Poll - Does your Bottom Bracket Creak? PressFit Vs Threaded

[109er]

I have a Hawk Racing BB86 bottom bracket in my Louis Garneau Gennix R1 with a Quarq Riken. No creaks, ever and actually spins as good if not better than many ceramic bb's. I only serviced it once and has about 8,000 miles on it.

[lewolive]

BB86 with Rotor Inpower and cyclinceramic ceramic 41/30: silent (still silent after 2000 miles)
Same with Rotor steel bearings: creaking after 500 miles because corroded.

Directly mounted with just grease in the BB86 (Canyon). Rotor Inpower has just the length of the BB86, no spacers. It probably helps to get silent...

[mariosimas]

I use de CBear PF30 for the Focus Izalco Max team Ag2R with a DA 9000 crank and it´s been absolutely silent

[mr4fox]

my HSC BB86 never creaked - 15-20000km. replaced it with a dura ace BB and the right hand cup creaked like crazy after 1km. after it drove me nutz I removed RH cup and replaced with old HSC cup and it silent again - 2000km. I now have a wheelsmanufacturing B86 Out (thread together and torque it up type design like enduros torqtite) begging me to instal it but cant comment as of yet. i'll cry if it creaks though.

i dont blame bb86, i blame shimano for the DA cups creaking.


Never had my old Campy ultra torque BBs creak 20000km. i miss campy sometimes

[DeeHubbs]

Felt Z frame with BB30 bearings in an aluminum insert, with Wheels Manufacturing reducers to 24mm Shimano Ultegra cranks. Silent from day one, and with the chain off for cleaning, it will free spin for ever.
Mountain bike is a Carbon Intense with a PF92 to Sram X1 24mm/22mm crank. Silent form day one.
Both are ridden in wet and grungy conditions, not just fair-weather bikes.

[Bogan]

Italian on one bike, silent 8000 k's.

BSA on other bike, probably about 4000 k's, silent.

[BhSimon]

This poll is great. I’m starting to wonder about factors which influence BF/BB30 creaking, such as the installation process. Do different manufacturers recommend different procedures, such as Loctite vs grease? Perhaps the mechanic is unwittingly using the same procedure for every press-fit BB? Reaming and facing, if necessary?

Clearly it is possible to a have a press-fit BB that doesn't creak, so there must be other factors to consider beyond simply a failure of the press-fit system itself. Regardless, press-fit still sounds more like a nuisance than an innovation for those who have issues.

[Ebruner]

All my BSA are silent with Campagnolo Cups. I have 2 BB30 frames, with Praxis Campagnolo adaptors that are silent as well. Just say no to Press fit.

All my press-fit are silent and my BSA occasionally makes noise that requires servicing. BB30 is different to BB86.

You can't make generalisations about press-fit and certainly not any that that simply imply ‘press-fit is bad’.

Back to the original poll: keep the votes coming in. This is interesting.

If you’ve had a creaking BB and fixed it, feel free to share the solution.

In my opinion as a cyclist for 30 years is I don't care for and don't recommend Press fit. Your opinion may differ, and that is fine.

-Eddie

[fromtrektocolnago]

I'm from Missouri and not prone to jump on new things. Both my bikes are English Threaded and silent(one is going on three years the other around twelve). If I get a new bike it will from a custom builder so that I can avoid the bottom bracket imbroglio of competing standards that are all too prone to creak.

[rcb78]

Been through three different BB30 Specialized Allez's with an Ultegra crank and a Rotor 3d+. Simple delrin adapters with the Ultegra and the supplied spacers with the Rotor. After installing the bearings with loctite and primer, they were silent for as long as I owned the bikes. Current is a 'new' S-Works Tarmac, still using a Rotor 3d+, still silent. CX bike is a Niner RLT9 (PF30) running a K-Force 386EVO, silent as well.

[BhSimon]

In my opinion as a cyclist for 30 years is I don't care for and don't recommend Press fit. Your opinion may differ, and that is fine.

Indeed—opinions are just opinions. Thankfully, this poll is helping to provide more than just opinion by sharing experiences. Those experiences suggest that a silent press-fit BB is possible and there is no inherent reason to ‘just say no’. Anyway, this poll has nothing to do with opinions so let’s move on.

I’m wondering if it’s worth exploring reasons and solutions (in another thread, I imagine). I’m starting to wonder about the best practices for installation and whether variations in procedure are playing any part in the issues. Clearly it is possible to have a quiet press-fit BB, so why so many issues?

It is understandable why people would be put off—squeaks and creaks are irritating. But since press-fit is lighter than threaded and this is WW, we have an apparent motivation to explore reliable solutions.

[uraqt]

Oh I disagree, I think the above data proves that you are crazy to recommend/use anything PF. With such a small sample size and the high percentage of creaking why would you risk it? Because unless you are getting a custom bike we really don't have a choice anymore.

IME there are too many variables to in the above data and in the FP design to really trust it. My PF experience has been really bad. 1st frame I follow Manufacturer 's directions to the letter and I got 200 miles. ( you have to special order the Loctite and primer FYI) 2nd frame shop installed 50 miles. 3rd frame Manufacturer installed 200 miles. 4th frame, changed cranks.

Yes you can get the PF to not creak, but it's going to be one or more of the follow options
A. a lot of work
B. a solution that weights the same as threaded BB
C. Very limited crank options, that are most likely going to weight the same as a high end crank with a threaded BB
D. Special built for that PF frame.

[Lugan]

It's still early, but I have a Hampsten Max with PF30 that I use as my rain/winter bike in Seattle. I got it in January and it has a few thousand silent kilometers on it. I was skeptical of PF30 vs. threaded but Steve Hampsten assured me it would work using a Chris King BB. It's the best steel bike I've owned, highlighted by great stiffness under power.

[MisterMuncher]

This poll is great. I’m starting to wonder about factors which influence BF/BB30 creaking, such as the installation process. Do different manufacturers recommend different procedures, such as Loctite vs grease? Perhaps the mechanic is unwittingly using the same procedure for every press-fit BB? Reaming and facing, if necessary?

Clearly it is possible to a have a press-fit BB that doesn't creak, so there must be other factors to consider beyond simply a failure of the press-fit system itself. Regardless, press-fit still sounds more like a nuisance than an innovation for those who have issues.

The issues, such as they are, aren't necessarily of fitting procedure, mechanical competence or various unguents, much less a systemic flaw. it comes down to an understanding of manufacturing tolerance. You can get "big" shells and "small" bearings which will creak like a newlywed's bed, or a good fitting that's silent. I've routinely measured shells and bearings to find matches, even with threaded bearings (which can, and do, have issues. FSA and Tange-Seiki, I'm looking at you). At bottom, bearings are cheap, and at worst easy to return, an issue that doesn't arise if you have an understanding LBS. My old steel has a "tight" threaded shell, My CAAD and Synapse are at slightly different points of the spectrum of BB30, although well within spec. So I get a few bearings and work to spec. It's a near-zero effort, unless your shell is beyond specification, in which case, hit your warranty.

TBH, I think PF gets a bad name because the (temporary) corrective procedure is that bit more arduous than screw-in.

[Calnago]

I agree with MisterMuncher's comments above re getting lucky with your tolerances, but I would say quality of installation is the biggest factor in problem Pressfit BB's. Making sure the bearings are secure and perfectly aligned with each other and stay that way is easier said than done. Whereas it's pretty tough to get a BSA installation wrong provided you have a properly faced BB shell.