BB30 bearing recommendations?

[ccr32]

Merry Christmas to all!

Would like join some of you on here to share the pictures and stories from your rides over the Christmas period though instead my bike has stayed tucked up and warm inside while the weather has been so st, not because I am scared of the inclement weather (honestly!), but because my bike is...

Since getting my roadie in November, I have taken it out in the wet twice (and got caught in one thunderstorm) and the BB bearings have gone (the BB shell was full of water last time I checked). As I didn't have the tools to hand to remove and replace the bearings, I popped the seals off and repacked them with grease and put it all back together but really I should throw some new bearings at it.

Can anyone recommend some decent BB30 bearings that will be even marginally more waterproof than my current ones, or any tips for protecting a BB30 setup a bit more from the elements? I'm a little disappointed considering the lack of abuse the bike has had to endure since me getting it compared to my MTB with old school square taper cartridge BB which seems to withstand anything I can throw at it!

Thanks,
Calum.

[mudshark]

I haven't used BB30 but I believe the BB90s on my old Madone are the same sort of thing. The only thing I came up with was to clean them regularly and use lots of grease. You can buy expensive ceramic bearings but from what I've heard they don't really help with longevity so you're just paying more for performance.

[jonnyn15]

Are they rough when you spin them or do they creak when putting pressure on them?

I replace the standard ones with the wheels Mfg ones and they seem to be of good quality. My boss had ceramic ones on his FSA Kforce light chainset and they were rough as **** after 6 months.

It is a great design for race bikes and performance wise but totally not sealed enough for the British climate.

Try and change them anyway as the water sitting in there will mean when you come to replace them they may well be a bd to get out due to corrosion.

[BadgerBenji]

My first question is where is the water coming from, is it from down the seatpost/seattube. Fizik do some rubber colour collars to help prevent this. My Cannondale SuperX has a drain hole in the bottom bracket to help it drain. It's still eaten a bearing this season. Been replaced with one from ebay, that has blue seals, so it's hopefully a bit better sealed to the elements.

[paulmon]

Chances are the just need fresh grease possibly becasuse they didn't have enough on when they came from the factory. I stripped and re-greased mine in a couple of hours and I'm no mechanical whiz.

You'll need to buy the extractor to get them out and the insertion tool to get them back in. They are cheap as chips on CRC. While you are at it buy a spare set of bearings in case you have problem cleaning the originals,

Once you have the old bearings out remove the bearing covers with a pin and then immerse them in a degreasant and give them a good clean. Allow them to dry and then re-grease, replace the covers and refit into frame.

[ccr32]

Thanks for the tips all.

BadgerBenji said:

My first question is where is the water coming from, is it from down the seatpost/seattube. Fizik do some rubber colour collars to help prevent this. My Cannondale SuperX has a drain hole in the bottom bracket to help it drain. It's still eaten a bearing this season. Been replaced with one from ebay, that has blue seals, so it's hopefully a bit better sealed to the elements.

No idea where the water is coming from to be honest. I assumed it was seeping in from where the cranks are due to the rubbish sealing but never really thought it could be from the seatpost. That said, I can't see there being any way in from the seatpost, so doubt it is from there? Will have a look anyway.

There is a hole into the BB shell on the bike (a Felt F75) though that is currently occupied by a screw holding the little plastic gear cable guide thing in place, though I now make a point of removing this after every wet ride and/or clean to allow any water to drain out.

jonnyn15 said:

Are they rough when you spin them or do they creak when putting pressure on them?

They were pretty rough the last time I checked them. As I couldn't remove them when regreasing them before, I have got them as good as I can but like I say think I will need to put some new ones in there soon.

paulmon said:

You'll need to buy the extractor to get them out and the insertion tool to get them back in. They are cheap as chips on CRC. While you are at it buy a spare set of bearings in case you have problem cleaning the originals,

Will have a look on CRC for the tools. Cheers.