Originally Posted by
Jackmen
Bikedud
Thanks for sharing your experience. Does your TCR have an alloy insert in the BB shell? Just wondering with mine having the alloy shell in the carbon shell, is it wise to use grease or Loctite between the bearing holders and the alloy shell? And when you take apart the bottom bracket do you remove your BB86 bearing holder grease and reinstall the same one. I have seen that you are to not reinstall the old one but install a new one every time.
My TCR (2012 model) has the aluminum insert in the BB and I always use grease when installing a new BB or re-installing the old BB. Generally, I remove the entire press fit assembly, clean BB shell and press fit assembly, inspect the bearings and re-install or replace the BB depending upon the condition of the bearings. It's usually very easy to tell if the bearings are crapped out, but unless you ride in the rain a lot, they last quite a while. Of course, a Shimano BB72 is generally less than $25 so if your concerned at all about the condition of the bearings, just replace everything. Like anything else, it helps to have the proper BB removal and installation tools.