BB30 bearings, how quickly do you go through them?

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Sykes
Posts: 68
Joined: Sun Jun 09, 2013 1:35 pm

by Sykes

I've had a BB30 bike for less than a year. I've put 5000miles on it. I just installed my 4th set of bb30 bearings. First set were Token hybrid ceramics, then steel FSAs. For my most recent I decided to get some highly rated bearings, HawkRacing. They last set lasted 400miles before becoming toast.

The first questions is do I ride in the rain or on dirt roads.? No. I try to avoid rain, this year I can count on one hand the number of showers I've ridden in, and all of those were not full on rain, but very very light rain. What we in England call, "spitting". All of my riding is on roads, very occasionally when trying a new route, there might be a dirt path, but that has only happened once this year.

Do BB30s just not last? Should you plan on replacing every 500-1000miles? Are some brands more durable that others, if so which ones? Or is it better just to buy cheaper ones and assume they are the shortest lasting part on a bike and keep replacing them.

rijndael
Posts: 402
Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2011 12:54 pm
Location: Haines, AK - Temporarily

by rijndael

I'm over 5000 miles on my Hawk bearings, they seem fine.

You probably have some type of BB alignment issues, or they're getting damaged on install.

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djwalker
Posts: 165
Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:35 pm

by djwalker

I have over 5k miles on my SRAM bearings. They typically last me about a year.

highdraw

by highdraw

OP,
What kind of crank. Explain how you adjust your pre-load.
Does the crank spin freely without preload?

Sykes
Posts: 68
Joined: Sun Jun 09, 2013 1:35 pm

by Sykes

highdraw wrote:OP,
What kind of crank. Explain how you adjust your pre-load.
Does the crank spin freely without preload?


I have a quarq elsa. The crank has a tensioner on the non-ds. Once the crank is torqued, I tighten the tensioner finger tight and tighten the bold to hold the tensioner in place. The crank spins freely with and without tension,

rijndael
Posts: 402
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Location: Haines, AK - Temporarily

by rijndael

FWIW: I'm using a Quarq too.

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Rick
Posts: 2034
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 4:30 pm

by Rick

I have about 13,000 miles on a VCRC Ceramic set. I clean them out & regrease once per year and they still seem perfect.
Edit:
In fact, I just checked and I installed them in May of 2011, so it is probably at least 20,000 miles.

bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

Rick that is unusal mileage. Most BB30 issue from from inccorect installation. Try loctite to hold the bearing but as a first try just use anti seize. A good press helps I use a headset press. Not familar with the quarq chainset but the whole point of bearing preload is that should be set first before the crank is fixed. With any load bearings get killed too much they get killed. So I see a number of issues here. Who's doing the install?

thprice
Posts: 252
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2011 6:34 am

by thprice

Standard SRAM BB30 bearings on SRAM crank, 30,000 km with one service.
I use Loctite and a non-impact bearing press tool.

Sykes
Posts: 68
Joined: Sun Jun 09, 2013 1:35 pm

by Sykes

bm0p700f wrote:Rick that is unusal mileage. Most BB30 issue from from inccorect installation. Try loctite to hold the bearing but as a first try just use anti seize. A good press helps I use a headset press. Not familar with the quarq chainset but the whole point of bearing preload is that should be set first before the crank is fixed. With any load bearings get killed too much they get killed. So I see a number of issues here. Who's doing the install?



I do the install. Let me run through the process.

1. clean and grease (park tool PPL-1 grease) the shell
2. Fully cover the bearings with grease, races and seals .
3. Install the bearings one at a time with a home made BB press (threaded rod, bolts, washers and 2 wrenches) and a Park Tool BB30 installation bushing. I tighten until the resistance changes due to contact with the retaining clip
4. Put a layer of grease on the outside bearing seal and install the outter seal
5. I follow the instructions from Quarq re the install BB30 I-A (http://www.quarq.com/media/files/95-6115-007-000_Rev_D_Road_Cranksets.pdf), which show the preload as the last step.

Funny you mention loctie. I used loctite instead of grease with my last set of bearings, but it made little difference as the hawkracing bearings made it 400 miles.

Thanks for all of the help guys. From what you have said and reading more about it, I have some other problem, either with my install or BB alignment.
Last edited by Sykes on Fri Sep 12, 2014 1:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

goodboyr
Posts: 1483
Joined: Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:56 pm
Location: Canada

by goodboyr

My guess is alignment. Make sure the circlips are properly seated in the grooves. If they are not that could cause the bearing to be slightly out of alignment and would accelerate failure.
As an aside, all these reports of long life for bb30 bearings (and my experience is the same) kind of contrast nicely with all the ranting in other threads about how bad bb30 is. Lol.

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shoopdawoop
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by shoopdawoop

How are you defining toasted or worn out bearings?


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Sykes
Posts: 68
Joined: Sun Jun 09, 2013 1:35 pm

by Sykes

shoopdawoop wrote:How are you defining toasted or worn out bearings?


I start when I feel some resistance in the drive train. After checking other things, I will remove the crank. If the bearing feel gritty, I remove each bearing, remove the seals and clean it with a toothbrush and penetrating oil. If, after full degreasing, the bearings look rusted or uneven or do not spin smoothly I will deem them toast. If I'm not sure I will repack them with Finish Line Ceramic Grease, but only once have I had a bearing that felt gritty and after cleaning and repacking rotated smoothly.

Cleaner
Posts: 213
Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:13 pm

by Cleaner

I have a CAAD 9 and CAAD 10 running standard SRAM steel bearings and have not had any bearing issues in either frame. I have had the ticking noise develop due to the outer race of the bearing developing surface corrosion in the BB shell due to fretting but the bearings have been fine. The CAAD 9 has well over 5k miles on it without any bearing service, I have removed the crank for cleaning/lubing approximately 1x/year but the bearings are still quite smooth. I rarely ride in the rain but live less than 100 yards from salt water so the environment is corrosive from the salt in the air.

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Cosmo
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Location: Netherlands

by Cosmo

bm0p700f wrote: Not familar with the quarq chainset but the whole point of bearing preload is that should be set first before the crank is fixed.


Crank needs to be installed with the preload collar fully backed off. After the crank bolt is fully tight then the preload is set-reason being the preload allows for any width tolerances to be taken up post install. Impossible to set the bearing preload before installing the crank.
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