Trek Emonda SL BB?
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At the shop i work at (Trek only dealer) we haven't seen a BB problem in a while. Just cheap bearings wearing out really. Did a hawk racing bearing replacement in my friends SL and its still going strong almost a year later. Before it was bearings not fitting, squeeze in bigger ones, then send it back to get it rebuilt.
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nickf wrote:At the shop i work at (Trek only dealer) we haven't seen a BB problem in a while. Just cheap bearings wearing out really. Did a hawk racing bearing replacement in my friends SL and its still going strong almost a year later. Before it was bearings not fitting, squeeze in bigger ones, then send it back to get it rebuilt.
Interesting.
I have an Emonda SL. It is my first bike without a threaded bottom bracket and when I got it I admit I was a bit apprehensive. I have fixed many pressfit BB's and really have come to hate them. Tolerances are all over the place on the carbon shells. So when I got the Trek I took the digital vernier to every axis of the bottom bracket checking for concentricity and tolerances. All very very good and I was impressed. So now that I've lived with for a while I'm happy to report not a single problem and I've been using it as foul weather bike. I can't speak to the early BB90 but I think I agree with @nemeseri in that with the new frames Trek seems to have gotten it right.
Colnago C64 - The Naked Build; Colnago C60 - PR99; Trek Koppenberg - Where Emonda and Domane Meet;
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ
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Calnago wrote:I have an Emonda SL. It is my first bike without a threaded bottom bracket and when I got it I admit I was a bit apprehensive. I have fixed many pressfit BB's and really have come to hate them. Tolerances are all over the place on the carbon shells. So when I got the Trek I took the digital vernier to every axis of the bottom bracket checking for concentricity and tolerances. All very very good and I was impressed. So now that I've lived with for a while I'm happy to report not a single problem and I've been using it as foul weather bike. I can't speak to the early BB90 but I think I agree with @nemeseri in that with the new frames Trek seems to have gotten it right.
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Couple of side notes. I'm not a trek fan. I'm very far from saying that BB90 is the best press fit BB standard. BUT I think Trek has been doing an amazing job lately in frameset design. Also with the more problematic early madone BB90s they released an oversized BB90 bearing to address the problem (instead of just not admitting it).
BB90 is really a slipfit versus a pressfit. You can grease the bearings and slip them in by hand. Versus a true pressfit (interference fit) where special tools and bushings are required to get the bearings in and make sure they are aligned. As far as I'm concerned, none of today's non-threaded BB's can hold a candle to a simple threaded BB as far as ensuring proper alignment, ease of maintenance and longevity are concerned. But not likely to change anytime soon unfortunately.
Colnago C64 - The Naked Build; Colnago C60 - PR99; Trek Koppenberg - Where Emonda and Domane Meet;
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ
Unlinked Builds (searchable): Colnago C59 - 5 Years Later; Trek Emonda SL Campagnolo SR; Special Colnago EPQ
I'm not a shop owner, just an enthusiast with a penchant for Trek's. I've worked on BB's on my personal bikes as well as my wife's bikes (so older Madones, newer Madones and her Domane, plus my Superfly - BB95, and my Crockett and SpeedConcept - BB86). The quality of the first generation BB90 frames to the current frames is much more advanced. Trek's really upped their game with regard to tolerances.
That being said, I would take some precautionary measures to ensure longevity of your bearings. If you have bottles that sweat, or like to freeze your bottles, you will be best served by servicing the bearings every 3-4 months. By servicing, you just remove them from the bike, remove the seal, clean them with a good spray chain lube, then repack with a good water-resistant lube (I use marine lube), and reinstall. Total work time is about 30 minutes from start to finish (especially if you can use a can of compressed air to speed along the degreaser). This is really important on the NDS bearing, which seems to be the bearing that corrodes fastest. In the 5 years I've been doing my own work, I've only seen one DS bearing corrode, but the NDS is always going because water and sweat tends to flow toward that bearing.
That being said, I would take some precautionary measures to ensure longevity of your bearings. If you have bottles that sweat, or like to freeze your bottles, you will be best served by servicing the bearings every 3-4 months. By servicing, you just remove them from the bike, remove the seal, clean them with a good spray chain lube, then repack with a good water-resistant lube (I use marine lube), and reinstall. Total work time is about 30 minutes from start to finish (especially if you can use a can of compressed air to speed along the degreaser). This is really important on the NDS bearing, which seems to be the bearing that corrodes fastest. In the 5 years I've been doing my own work, I've only seen one DS bearing corrode, but the NDS is always going because water and sweat tends to flow toward that bearing.
