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Cheap Bb's Are They Worth It?


PaRtZ

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Now somehow the bearings in my neon BB have started creaking yesterday. In its defence I was fannying around with the cups etc because my tool doesnt clear it and had to devise a very random method but anyway

With prices off BB's going higher, I was just wondering if its worth buying a cheaper BB ie onza to a more expensive one ie tryall. It needs to be as wide as poss for crank clearance and Im not too bothered about how freely it spins. I just want it to last!

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Speaking as a veteran of many Onza BB snaps: No. If it's square taper, just invest a bit more. I haven't bought a square taper BB since 2005 or so, so I don't fully know the score, but the majority of Shimano UN-53 BBs (Or whichever number they were) are pretty rad. I didn't notice any real difference bearing wise between the Onza and the Shimano ones, but the spindle snapped on my Onza BB reasonably quickly - haven't ever killed a Shimano one though.

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I cant comment on BB axle snapping as Ive never done it, Ive always used UN72 or UN53 (old XT and LX) BBs, personally I wouldnt want to trust a cheaper 'generic brand' BB unless I had no option. Ive only ever had bearings fail on shimano BBs.

Im now using hope ti square taper and I cant honestly see it failing with my riding, its the same dimensions as the UN72 but with a far stronger axle, the square taper interface works perfectly for me; Ive never used ISIS :)

Edited by forteh
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I had to switch to ISIS after I started snapping XT (UN-72) BB's after about a year's use a few years ago. I've used a ISIS BB's since I bought one second hand with Middleburns in 2005ish and had no axles snap yet. For everything except trials and possibly DH I'd recommend XT square taper for durability as the bearings last for years. If you snap square taper axles you've no choice but to go for a ISIS axle. My Echo BB has been running flawlessly for 1 3/4 years so far... I think the Echo design gets around the requirement for small crappy bearings by using the axle surface as a bearing race, allowing nearly square taper sized bearing to fit.

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I had to switch to ISIS after I started snapping XT (UN-72) BB's after about a year's use a few years ago. I've used a ISIS BB's since I bought one second hand with Middleburns in 2005ish and had no axles snap yet. For everything except trials and possibly DH I'd recommend XT square taper for durability as the bearings last for years. If you snap square taper axles you've no choice but to go for a ISIS axle. My Echo BB has been running flawlessly for 1 3/4 years so far... I think the Echo design gets around the requirement for small crappy bearings by using the axle surface as a bearing race, allowing nearly square taper sized bearing to fit.

Same idea as rockstar...although i think they are the same bb's in all fairness :P

clicky

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