[Closed] Tell me about pressfit BBs

FSA make an insert so you can use a good old threaded BB. End of.

I've had a mix of press fit and threaded. Both have always been fine and very easy to replace when they eventually start seizing up.

I've never let a press fit BB determine what bike I get.

The devil's work. I'll never buy a bike with one.

As a side note, given my partners bike's Sram DUB cranks, any bike with those is also off the list.

You will always have those that seem to hate them ^ . But personally I’ve never had an issue, I’ve built various frames up with and without PF and if installed right with a good grease, I tend to use copper grease, which I’m sure I will be told is wrong, but it’s always worked for me. I don’t get creaks and if I want to change them out, they come out easily. They are a good bb.

Open BB’s on 30mm crank spindles, now they are the work of the devil.

johnw1984 has it

There are solutions like Praxis converters, which I have on all my bikes. They work fine. I have to whip me out and grease every 6 months or so, but otherwise a good solution to a poor bb approach.

As usual, you hear about the bad experiences and not the good.

I have 3 bikes with PF BBs. My Cube road bike is over 10 years old and still on its original.

Been there done that with PF.

Place in bin, submerge in flammable liquid and light on fire. I'd never buy another frame with a press fit BB.

The problems with PF bottom brackets have been solved by people like Hope and Rotor whose BBs now screw the two halves together. I've got 3 bikes with PF30 BB, two are Chris King and one is a Niner Biocentric - none of them creak, clic or anything.

it's not that they die quickly, it's that they can creak in the frame, so cheapness is not what you want. Quality (both the frame and the BB) is what you want.

Our pressfit BBs (2 x bikes, both carbon with shimano PF92 bbs) have been no trouble at all, easy to replace and no creaking.

I made a press out of some big washers and stuff from work btu before that I used a soft hammer with no ill effects.

Another with zero issues on pretty cheap Deore press fit BBs.

As above, folk who've had bad experiences are generally the only ones who bother to write about it.

There are a few different flavours of press fit BB, so really depends on which one. BB30 is a crock where the bearings are pressed directly into the frame, compounded by poor manufacturing tolerances and water ingress which leaves the bearings sat in manky water. I have a couple of frames I designed myself with PF41 / BB92 and they've been trouble-free. Use a decent BB like Wheels Manufacturing screw-together which is very well sealed and maintains bearing alignment is probably better than a regular threaded BB.

Thanks all, it looks as if the Grail is still a goer except that I've just spotted that the green ones aren't shipping until the end of July (silver in March)!!

To be honest, when I've had problems with a BB (press fit and threaded), it's always been down to water getting into the frame and pooling near and inside the BB shell.

When I get a little tube that goes between the cups now, I try to cover it in waterproof grease and just check it from time to time.

They're not great. I find them a bit of a faff to remove and install but once they're in , they seem as long lasting as a threaded BB cup system. I wouldn't let it influence bike choice if everything else ticks your boxes.

Two bikes with press fit BBs. Zero problems. Ride the one that comes with the Grail till it dies, then get a Praxis (or other) screw-together press fit. Easy to fit and they don't creep. I'd still vote for threaded BBs in an election (they're ubiquitous and simple) but press fit, in my experience, ain't that bad.

Nothing to complain about here, I've had them on bikes since at least 2014 and yes they do wear out, just like the threaded variety, but at a no quicker rate.

My impression is that bb life is more to do with quality of manufacturing and tolerance of the frame.
But threaded has more tolerance to poor frame tolerance.

In my sample of 1, the press fit was faultless...
Once the bearings wore out on my Shimano bb I replaced with a Hope thread into itself job, I liked the idea of that more, as knocking bearings out of cups to replace appealed more than knocking cups in and out of a frame repeatedly...

Honestly I’d rather have threaded just in the basis that I can change with a spanner rather than a hammer.
But it wouldn’t be the be all and end all

Many swears in the above video. Be warned!

Like many above, it depends on the type. All being equal, I'd have a screw-in BB every day of the week as I still think they are the simplest and best solution.
But, I have PF92/BB86 on my road bike, had a bit of a creak initally but since putting in a Hope bottom bracket it's been absolutely fine for thousands of miles.
However, there's no way in the world I'd buy a bike with BB30, it's a deadful solution and just creaks.

The XT one in my 2015 Giant is still fine... BUT ... would I get another bike with one?
I'd try very hard not to.... it would need to be a really really good deal.

Why?
It's part just knowing it's PF and at some time I'll have the hassle, part times i'd whip out a screw BB (like diagnosing annoying noises that might or might not be the BB or fitting a internal dropper)... (could be part fixed using adapter) , part feeling a bit lucky it's not started creaking (perhaps mitigated by being a Giant)

I haven't had much luck with pressfit as they always seem to creak and groan after a few muddy rides. Others in our regular group have had them for ages and have no issue.

I solved the problem with a FSA kit which was cheap enough and easy to fit. It certainly wouldn't stop me buying a bike I otherwise liked.

I have a few bikes with PF bottom brackets, and not had *many* problems with them, but the magic juice is Loctite 641 bearing retention compound, combined with activator. Stick a bit of that on and you'll never hear a creak again! Shimano's BBs are pretty robust and last a fair time (3000 reasonably grim miles on an Ultegra PF BB on my Ridley and still going strong!)

FWIW, I wouldn't disregard a bike that I really like just because it has a PF BB. So many road and gravel bikes have them that you'd be discarding 80% of the bikes on the market and one of them might be your dream wheels.

I've owned a few BB30s and up until this cross season, which was severely wet and muddy, not really had a problem. BB30 seems to be a consensus poor design nowadays, so press fit in general wouldn't be a concern at all.

