think I've only ever had one issue and that was one siezed in an old road frame.

You know that every threaded BB is also a pressfit, right?

Stick to either Shimano (PF92) or DUB standard and you won't go far wrong, the plastic that they're made from will help stop/minimise the creaking. Installing and removal is not a pain, certainly no more that threaded. It wouldn't put me off buying a bike. 

All of my bikes have press-fit BB's, my road bike with an Ultegra one is 4 years / 11000m old and absolutely fine, my XC FS has an XTR one in it and that too is 4 years old, absolutely fine.

Even the CX bikes with the somewhat crackers BB386 EVO for GXP cranks arrangement are fine and they get abused with the usual UK style CX conditions and plenty of jet washing to sort them out quickly.

Easy to remove - long screw driver and a hammer, easy to install with a bot of threaded rod, some nuts and washers.

You know that every threaded BB is also a pressfit, right?

Fascinating. I get my BBB press tool on it next time I'm changing the Shimano BB in my Tripster.

I had a bad experience with 2017 Jeffsy which had PF30.
At some point the cups became ovalised which meant that it was constantly creaking and started chewing through bottom brackets.

It’s a large part of the reason that I replaced the bike after 5 years.

I am just about to change the Ultegra press fit BB on my road bike. Strava tells me it has done 22,500km. It has never made a noise in all those miles in all weather, it's just a bit rough on one side. I have two more bikes with the same press fit BBs that are similarly problem free. 

I have two road bikes with press fit bbs.

An alloy and carbon Cannondale synapse. Both were second hand to me.

Alloy bike has 4500 miles on, mostly commuting. It needed new chainrings. It was cheaper to get a press fit to ht2 adaptor, new BB and new chainset than to replace the chainrings. The BB was 100% when removed.

The carbon bike was well used when I got it. I've done 1500 miles on it the BB is fine, and it's needing new chainrings in the medium future. The BB is fine, I think it's the original.

I don't like the idea of press fit bb's, but for me they have been absolutely fine. The ht2 adaptor had also been fine.

I have a 2016 road bike on its original PF30, no creaks or wobbles.   Before that I had a Bianchi that need one every 2 years.

Given the choice I’ll always choose a new frame to have threaded, I do however have a PF frame (procaliber), always run shimano plastic jobbers in it, tend to get a couple of years out of them.  Just replaced, for the first time myself… big flat blade screwdriver to knock out*  and a £14 press off amazon to squeeze the new one in, all very easy  

*alloy frame, might not have been so cavalier if it was carbon 

My Jeffsy is pressfit, had to replace the BB twice, but it’s PF30 which really is a stupid idea.

Only pf bb I've had was on a carbon Jeffsy (pf30), went through 2 bb's in less than 5 months (driveside bearing completely seized both times) and was going to swap the e thirteen cranks for Shimano. I bought another frame in the end, not because of the bb but I wouldn't touch another bb30 mtb with a bargepole

Plenty of pf bbs with replaceable bearings like Hope so you don't have to knock the cups out 4

Shimano pressfit in my Production Privee Shan 27 think it was £15 off CRC not a peak out of it in 4 years bought a wheels mfg to replace it as i had read horror stories about pressfit's wheels mfg still sat in the spares draw