I have just swapped the bearings in my RF one. Its a 30mm spindle one so by design has tiny balls ( ). I've put SKF bearings in to give it a go and see if it does any better. The RF ones lasted 1100km, I hope the SKF lasts longer.
My last hope one didn't last loads better and I put that down to it being a 24mm spindle and therefore bigger balls.. circa 2000km before new bearings needed so not worth the £100+ tag for me.
I totally agree sealing overall is the main problem, over loading the 'preloads / slack removal jobbies' generally will put pressure on the seals (or indeed bearings) that isnt needed.
The bearings themselves have a variation in quality of sealing, the RF ones seem to have 'baggy' seals from new whereas the SKF look better sealed.
Hopefully they last longer.
What bottom bracket do you use?
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- fatbikephil
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Re: What bottom bracket do you use?
Re Hopes, I lost faith as the bearings were actually wearing out after a year or so. Replacements were more than an XT BB .... Stainless steel bearings have a much lower load rating than non-stainless and I found the hope bearings became notchy after a while. I've had various results with XT BB's it all seems to be down to whether or not water gets into them. Getting it soaked and leave it standing seems a good way to kill them quickly.....
- BigdummySteve
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Re: What bottom bracket do you use?
I think I’ve mentioned this somewhere before but I believe there is little difference between typical 30mm external bottom brackets. There’s just little scope to do anything fancy or ground breaking, you can spend ££££,s but it’s still going to contain a relatively small bearing with regard to ball size and it’s going to be close to all that abrasive mud and water. My take is the bearings are a consumable, it takes a few minutes to knock them out of the cups and pop a new set in, good quality stainless steel, ceramic balls just use any contamination to grind the bearing races out nice and quick. If I had the cash I’d be tempted to try a Chris king with the grease injection tool, that said I believe you still need to pull the cranks to use it.
Ultimately I don’t think it’s possible to spend you way out of the short comings of existing bb standards, if I was getting a new frame I’d investigate T47 as I think they allow larger bearings.
Just remember the correct amount of preload is pretty much zero, VERY light finger tightness, just enough to remove play.
Ultimately I don’t think it’s possible to spend you way out of the short comings of existing bb standards, if I was getting a new frame I’d investigate T47 as I think they allow larger bearings.
Just remember the correct amount of preload is pretty much zero, VERY light finger tightness, just enough to remove play.
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