Madone 9 - https://bit.ly/2Nqedbn
Emonda SLR - https://bit.ly/2UK5FP8
Crockett - https://bit.ly/2Xem4sk
Emonda SLR - https://bit.ly/2UK5FP8
Crockett - https://bit.ly/2Xem4sk
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FIJIGabe wrote:I'm not a shop owner, just an enthusiast with a penchant for Trek's. I've worked on BB's on my personal bikes as well as my wife's bikes (so older Madones, newer Madones and her Domane, plus my Superfly - BB95, and my Crockett and SpeedConcept - BB86). The quality of the first generation BB90 frames to the current frames is much more advanced. Trek's really upped their game with regard to tolerances.
That being said, I would take some precautionary measures to ensure longevity of your bearings. If you have bottles that sweat, or like to freeze your bottles, you will be best served by servicing the bearings every 3-4 months. By servicing, you just remove them from the bike, remove the seal, clean them with a good spray chain lube, then repack with a good water-resistant lube (I use marine lube), and reinstall. Total work time is about 30 minutes from start to finish (especially if you can use a can of compressed air to speed along the degreaser). This is really important on the NDS bearing, which seems to be the bearing that corrodes fastest. In the 5 years I've been doing my own work, I've only seen one DS bearing corrode, but the NDS is always going because water and sweat tends to flow toward that bearing.
Thanks!
FIJIGabe wrote:I'm not a shop owner, just an enthusiast with a penchant for Trek's. I've worked on BB's on my personal bikes as well as my wife's bikes (so older Madones, newer Madones and her Domane, plus my Superfly - BB95, and my Crockett and SpeedConcept - BB86). The quality of the first generation BB90 frames to the current frames is much more advanced. Trek's really upped their game with regard to tolerances.
That being said, I would take some precautionary measures to ensure longevity of your bearings. If you have bottles that sweat, or like to freeze your bottles, you will be best served by servicing the bearings every 3-4 months. By servicing, you just remove them from the bike, remove the seal, clean them with a good spray chain lube, then repack with a good water-resistant lube (I use marine lube), and reinstall. Total work time is about 30 minutes from start to finish (especially if you can use a can of compressed air to speed along the degreaser). This is really important on the NDS bearing, which seems to be the bearing that corrodes fastest. In the 5 years I've been doing my own work, I've only seen one DS bearing corrode, but the NDS is always going because water and sweat tends to flow toward that bearing.
just came across this post. I happened to be the owner of an '98 madone which had to be send back a few years ago to Trek to repair the carbon bracket shell... Thanks to a dealer it was done under warranty. The LBS where the bike was bought didn't want to bother - but another dealer took care of it!
Never the less - I am shocked that after all these years one has to service his bearings every 3 months... Isn't this sad?
Where is the time when installed you never had to think about brackets for the lifetime of a bike?
So in 5 years you greased and serviced 20 times your BB bearings per bike ???
- Pokerface07
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FIJIGabe wrote:I'm not a shop owner, just an enthusiast with a penchant for Trek's. I've worked on BB's on my personal bikes as well as my wife's bikes (so older Madones, newer Madones and her Domane, plus my Superfly - BB95, and my Crockett and SpeedConcept - BB86). The quality of the first generation BB90 frames to the current frames is much more advanced. Trek's really upped their game with regard to tolerances.
That being said, I would take some precautionary measures to ensure longevity of your bearings. If you have bottles that sweat, or like to freeze your bottles, you will be best served by servicing the bearings every 3-4 months. By servicing, you just remove them from the bike, remove the seal, clean them with a good spray chain lube, then repack with a good water-resistant lube (I use marine lube), and reinstall. Total work time is about 30 minutes from start to finish (especially if you can use a can of compressed air to speed along the degreaser). This is really important on the NDS bearing, which seems to be the bearing that corrodes fastest. In the 5 years I've been doing my own work, I've only seen one DS bearing corrode, but the NDS is always going because water and sweat tends to flow toward that bearing.
Excellent advice. I will need to start following it as I'noticed the bearings DO seem to corrode very quickly!
Anyone got any advice on anything you can put ON the bearings to help protect them at all? Or how to remove the corrosion?
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Pokerface07 wrote: Anyone got any advice on anything you can put ON the bearings to help protect them at all? Or how to remove the corrosion?
I did the same but it didn't help! every 10.000km's new bearings is the only option + avoiding rain. BB90 is just a wrong concept - shocking to see that Trek still has this problem.
Best thing you can do is to go to the dealer and demand a solution. Maybe the bracket shell is worn out. Trek is aware of this problem and will provide a new frame or a repair. It all depends on the attitude of your LBS.