Threaded BBs
 

Hi All,
just in the early, early thinking (dreaming) phase for a new bike (frame). I am still more of a traditionalist and i prefer threaded BBs on a bike. I dont feel as if i want to deal with the whole press fit BB thing ; i prefer what i know and what i know works.
Who sells a frame with threaded BBS still?
I Pinarello still has the traditional BB, ( i have a 6 year old Pinarello FP Quatro), but the next upgrade is a Dogma, and that is $$$$$. who else has stayed traditional?

Yep, same here. In the market for a new gravel bike and would prefer to avoid PF bottom brackets. But most of the mainstream bikes have PF.

It is frustrating! try a google search on the subject... maybe i need to refine the search terms better? IDK.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6f902a38b3.jpg
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Maybe you need to prioritize what you want. Do you want a performance bike? A bike with sub 1000g frame?
The press fit world has changed. What is happening now is...you may still have to press a BB together...but it ends up being threaded together..or can be.

This was a consideration for me as I was casually cruising for new race bike. I don't formally race but I like keeping up with racers on the road. So I wanted a high performance bike. Most are PF as noted. But, you can have the benefit of a very light, mega and stiff wide shell BB and threaded.

Below is a pic of my new bike which is a Cervelo R3...redesigned for 2018. From the factory, they spec a wide shell BBright...effectively a PF30 that is 79mm wide. But the BB threads together. See pic below. BBB makes the bottom bracket and Cervelo buys it from them. You also have the benefit of having a 24mm crank spindle without adapters. So this is how Cervelo is addressing the press fit scourge which is common with press in cups that are not laterally connected or threaded to the frame as with BSA.

Other thing you can do is go custom. Ti or steel. To me, they don't have quite the performance of carbon in terms of stiffness to weight but honestly, it doesn't matter enough for an amateur to not choose Ti or Steel if you prefer this material. A fast rider on Ti or Steel will beat an average rider on carbon any day of the week.

Point is...press fit isn't the impediment it once was. Even if you buy an off the rack carbon bike with BB30 or PF30, you can convert it with Praxis or Wheel Mfg sleeve which in effect replicates what Cervelo spec's from their factory...a thread together BB but larger diameter and generally wider shell for greater stiffness...or at least the bearings will be farther apart which is more stable.

I agree with Campag (By the way, that Cervelo is still one of the nicest looking bikes out there, love the way you've set it up for yourself).

My last bike had a PF, I did have some challenges the first year or so, then once remedied it stayed remedied for the duration. I think the newer versions are much better. My current bike which is steel has a threaded BB and I sure do like not having to worry at all. It wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, I'd still go looking for the best fitting and most desirable bike my wallet could handle whether PF or not, but I think there are more options out there now.

https://praxiscycles.com/bottom-brackets/conversion-bb/

Best fix for the PF BB problem!

Thanks Robby! Cheers.

Enduro Torqtite is similar. I have one on my PF30 gravel bike.

Wheels MFG makes a screw together bottom bracket now as well. I wouldn't hesitate to run a frame with press fit shell. Just rune one of these bottom brackets and forget it.

This is the Enduro Torqtite. Put it in the hole, tighten it up, done. Installation took two minutes, if that, and required two Shimano bottom bracket tools. No pressing was required.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...aec967fb41.jpg
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-Tim-

Good information guys.
Torqtite doesn't have any solutions for Campagnolo cranks, and the praxis site is not as specific as i would like. keep the ideas coming! still would like to know which manufacturers have not succumbed to the siren song of PF BBs. i do not NEED a Campagnolo crank, but i prefer that the entire group set matches ( a foible for sure, I know, I know).

AS for level of riding? well i like performance bikes, but i do ride with a shorter stem and a pretty big stack of spacers. I average ~4000-6000 miles a year, and like to try to keep up with the fast group. I have been training (doing intervals) and longer climbs and the occasional TT. my current bike is probably by far good enough, but the lure of new and sharper looking is always a force to be resisted.

If you want to stick with Campag crankset...go UltraTorque of course...buy any carbon BB30 PF30 press fit bike and put a Praxis 'Campy Specific' sleeve in it which is designed to have integrated outboard cups as bores for Campy specific bearings. Campy bearings as you likely know are pressed onto respective spindle halves of a Campy UT crank.

That really broadens the field. Harder to run Campy with Trek for example which can't take a conversion BB.

Where we part company is...and I am a big fan of Campy, I never have to run a Campy crank. I let the BB dictate.
For example I am currently running a new Campy Chorus groupset on my R3...just put it on. BBright isn't as friendly to mounting a Campy crank. Since I prefer Shimano cranks anyway...really like Campy cranks with the right BB...BSA preferred, I stuck with my Ultegra R8000 crank and went custom chainring combo 50/36. Love the set up. I know this precludes you but for others looking in.
If you think about the curtains matching the drapes stigma...look how many bike makers don't source the same crank as the groupset manufacturer...most of them. Many cranks don't match. Why not run the best cranks in the business...Shimano. I give the edge of best groupset mfr to Campy btw, to me, it isn't even close how much better Campy is. Btw, I do own one Campy bike with Campy crank and it is fine as well. My viewpoint of course.

