Weight Weenies

shillc wrote:3,500 km?
That sounds just about right, in my experience.

You must have installed them improperly or frames bb shell off, or maybe just terrible luck.

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Simonhi wrote:Any specific oil ?

I'm thinking GT85 with PTFE (Teflon) to flush through every now and then.

Cheers

Si.

I also used Triflow as I had some around. It has been used on my 2009 SR crankset three times - first at about 4000 miles then 2 more at about 3000 miles (once I learned that Campy suggests every 3000 miles for the SR bearings) and twice on my 2011 SR crankset also at intervals of about 3000 miles. In all cases everything had worked great prior to opening it up, looked pretty clean once opened up, then cleaned with mineral spirits, let dry, lubed, and still going strong.

Love the low friction they provide!!!!

Hi,

Gregorio wrote:

shillc wrote:3,500 km?
That sounds just about right, in my experience.

You must have installed them improperly or frames bb shell off, or maybe just terrible luck.

My thoughts as well. Even ordinary steel bearings should last 20 x that long.

I have CULT bearings (admittedly in wheels) that have seen the better part of 65.000 km. They're still like new and so they should. Cronitect steel as used for the races is it tough as it comes. Those bearings actually grind sand and other particles to dust without causing damage to themselves.

Those who seek ultimate low friction should try Krytox* loaded lubricants, it's even lower friction than the common PTFE particles.
Better still is Nanolubricant's ceramic grease which contains ceramic micro- (actually nano) spheres that reduce friction even further.

* Ideally you could use a water based chain wax with Krytox with added fine oil. The wax will seal the bearing better keeping the oil in, the oil will keep the wax in a soft state.

Ciao,

I'm hoping it was bad luck rather than the frames BB being out of whack.

How can I check whether the BB alignment is incorrect ???

Whilst I'm not ruling out that they may have been installed incorrectly I'm not too sure how this could be done. With cups installed and the two halves of the crank but together and torqued to the correct figure (42-60Nm) how could they not be right ???

fdegrove wrote:Hi,

Gregorio wrote:

shillc wrote:3,500 km?
That sounds just about right, in my experience.

You must have installed them improperly or frames bb shell off, or maybe just terrible luck.

My thoughts as well. Even ordinary steel bearings should last 20 x that long.

I have CULT bearings (admittedly in wheels) that have seen the better part of 65.000 km. They're still like new and so they should. Cronitect steel as used for the races is it tough as it comes. Those bearings actually grind sand and other particles to dust without causing damage to themselves.

Those who seek ultimate low friction should try Krytox* loaded lubricants, it's even lower friction than the common PTFE particles.
Better still is Nanolubricant's ceramic grease which contains ceramic micro- (actually nano) spheres that reduce friction even further.

* Ideally you could use a water based chain wax with Krytox with added fine oil. The wax will seal the bearing better keeping the oil in, the oil will keep the wax in a soft state.

Ciao,

Great thread guys. Krytox is £86 for a 16 oz spray however.

a good cleaning and proper tourque also make sure bb threads on frame are faced clean sometimes it as small as alittle extra paint that got missed in facing.

Hi,

Great thread guys. Krytox is £86 for a 16 oz spray however.

The trick is to use a chain wax/oil with Krytox in it and add some fine oil (such as sewing machine grade) yourself. The wax will be pushed against the seals where it intercepts imcoming dirt whilst doing no harm to the workings of the bearings themselves.

Ciao,

I'd recomend you to disassembli the intire BB cleam all parts including the frame.
grease the bb and the frame lube the bearings whith proper oil. if you find some difficulty to find especific oil,probably you won't find in bike shops,the best place to find is in skate shops.if you seart for cheaper price you can look for SAE 50 oil that's the recomend viscosit for ceramiic bearings

Simonhi wrote:...bought new in 2011 and probably has 3000kms on it...

Should still be under warranty, right? I recall everything in Campy groupset is 2-4 years. There's no way you should have to replace these bearings after only 3k unless defective. I'm not even sure how I can understand how they could be improperly installed.

Not sure if the warranty will cover it as it's a wear item but it's worth a try.

@Simonhi, does your frame have a drain hole? Even if it doesn't it seems there could be an alignment / fitting issue to wear the bearings so quickly.

Re. grease Finish Line Extreme Fluoro Grease is a relatively cheap alternative to use with ceramic bearings.