The worst BB I own, by a distance, is a threaded sram on my transmitter - bearings have lasted 250 miles (twice) before severe side to side play in the crank. No idea what causes it to be so bad.

This is what you need:

NSFW!

Trek press fit in my superbly was a nightmare, creaking and killing bearings (even after oversize bearing was fitted due to trek tolerance issues..  PF30 BB in my enduro has been crap as well, eating bearings no matter the if they were cheap steel or eye watering hybrid ceramic.  It's now got a hellbender fitted so I'll see if I can kill that.

I don't think my ride in all conditions and fording streams habit helps, that and Sussex mud.

Well, the Grail 7.0 is getting a rethink anyway - as above the large in flat green isn't available until the end of July 2020 when other manufacturers will be starting to think about discounting the '20 models prior to their 2021 release (to be fair some size/colour combos. are available from March).

I've got both. Old hardtail is threaded, easy to put in & take out.

I got a Giant Trance with press fit at the end of 2015. I bought the Park Tools round things & a big bolt to make a press for putting them in; it works a treat. I've got the Park Tools splayed pole tool for taking it out again; I've only had to replace the BB twice & on both occasions one side of the BB gets smashed to bits during extraction.

So, in my experience I reckon durability of press-fit is fine but I prefer threaded but wouldn't totally rule out getting a bike with it again - so long as I don't have an internally routed dropper post that might require the BB to be popped out to service it.

Edit: I've only serviced Shimano so far, thought I've now got a Praxis but haven't worked on it yet.

IME they’re not as good as HTII, but they’re ok, not a deal breaker.
I had one in my old ‘Dale CaadX, about a month in, a wet ride and the thing creaked like mad. Opened it up, packed some decent grease in and it was fine til I sold the bike about a year later.
My RM had one which died after a month or 2 (so did the headset, so maybe the bike had been stored by the bike shop somewhere damp), so replaced with a RaceFace one which is still good a couple of years later.
By comparison, my Tripster has only been through 2 Shimano HTIIs in 5 years of almost daily use.

Oh, yeah, just remembered, I changed the pressfit in my RM without the proper tools, seem to remember it being an ok job, probably followed a YT vid. But was feeling flush, so bought the kit. (BBB or XTools). Had it ages and never needed to use it!

Any standard can be manufactured correctly or incorrectly. For some standards the tolerances are wider than others. For some standards it is easier/cheaper to achieve acceptable tolerance. Some manufacturers are better than others at controlling their quality. Press fit isn't always bad, and threaded isn't always good. Threaded BB standard is much older, so many manufacturers have it right by now. Press fit the problems have taken a while to sort it out, but many manufactures and shops have it sorted now.

3 years ago I bought a road bike with a press fit bb. I was ready to change it the instant it creaked.

It creaked for a week and went silent.

1.5 years of year round commuting and it’s fine. Bearings are still prefect.

(Still prepared to get a threaded solution if it creaks, but it’s if not when now).

I wouldn’t chose to buy a bike with it, despite it being fine.

from my stable:

1.Cannondale BB30 press fit, creaked from day 1, tried every trick in the book to solve including loctiting in bearings...still creaks, only solution with this bike is to ride with iPod on.

2. Sworks Tarmac BB30, creaked from day 1 every pedal stroke even on light pressure, took a year of problem solving to find solution of a PraxisWorks converter BB...now just creaks after 6 months or so when it needs a fresh greasy install. Was ready to bin this 3k frame in frustration...(I didn't have to pay for it...)

3. SC - Threaded - Zero problems.

next bike  = would pay considerably more on any bike for the benefit of not having press fit....especially on  gravel bike where its of negligible benefit to the rider.

Update, got my bike out last night, first time since before Xmas and the cranks wouldn't turn (neither would the bars!). With a bit of wiggling everything freed up. Never had that with square taper 😏

Not experienced creaking but I've gone through a few. But normal threaded bb's also die regularly so I feel they get an unfair attention when threaded ones seem no better. At least with press fit they are a doddle to replace.

Not had a bad experience with press fit BB - they last OK

But on a recent build i used this pf30 to 24mm praxis style one - as i wanted to use my shimano cranks.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/113222184407

The bearings weren't great and lasted 10 months of been jet washed! - but i got 5 pairs of better bearings from amazon for £10.... and they are easy to replace.

The bearings weren’t great and lasted 10 months of been jet washed!

Sounds like they were damn good bearings to me.

@dezb suppose so - I've had worse..

I just fitted a token ninja bottom bracket into a new press fit frame, seems to be a great solution where the two sides screw together aligned properly. Time will tell how long it lasts but so far it’s creak free. I think it will just be a case of replacing the bearings when they wear out

Last night I removed a square taper BB from a Voodoo Canzo. There were no bearings in it, just brown muck. Never had that with ... well, any of my own bikes! 😆

I’ve had a KCNC pressfit BB in my spicy for several years now ( bike is 10yrs old now) , no issues what so ever , just replace the bearings and top cap as and when they wore out ,

I've got 2 cx bikes with press fit BBs. Bearing life on both are poor (when compared to the "good Old Days" of square taper, anyway), but they're easy to replace and part of the short lifespan will undoubtedly be due to water ingress into the frame, which can then just sit there, slowly working its'way past any seals.

For me the main problem with press fit is that it creates a new opportunity for something to "be wrong" - ie the tolerances between the frame and BB shell need to be bang on each time or you'll get the dreaded creak. (Ok I know it's possible for a threaded BB frame to have issues, but it's less likely).
My Giant TCX is an absolute pain - the BB shell seems to be slightly oversized, which means that the BBs practically fall out (they always come out when removing the cranks and can be replaced with the pressure from the palm of my hand). A splodge of loctite cures any noise and seems to prevent any movement, but it's a pretty rubbish work around for a problem that just doesn't need to exist.