Originally Posted by
Kimmo
IME loose ball BBs are pretty much set-and-forget too. Sure, you can worry about changing the grease every now and then if you like, but there's no need unless it's gone caramel... a properly set up loose BB will run just fine for years with no attention.
I have 5 bikes, (only 3 that I actually ride) on one of them I decided to try out an idea that I had while greasing the buddy bearing on my boat trailer. I took the bottom bearings out and placed a layer of fiber glass tape with epoxy over the open tube ends where they entered into the bottom bracket. This was to keep grease that was under pressure from going into the bike tubes. On my BB was a plastic cable guide that was held in place with a screw. I removed this screw and drilled and tap to except a grease fitting. I reassembled the BB then filled the bracket with grease through the grease fitting until the grease started coming out the seals. Whenever I feel the BB should be serviced I just fill it with fresh grease. I did this back in 1986 that was 26 years ago (the BB has not been taken apart since). I have ridden that bike many miles since then and if you were to spin that crank this morning it would turn as smooth as silk. The point is that a properly greased loose ball bearing BB will last for years without having to be overhauled every six months to a year. Below is a picture of the BB on this bike.
Grease fitting BB
Grease fitting BB3