Colnago...sorry to learn of that.
Can you share the spec's of your Domane?...what crank? How many miles....do you ride in bad weather...dirty conditions? Perform any maintenance? Do you do your own wrenching? I presume you didn't throw the bike out. Did you try to warranty it? Trek has warrantied a lot of BB90's.
Please tell us how you arrived...and I can share a bit more.

if not warranty then loctite 609 probably combined with a conversion BB

Kind of expensive, Allied Alfa is an option.

scott s.
.

I have never seen BB90 successfully sleeved because it is 90mm long with relatively smaller bores. When BB90 fails a copious amount, Trek..or another company like Calfee can repair the bores which are carbon fiber. Trek doesn't sleeve its BB shell and metal bearings unlike the entirety of the industry who uses an intermediate material...Trek opts for metal bearings right on carbon bores. Good news for Trek owners is their bikes can be saved aka have their carbon bores repaired.

oh right, that was kinda a throw in comment i made without doing my due diligence on the various standards, my experience has been mainly with maintaining BB30/PF30 variants

Cool. Trek is a bit of an outlier. Plenty of carbon shell only BB's out there like PF30 and my new Cervelo which has had BBright...basically a 79mm wide version of PF30...but Trek is the only one to press metal cartridge bearings right into pure carbon fiber bores molded into the BB shell. Their unique approach. It therefore isn't sleeve-able...can't be converted to anything different unlike PF30 or BBright what I have...both are 46mm ID pure carbon bores designed to use press in cups...so they lend themselves to thread together cups basically...what you have with all the conversion sleeves out there that work better than original press fit cups that aren't attached.

Will give you a hint. Devil is in the details. Contamination. Lack of grease. Just bad or cheap bearings from the factory...you absolutely want angular contact bearings in your BB...but my guess is...what really killed your BB prematurely...was insufficient crank preload. If you don't have adequate side load aka thrust compression on the bearings that can walk out of their bores and ruin the carbon bores. This is common. In fact, often misunderstood, lack of adequate preload is a common reason for creaking. The crank has to hold the bearings snug into the bore pockets of the BB shell. Darn critical with Trek's BB90. Carbon doesn't have great wear resistance. Not its strength. Carbon is strong as hell in tensile and bending...but can be worn down by rubbing on it like a bearing can if moving laterally around in the bore due to pedal loading. Trek also posture's its nominal tolerances in the 'slip fit' range. They don't rely on a real high press per their nominal tolerance. They stay quiet with adequate preload however...even with slip fit. Trek has had the BB90 for many years. If it was horrible, they would have changed it. But if set up properly, it works very well. You may have gotten a cheap bearing. Yes 1K miles was a bit early to check it. But a spun bearing will wipe out a bore pretty quick.

So word to the wise if you do your own maintenance.
After you get the replacement...be sure you have good quality bearings that are well maintained and properly greased with adequate preload and you should be good. Trek makes great bikes and don't want to be too critical of the BB they use. In some ways their design makes a lot of sense because carbon even though may not be the best bore material, it is easier to repair than say an insert molded alloy BB30 that gets mucked up.

Allied Cycle Works
https://alliedcycleworks.com/pages/allied-alfa

Condor
https://www.condorcycles.com/collections/road-bikes

[QUOTE=mgopack42;20760807]Good information guys.
Torqtite doesn't have any solutions for Campagnolo cranks, and the praxis site is not as specific as i would like. keep the ideas coming! still would like to know which manufacturers have not succumbed to the siren song of PF BBs. i do not NEED a Campagnolo crank, but i prefer that the entire group set matches ( a foible for sure, I know, I know).

AS for level of riding? well i like performance bikes, but i do ride with a shorter stem and a pretty big stack of spacers. I average ~4000-6000 miles a year, and like to try to keep up with the fast group. I have been training (doing intervals) and longer climbs and the occasional TT. my current bike is probably by far good enough, but the lure of new and sharper looking is always a force to be resisted.[E]

May as well consider a frame that suits you. Custom?

I bought a Longteng LTK-118, a reputable Chinese frame. Got the threaded BB. It's wonderful.

Bonus was that it had a 170mm headtube (for my 56cm) frame so for the first time ever I have a slammed stem. Looks nice.

Performance wise, it's 870 grams and I've raced it in multiple pro crits. Works like any other frame I've had.

Do you have a pic? Preference for groupset? Chinese wheels too? I don't think I have ever met a knowledgeable bike person that didn't prefer a threaded BB. :)

There's always customer.

Rodriguez in Seattle built me a customer fixed gear frame with threaded bottom bracket shell.


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Lynskey still makes threaded BB framesets. (I wish I had bought one instead, when I bought my Trek. BB90 is not only press fit, it also limits your crankset options.)