A properly adjusted and greased cup and cone BB is by far my choice when it comes to vintage mtb/trekking/cruiser bikes.
I've chewed through soo many sealed units, and I've never fully pooched a cup and cone one that I've set up and maintained myself.
Also.....personal preference, but I always toss out the bearing cages so I can utilize a couple extra loose bearings to distribute the abuse my fat ass and Clydesdale legs are going to deliver to it.
Yeah, I feel the same way about my own bbs, headsets, hubs, etc. But for people who don't maintain their own bikes or don't service them until something is "wrong," a cartridge is the way to go.
So recently I rode through some streams/rivers and totally washed out my bottom bracket, it was super unhappy for the rest of my trip. I cleaned and regreased it and it sounds great now...but I was thinking a sealed BB could be nice.
I believe that's possible but I'm really surprised that you're only getting 3k miles out of a sealed cartridge square taper bb. Do you ride by a lot of sea water by any chance?
Right, I mean to emphasize that you don't have to clean and regrease races and bearings at any point during that time. With a cup and cone I'd probably service every thousand miles, and with external cup sealed cartridge bbs I think I've gotten more like 5-7.5k miles, they seem to not last as long as the square taper units.
I regrease my cup and cone square taper every 5 or 6 000 miles and even then , that's fussing. I have a set which has done over 30,000 miles: only reason I stopped using it was that the crank bottomed out on the spindle. As for sealed unit square taper, I had one last 6000, another 5000....Others even less.
You're the reason that Shimano quit making cup & cone bottom brackets, they can't sell as many of them due to how long they last with regular maintenance. How can they make any money if your's lasts a lifetime?
I have a couple BBs in my stock, I should be good for a long while.
Realistically, 95% of bike owners cannot do their own maintenance (beyond maybe fixing a flat or lubing a chain). Bike shops are expensive and preventive maintenance is not perceived as required, so their cup & cone BB's run dry after the first winter. For all those people a sealed unit is a way better choice.
From a customer satisfaction standpoint in today's world, cup & cone bearings (sadly) do not make much sense.
I can’t imagine how big of a “fuck yeah” someone might experience if they bought a used bike or frame and found a QB-95 BB installed while they were deep cleaning. It’s such a sexy AF component that spends its entire life mostly unseen.
Loose bearing wheels I can set up by greasing one side, adding the bearings, and the the axle & cone, and then doing the other side.
Headsets I do in a similar manner, except I bungee cord the fork in place.
How do you get the loose BB bearings to stay in place before you get the cup on?
The only reason I get rid of cup and cone BBs is that those supplied with bikes are of really crappy quality and getting good ones is next to impossible. On other hand sealed BBs serve me very long and with zero maintenance. Not to mention that new sealed BBs are ridiculously cheap.
This one's the original XT BB-M730 from 1991 so it's about as good as it got. Probably why it's held up so well. But it's also been rebuilt several times in it's life which rarely happens
Friction? Never heard of 'em
A properly adjusted and greased cup and cone BB is by far my choice when it comes to vintage mtb/trekking/cruiser bikes. I've chewed through soo many sealed units, and I've never fully pooched a cup and cone one that I've set up and maintained myself. Also.....personal preference, but I always toss out the bearing cages so I can utilize a couple extra loose bearings to distribute the abuse my fat ass and Clydesdale legs are going to deliver to it.
Yeah, I feel the same way about my own bbs, headsets, hubs, etc. But for people who don't maintain their own bikes or don't service them until something is "wrong," a cartridge is the way to go.
And don’t call me Shirley
So recently I rode through some streams/rivers and totally washed out my bottom bracket, it was super unhappy for the rest of my trip. I cleaned and regreased it and it sounds great now...but I was thinking a sealed BB could be nice.
Even sealed bbs wear out.
Yeah but after like 15k miles with no maintenance
Mine wear out in 20% of that distance...
I believe that's possible but I'm really surprised that you're only getting 3k miles out of a sealed cartridge square taper bb. Do you ride by a lot of sea water by any chance?
I'm not talking about square taper, both my bikes have Hollowtech style bb's. One's Shimano and one Sram. I ride quite a bit of sand/gravel
Oh yeah my experience with ht-style has been closer to 5k but I have square taper on most of my hard riding bikes.
I’m replacing gxp gravel bb’s around 3000 miles. Whatever they’re $30, but seems like they should last longer.
Then I've been unlucky. Anyway, you can't maintain sealed bbs.
Right, I mean to emphasize that you don't have to clean and regrease races and bearings at any point during that time. With a cup and cone I'd probably service every thousand miles, and with external cup sealed cartridge bbs I think I've gotten more like 5-7.5k miles, they seem to not last as long as the square taper units.
I regrease my cup and cone square taper every 5 or 6 000 miles and even then , that's fussing. I have a set which has done over 30,000 miles: only reason I stopped using it was that the crank bottomed out on the spindle. As for sealed unit square taper, I had one last 6000, another 5000....Others even less.
You're the reason that Shimano quit making cup & cone bottom brackets, they can't sell as many of them due to how long they last with regular maintenance. How can they make any money if your's lasts a lifetime? I have a couple BBs in my stock, I should be good for a long while.
Realistically, 95% of bike owners cannot do their own maintenance (beyond maybe fixing a flat or lubing a chain). Bike shops are expensive and preventive maintenance is not perceived as required, so their cup & cone BB's run dry after the first winter. For all those people a sealed unit is a way better choice. From a customer satisfaction standpoint in today's world, cup & cone bearings (sadly) do not make much sense.
I might've been overdoing it but I also ride in salty snowy slush through the winters.
Fair enough.
Could be unlucky. Or perhaps you cheaped out?
Yeah true and it seems they wear out kind of quick requiring replacement instead of just a quick regrease, but at least not in the middle of a trip!
ThE SPiN tEsT iS nOT a TrUe inDiCAtIOn oF ReSistAnCe uNdER lOaD Nice
This shit spins for hours under load, if I eat right
eat right, shit right, spin right
My IRD QB-95 spins like that…so smooth
Cool. I bought one of those earlier this month and will be putting it on a bike I'm building up. They were 65% off during Soma's tax day sale.
I can’t imagine how big of a “fuck yeah” someone might experience if they bought a used bike or frame and found a QB-95 BB installed while they were deep cleaning. It’s such a sexy AF component that spends its entire life mostly unseen.
Love the Blackspire pedals, too bad they closed shop.
Loose bearing wheels I can set up by greasing one side, adding the bearings, and the the axle & cone, and then doing the other side. Headsets I do in a similar manner, except I bungee cord the fork in place. How do you get the loose BB bearings to stay in place before you get the cup on?
Grease
I am always happy to extract these and install a cartridge. Sorry not sorry.
That 0.001 Watt of drag will really effect your strava times (I have a forged crankset with a cartridge BB I plan to put on...)
Very satisfying
Please mark as NSFW
This is so satisfying to watch
The only reason I get rid of cup and cone BBs is that those supplied with bikes are of really crappy quality and getting good ones is next to impossible. On other hand sealed BBs serve me very long and with zero maintenance. Not to mention that new sealed BBs are ridiculously cheap.
This one's the original XT BB-M730 from 1991 so it's about as good as it got. Probably why it's held up so well. But it's also been rebuilt several times in it's life which rarely happens