[Closed] Hope BB - yes or no.

Raceface not worth it, don't last as long as Shimano.

Any HT2 BB is at the mercy of the elements, and to that ends, it is far more important to pack the bearings with grease fairly regularly (they often come with none in) than have the highest grade, all singing all dancing bearings fitted.

Hence why Chris King, in their wisdom, recommend you buy the grease injection tool with their BB. I can guarantee that it's regularly injecting new grease into the bearings, rather than any super high tolerances on the bearings, that makes a King BB last longer than anything else...

Personally I reckon the more recent HT2 BBs are pretty decent, about 18 months on an SLX ridden lots, and that's use in the Peak which is hard on stuff with bearings in. A friend's experience of Hope ones in the same conditions is that they last about the same, maybe even slightly less, even with occasional picking apart and greasing.

I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think you'll get vastly increased life from the Hope bearings if that's what you're after.

I'm also running a Chris King on one bike, which is still going strong after two years using the grease tool to relube every couple of months, but is very expensive. Personally I'd not bother with the Hope one, compare the price of the Hope bearings and a new Shimano BB... but to be fair, replacing just the bearings rather than the whole BB cup assembly has to be more sustainable in an environmental sense.

if you are getting through a shimano one every 18 months the absolutly no point what so ever!

if you want us to convince you to get one due to the 'pimpness' of them go ahead....

not saying that the hope bb's are not great, as my ceramic one has been brill.....but at 80quid you could probably get 4-5 shimano ones, which by your calculations is about 7-8 years of riding....

so pointless for you, yes!

Stick with shimano or go whole hog and get a King

I find they last better than shimano BB's, up to you whether it is worth the extra cost though.

Got a Hope and love it; no problems. Also recently bought a GUB King-lookalike from Hong-kong via ebay. [b]£30 for ceramic bearings![/b] Works fine, silky smooth, but they got the design wrong, so it'll not fit 73mm BB shells, ie I use a single spacer on a 68mm shell.

mine has already lasted far longer than any shimano I've had in

Again stick with the Shimano, as above what the point in spending more when they last 18months? Though I do have a hope one that fell out of my BB! The shimano one that replaced it has worked fine for the last 12 months...
The last one I bought is an XTR set which does seem to be spinning smoother for longer, than the XT ones's I had previously. Check out rosebikes for a great prices on XTR BB's (just bear in mind the P&P charge)

Depending on usage, 18 months is pretty good. Do Shimano still use that wee plastic bit betwixt the axle and the bearing?

I was getting about 2 months out of the XT cups when said plastic would wear out. Swapped to a standard Hope, ran it for ~2 years and then sold it on for £30 when I broke that bike for parts.

Ive been running a hope bb for 3-4 years now repack with grease now and then when i remember its starting to show signs that it needs replacing.

hope- 2 years and still butter smooth...just saying

sheffer, i have been running a hope ceramic since 2009 and it's bang on.

The cheap option is a raceface bb then replace the bearings. (we all know the standard ones are tripe)

Few of us in our gang have run this with success.

I've got a hope bb in the full sus and it's not really had a chance to prove itself yet.

18months from a 20 quid shimano bb is not bad.

Hope BB... YES.

easy to pump fresh grease in every 6 months, which keeps it sweet for many years... I run 2 of them, got them as soon as Hope 1st made them... they've both been hammered through all weather in the Peaks (gritstone trails round here eat bearings) for years... and still going strong.

I say no, cheap Shimano from germany and if you don't want to pay £13 for a new one in a year's time, buy some cheap bearings instead. I don't doubt Hope last better if looked after (*) but I don't really want to spend £60 today in order to start saving a small money in 2015 personally (assuming some new standard doesn't make it obsolete before then)

(*Shimano despite what they say can be regreased too)

Hope ceramic here since they've been out, smooth as silk and I just give it a good clean every few months.

Got over 2 years out of my SLX one on 2 bikes before it died, so personally I wouldn't bother unless you need/want the blingy bit

Two bikes, one with XT b/b and the other with Hope b/b. I wanted black for one of the bikes so i got the hope. Three times more expensive than the xt one! Only you can decide if it's worth spending that extra brass. By the way, both b/b's are fine!

If you want colour, there's always the Gusset EXT24- outlasts XT by maybe 50% but costs a bit more.