Originally Posted by
rjkfsm
Just curious. What is the average lifespan of a sealed BB?
I ride about an hour or two a day, weather permitting, and I seem to be going through 3 BB's a year. That includes riding for a month or two on the bad one too. If I were to replace them as soon as they started clicking, they would last about 2 months. Is there a better BB I can upgrade to that'll last longer?
RK
I suspect that you're replacing perfectly good BBs that are clicking for another reason. It's impossible to wear out a BB in that short a time, and being a fair weather rider rules out rust or weather related premature failure.
If you're doing tour own work, spend the time to fully diagnose the source of the clicking, which is probably from movement of a crank on spindle, a spindle within the bearing, or the BB cups within the frame. There are also other possibilities, so don't immediately blame the BB.
If you're having a shop do your service and they're replacing BBs so often, get a new shop.