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I need to replace my GXP BB but I'm not sure whether to get a [url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=19366 ]basic one[/url], or the [url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=55194 ]team one[/url] or the [url= http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=447 ]Superstar Angleset one[/url].
Has anyone got any experience of any of them? What are gutter seals? are they any better than the standard GXP bb seals? How are the Angleset BBs? Superstar claim you can't sideload the bears with them, but you can't with the GXP anyway so is it just a marketing gimmick? I can't afford the Hope ones or any Ceramic bearings so please don't suggest those.
Thanks for any advice
If you are replacing an existing one - I used a replacement/upgrade bearing kit from Betd which uses the old cups. it was relatively cheap and its been great. but... ive had a quick look around their website and i cant see it anymore :/. might b worth giving them a ring.
You can get the team cups for under £20 - I'd prolly go for those. Unsure with the new bearings whether you can pop the seals off and pack with grease, but if you can do it, if my old GXP cups were anything to go by there isn't much grese in them and it seems quite thin grease. Managed to make a set of original cups last well over a year by packing with grease every so often.
The superstar ones look "interesting" but I thought the whole point of the GXP system was that you can't sideload the BB therefore negating the USP of the SS BB's? Not sure if that's right.
eddie11 - that's what I was planning to do but couldn't see the kit for GXP on their site either.
Bimbler - I popped the seal off but there is another thing in there which is more plastic-y. I got part of it off but actual bearings came off with it so I put it back in, which was quite hard so i'm glad I didn't take it all out. packed as much grease as I could in there to see it that's revived the bb but not had any luck - new bb is the next call.
I knocked a gxp team bottom bracket out in 3 months there crap. I only weigh 11 stone 10 out should be lasting alot longer than that. I went for hope with the gxp adaptors but I would be tempted to try the superstar 1 as it uses the angular contact bearings
tony24 - what benefit do you see the angular contact bearings giving to the GXP bottom bracket?
The angular bearings are supposed to eliminate the problem of side loading standard bearings which in theory should make them last longer. Plus the added bonus of superstar having rebuild kits available .
As Bimbler says above, the USP of the Superstar BB's is that you cannot sideload the bearings, but the whole point of the GXP system is that you cannot sideload the bearings - hadn't noticed the spares available from Superstar which is a nice thing to have as back up.
I'd like to get the Hope BB with adaptors as I've heard good things about them but at the moment I just can't afford them.