I just robbed the OEM ISIS BB from my soon-to-be-gone Pista to temporarily outfit my new baby (pics forthcoming). While transplanting it, I noticed that the spindle, while it turned without apparent grittiness or noise, had a quite considerable amount of resistance. The unit is a sealed-bearing monolithic design (with an all-inclusive shell) so I scarcely get how it could have become compromised by dirt or the like.. The bike was ridden fairly hard, but not inordinately so.

Are ISIS BBs intended to have a rather stiff turning feel to them for some reason, or should it be gliding like a buttered marble on hot glass?

Those are infamous for being poor quality. (The Pista stock, that is)

ISIS is really good... esp the mosquito control EP

i've heard they rule live.

your bb should feel sort of stiff, but smooth. all sealed bb's feel this way. the only reason isis bb's fail easily is due to how small the bearings need to be to fit such a large spindle in the shell.

ok, all the morons can go back to their inside jokes and hand jobs.

i saw them a LONNNNNG time ago with cave in right after creative eclipses came out. i couldn't hear for awhile

just to clarify, ISIS isn't a company, it's a standard for bottom bracket and crank interface, just like the square tapers and shimano's octalink. so a well-made ISIS bracket is comparable to any other well-made bracket (except for the bearing size issue mentioned above).

not to totally hijack the tread, but damnit, I missed seeing those guys this Spring. I had just arrived in Stockholm for a 3 month stay, and found out they were playing that night. I called and it was totally sold out and I was way too jet lagged to try and get myself in there. :S

even good ISIS standard BBs feel a little slow at first. Let the bearings break in and the grease thin out a bit and it will spin just as smooth as any other BB>