Campag4life

That's pretty.

Campag4life

Another way of looking at it is...to me a carbon bike still has some advantages over Ti. So I personally don't completely hang my hat on BB tyoe. There are ten's of thousands of Treks riding around with BB90 working just fine. A good riding buddy has one in fact and it has been utterly reliable.

colnago62

FlashBazbo

He's a lucky guy. But he can't put a 30mm crank spindle on that bike. If you want sub-compact gearing with round chainrings, you're out of luck with BB90 (so far).

Campag4life

Sub compact gearing? Is like gearing for a Prius?

rubiksoval

No pic. I use Ultegra. I built a pair of Nextie rims to BHS hubs with Sapim spokes, so essentially a Chinese wheelset. I also have Hed Stinger tubulars for some races, too, though.

Campag4life

thanks

Chi_Z

PF BB is not as bad as people think, loctite 609 will solve 99% of the creaking problem, to service the bearings, you can get cheap BB bearing removal tool for like $40 on Aliexpress

Chi_Z

that is not normal, either your BB shell is loose or the bearing is not retained properly. Any lateral movement on the bearing will quickly ruin them.

colnago62

Campag4life

I hear ya colnago but Chi is right about how critical proper axial preload is. What cranksets are you running on your 4 Trek's?

A question since you do your own maintenance. Do you use grease on the bores when inserting the bearings? Also on your BB90, are your bores 'slip fit' aka can you push your bearings in with your fingers...or....do you use a bearing press to insert the bearings into the BB90 shell?

rubiksoval

Exactly why I won't buy another Trek with BB90. It's a design fault.

When Trek went and made oversized bearings because the carbon fiber in the shell would wear away, necessitating multiple bearing changes a year, then the gig was up. I was done with BB90.

colnago62

colnago62

Chi_Z

from diagrams BB90 functions just like a BB30 but wider and with smaller 24mm bearings, it is possible the smaller bearings would last shorter than larger 30mm on BB30s. But two set of bearings a year is still excessive, next time ask the shop what retaining compound do they use for the bearings

colnago62

Campag4life

It is excessive but Colnago is an outlier by his description above. Still doesn't account for it. I will address him directly. You and I, I believe are on the same page.

Campag4life

Here's the problem. You don't know. Trek's best and brightest maybe not that...lol. I have known countless people struggle 'needlessly' with BB90. Chi's comments are correct. Like me, he has a lot of experience working on press fit bottom brackets.

You are swinging in the dark. You defer to your shop and almost a complete certainty your shop like the majority does not Loctite your bearings to the BB shell even for a 240 lb guy...with self professed big watts...only viable solution is Loctite. This portends to the disc brake thread about people not knowing how to work on their stuff and deferring to others. Be careful what you wish for. I have fixed countless shop screw ups.

So Trek's best and brightest aren't solving the riddle very well. Bottom brackets ain't rocket science and rocket science was my major in college so I know. A press fit bottom bracket is a simple contrivance. All its tenets are based upon physics. Its basic. Violate those tenents...slip fit carbon bores and riding in the rain with big watt 240 pound guy and 'Marine grease' you have a problem Houston. But keep taking it to that shop...and frequently which you will

deacon mark

I am my own mechanic and no works on my bike except myself. I like to ride it and not be doing crazy BB bearing changes and garbage I hear about on press fits. All my bikes have thread BB and to keep it that will I probably will need to continue to buy custom TI or steel frames. I have never worked on my BB on any of my bikes and have been riding them for 2 and 5 years each. I do keep them clean and do not purposely ride in the rain but any mechanic I know says they ride threaded BB bikes themselves. It is just nuts the maintenance I see some cyclist go through with these bikes. All for CF and to save weight...… a few ounces really?

Campag4life

Different schools Deacon. For example I want to ride carbon versus steel or Ti. I also like Al. I prefer a threaded BB like you do and still own them on a couple of bikes but won't let a given BB rule my decision because I personally have no problem taming a press fit bottom bracket. Others struggle with them and I will say sadly because they just haven't been taught properly. Mfr's get blamed and yes a PF BB may take a bit more attention sometimes...but not enough to not go to 1000g frame with aero cues and differential flex unlike steel and Ti bikes. There is a reason the industry has carbon at the front of the class of race bikes and even press fit...but to you this doesn't matter as much as reliability. A Porsche will have higher maintenance and complexity than a Toyota but both will get your there. Depends what you want. But no argument the world would be a better place with threaded BB's and outboard bearing cranks like Shimano. Ask Pinarello who went Italian threaded after living with PF for a few years.
To me, Shimano cranks with 24mm steel spindles are better than BB30 cranks with Al spindles even independent of what type of BB you have. People make their choices and live with them until they change their minds.

deacon mark

Campy I will concede you are problably correct but for me at this point I really don't think I will ever ride anything but Ti or Steel. Frankly I have road and do have a very nice CF bike my Wilier, but once I got the Ti it was over. I just find the whole bike to ride like a dream and the cables are easier to change not in the frame, and yes I still ride 23c tires might try some 25's in the future. I ride the TI actually faster in that it is more stable I can take a long descend much better than the other bikes I have ridden. Finally I am feeling like I might now be a true old school rider. I don't like disk brakes, not because they don't work I just don't like the look on the pure road bike. Maybe if I lived in the mountains for descending. Huge tires are not needed as I like pure smooth pavement my road bike is my equivalent of a sports car at my age. I hopeless for sure.

Campag4life

Wilier is a hell of a bike. Completely agree about disc brakes..but neither of live in the mountains.

You have a pic of your Ti bike? Custom frame or off the shelf? How much more does it weigh than your Wilier?

I enjoyed your reflections. I like the ride and durability of Ti. I would have to test or own more Ti bikes to know if I can find one as fast as my carbon bikes.

colnago62

I am going to trust the guys I know. Everybody is smart and good looking on the internet, just ask em.

VinceB

Specialized is moving some lower-end frames to threaded (Like this Tarmac Disc):
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/me...=227229-154556

Campag4life

Good catch. Even the Tarmac 'Expert' model rim brake bike with DA...SL5...is offered with threaded BB. Good on Specialized. Of course, easier for them because they never drank the wide shell BB koolaid like almost all other big brand bike companies. I took a look at the Tarmac Pro...one under their S-work but in the very desirable SL6 geometry with aero cues...and its BB30...but they tout 'Praxis bearings'...which I presume is a Praxis sleeve to 'convert' it to an outboard bearing BB. What a shell game aka racket the BB scam is.