How long are your external BB bearings lasting?

I just recently stuck a pair of xt external bb cranks on a new bike about two months ago. This is my first of the system. I've been riding the bike a lot but I've got some grinding clicking noises that seem to be coming from the bb. Only notice it under load on climbs. Seems a little soon for this to be an issue but I've seen other complaints about them going bad pretty quickly and it does sound like bearings. I'm pretty sure it's not the pivots on the bike. It's a vpp design so that's the first place I looked.

Rebuildable or worth it to get an aftermarket bearing kit from paul components?

thanks

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Originally Posted by kidwoo

I just recently stuck a pair of xt external bb cranks on a new bike about two months ago. This is my first of the system. I've been riding the bike a lot but I've got some grinding clicking noises that seem to be coming from the bb. Only notice it under load on climbs. Seems a little soon for this to be an issue but I've seen other complaints about them going bad pretty quickly and it does sound like bearings. I'm pretty sure it's not the pivots on the bike. It's a vpp design so that's the first place I looked.

Rebuildable or worth it to get an aftermarket bearing kit from paul components?

thanks

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Just replaced mine (XT) after 2.5 years, reasonably high mileage.

I tend to get about 2000 miles on mine before they die, FSA or Tru's.

I've had really good luck with the RF ones on my DH bike so far. I have seen the XC type RF bearing almost totally seize...the guys bikes was hammered east coast style though.
Make sure they are tight as hell in the frame, they do seem to loosen up a bit sooner than internal BBs.

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Originally Posted by flowtron

I've had really good luck with the RF ones on my DH bike so far. I have seen the XC type RF bearing almost totally seize...the guys bikes was hammered east coast style though.
Make sure they are tight as hell in the frame, they do seem to loosen up a bit sooner than internal BBs.

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Right now that's just about the only tool I don't own. I cranked them in till my eyes bled when I assembled the thing but I need to get the tool today I guess. I'll check that first I guess.

I should note that most of the complaints I've heard are coming from downhillers. It seemed odd that the design was to alleviate bearing stress from isis systems yet they were dying quicker. Shimano seemed to be the worse.

Thanks for the input guys.

Slight thread hijack...

Are there any ISIS BBs that are holding up better? I hate this design, but have it on 2 of my bikes since that's what they came with.

I never had a problem with the old square taper and Shimano UN72 cartridge BB... those BBs would last several years, then when they finally got gritty, $25 later you have a new setup for another several years.

^^^ FSA Platuim work well... Well a full season

I've had an fsa platinum last pretty well and the truvative gigapipe dh ones last for years on my dh bike. Kind of heavy though.

Starting to get a grind from the XTRs on the race bike at, oh, 700mi /1 year. I haven't tried them, but these replacement bearings from Enduro look like a cool alternative to constantly replacing the whole cups. There was some discussion about these on MTBR recently.

This may be obvious to some, but be careful not to over-torque the RF/Truv style external BB cranks... It's easy to side-load the bearings and shorten the bearing life dramatically. I think the Shimano system is a little nicer, with the hand-torque, "headset" style pretension and the crank pinch bolts.

The external BB cranks are stiffer for sure, but bearing life seems only slightly better than ISIS... ISIS BB life, in general, is very craptastic.

I have a FSA platinum in my hardtail now; it replaced a FSA titanium something-or-other that failed in about 500 miles. FSA warrantied it; it's sitting in the box for now...

I think the other ISIS BB I have is a Truvativ; still OK so far.

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Originally Posted by kidwoo

... I cranked them in till my eyes bled when I assembled the thing but I need to get the tool today I guess. I'll check that first I guess.

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Unless you're riding through and in a lot of water I wouldn't suspect the bearings themselves. My experience has been that BB clicking is always caused by it being too loose in the shell - especially if you're a "gravitationally challenged" individual.
Aluminum frames also tend to click/creak more than steel/titanium. Either way it can be quite madening (especially on a road bike during a 5 hour slog ... kind of like water torture in a way).

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Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

I have a FSA platinum in my hardtail now; it replaced a FSA titanium something-or-other that failed in about 500 miles. FSA warrantied it; it's sitting in the box for now...

I think the other ISIS BB I have is a Truvativ; still OK so far.

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Same experience with FSA Plat and Plat Pro Ti's... Lucky to get a half-season out of 'em. Props to FSA for a couple of freebies, but after 2 years of ISIS misery I cried uncle.

FWIW: i see more shimano external bearings in need of replacement than RF/FSA/truvativ, even though we sell more RF/FSA/truvativ stuff.

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Originally Posted by YoEddy

Unless you're riding through and in a lot of water I wouldn't suspect the bearings themselves. My experience has been that BB clicking is always caused by it being too loose in the shell - especially if you're a "gravitationally challenged" individual.
Aluminum frames also tend to click/creak more than steel/titanium. Either way it can be quite madening (especially on a road bike during a 5 hour slog ... kind of like water torture in a way).

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Definitely. I've ridden road bikes and mtbs for just over a decade and know exactly what a crickety bb sounds like in the traditional design. This is more of a bearing wear sound. Kind of like a beat headset or main pivot. More of a rotational thing than a position switch. Wet conditions and tahoe only happen in spring time so it's been mostly dry.

I'm 165 so I don't think I put any undue stress on in that respect but I do pound on it a bit on descents.

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Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

I never had a problem with the old square taper and Shimano UN72 cartridge BB... those BBs would last several years, then when they finally got gritty, $25 later you have a new setup for another several years.

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Planned obsolescence.

It's not like Shimano, or anyone else, couldn't have made a splined BB standard with exactly the same bearings and internals. But they had to come up with some BS reason to make people want to buy new stuff, so now we get all sorts of crap that doesn't last as long as a UN72 but costs three times as much. Plus you get to buy a bunch of new tools to replace them.

I've got 3-piece BMX cranks and BB on my hardtail. Cheap as hell, no creaking, easily rebuildable, last forever.

BS reason = bigger, stiffer, stronger spindle (a noble intent)

bigger, stiffer, stronger spindle = smaller bearings = craptastic

Wintermittant, The RF X type systems have a hard stop on the crank installation, so theoretically they can't be over-tightened.