Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - phil wood bottom bracket. . .

is it worth it?

thanks!:)

no.

you're welcome. ;)

yes. welcome.

I propose a fight to the death between mattface and onetwentyeight.

It depends. If you like having very high quality stuff then yes. If you are looking for value then it's debatable. I have a couple inexpensive Shimano cartridge bottom brackets last me well over 10 years. Some people goes through those like crazy though.

How hard on your parts are you?

yes. welcome.

Sounds like a poll to me - yes.

Quality is worth it. No matter which industry.

Just look at the 'cheap' cosmetic surgery coming out of eastern europe ;)

Very worth it.

The very best always costs too much, the high-value stuff is always considered boring, and the true garbage is obvious. This is true in computer parts, beer, bottom brackets, cars, pretty much everything.

Everybody here thinks phil wood everthing is the best ever. I bet not 5 people here know whether phil and shimano get their bearings from the same place (no guessing, prove it, and no fair trying to google it)

they're expensive yes, but thanks to their little cup system you can take it with you from bike to bike without any problems, as long as you use the same kind of taper cranks. I just rode one through a very wet winter here in SF and it is still as smooth as the day I bought it. I would recommend them to anyone who wants a solid, smooth bottom bracket that allows you to adjust your chainline perfectly that will last forever and you will never have to touch or service. I have used the cheapie 25 dollar shimanos that everyone seems all gung ho about and I killed one in about 3 months. Not worth it, and I can feel the difference in how solid and smooth it feels. I dont think I am unusally rough on my bikes either, though I do ride a good amount. (daily commuter and ride for fun too)

i love mine. love love love it. super smooth. i can totally feel the difference.

Phil BB's are more than just bearings. IMO, the most important part is that red signature. Anyone can make a decent sealed bottom bracket these days. The Phil is at the front of the quality race, but they aren't leaps and bounds ahead of the other high-quality manufacturers. What sets them apart is that they publish a telephone number on the front page of their website that gets you right to a real person who knows all about bikes and parts. They like their products so much that they will overhaul and rebuild and fix almost any problem for either no money (if it is even remotely possible that it's their fault) or a very reasonable rate (if the user seriously ****ed something up.) They also produce their products in the US and are nice enough to their employees to keep them around long enough to get great at their jobs. I wouldn't use any other sealed bb.

get the phil - but only if you have a huge cutout on your BB shell so you can show off the fact that that's a *phil* in there

in all seriousness, I've never felt the urge to splurge on a BB. UN-53's are fine by me. But you're building up an Indy Fab, right? So what's an extra $60 in the grand scheme of things. Do the phil.

I "never felt the need" to buy a Phil until the Stupor Bowl, and its snow, rain and salt, killed my old BB. It was then I decided to splurge on knowing I'll never have to worry about it again.

i like mine for the same reason i like my sg-75 bb (it works well)--except i never have to think about the phil getting crunchy or fret about spilling loose bearings on the floor while i sleepily overhaul the sugino at 4AM and invariably end up digging around beneath my stove for that one damn bearing that got away.

smooth without digging under the stove = good

shimano BB's are ok in a pinch, i used to use them in my pista, but had to change them every 3-4 months to keep them feeling how they felt after breaking them in for a month.

....they sport lifetime warranties right?

i think you also need a proprietary phil bb tool to put it on.

I might have gotten some bad ones, but I have burnt through 2 UN72 in a year.
THen I switched to phil. So far I put about 5000 miles on it and no issues. Works great and looks great and is possibly the best cartridge bb out there.

i think you also need a proprietary phil bb tool to put it on.

You do, but they're only $5 each (and you really should use two) but most LBS should have them on hand.

i think you also need a proprietary phil bb tool to put it on.
true, but shops that sell 'em have the tool

I went with a Shimano UN73, because I couldn't really swing the extra $100 at the time. I was putting my new drivetrain together. I also had doubts that I would be able to feel the difference on the crappy streets that I ride on. I've probably put 700 miles on them since I put them on 2 months ago and they're still smooth as ever. I don't doubt that it will crap out, and when it does, I'll probably get a phil. In the meantime, $30 for several months of smooth operation is fine by me.