Press Fit Bottom Bracket : No thanks

[wam68]

Hi Folks

I am currently looking for a road bike somewhere between the 1000 - 1500 range. Is it possible now a days to get road bike that does not have a BB30 / PF bottom bracket. I have had it with the squeaks . Have been searching online and looking at Cannondale, Spesh and Trek and they all seem to have these.

Does any of the members on here know of a decent road bike that has the external BB. Is it really so hard now to get one or am I not looking hard enough. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Yellow Saddle]

I can't agree with you more on the PF thing. It is an abomination. Whoever perpetrated that on us needs to be tied up with dirty bike chains and forced to listen to recordings of creaking BBs.

External BBs of the screw-in type can only be found on aluminium bikes nowadays. PF is there because carbon cannot take screw threads. Narrow your search down to aluminium, titanium or steel and you will find joy.

 

[MisterStan]

Over 10000 miles and the only time my press fit BB has made a noise is when the bearings went. Sounded like a bag of spanners in the washing machine!

 

[smokeysmoo]

PF is there because carbon cannot take screw threads.

What's changed with this as I've had two CF road bikes, (Trek Madone 5.5 and Focus Cayo Pro), and both were Hollowtech II, so CF must have been able to take threads at some point.

I can only think that the thread issue is with the larger size BB30/Shimano PF over HTII?

@wam68 FWIW I converted the BB30 on my CAAD10 to HTII with an FSA adapter after too many BB30 issues to mention, and it's been perfect ever since, go figure

 

[User33236]

Seems all the big names have moved to PF but my carbon Planet-X RT-58 is a threaded BB. According to their site the Pro Carbon, RT-80 and RT-90 are still threaded.

 

[Soltydog]

Seems all the big names have moved to PF but my carbon Planet-X RT-58 is a threaded BB. According to their site the Pro Carbon, RT-80 and RT-90 are still threaded.

My PX RT-57 is press fit, must have done over 2k on it now & (touch wood) no problems yet. I've had less than 1k from FSA threaded BBs I'm quite a large rider too!

 

[Pale Rider]

It seems to me Cannondale road bikes suffer more from bottom bracket squeaks then other makes.

I am aware they are on to it, so the problem may be addressed for the 2016 model year.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

What's changed with this as I've had two CF road bikes, (Trek Madone 5.5 and Focus Cayo Pro), and both were Hollowtech II, so CF must have been able to take threads at some point.

I can only think that the thread issue is with the larger size BB30/Shimano PF over HTII?

@wam68 FWIW I converted the BB30 on my CAAD10 to HTII with an FSA adapter after too many BB30 issues to mention, and it's been perfect ever since, go figure

The older design carbon bikes did have a threaded BB but that was achieved by gluing in a threaded aluminium sleeve inside the carbon BB shell. This has huge problems with galvanic corrosion. Water enters the frame and a reaction between the carbon and aluminium causes the aluminium to corrode to the point where there's huge jagged gashes in it. Eventually the BB just breaks out. Other problems are that the alu insert comes loose and creaks like hell, just like a pressfit BB, so they may as well bypass the alu shell and go directly to the creaking PF BB.

 

[wam68]

Thanks guys for all the advice. I am gonna have a look at the Planet X Pro Carbon. I know some will have had no bother with their PF brackets but I have had numerous squeaks and a lot of my club members have too. Just fed up with them but didn't realise the difficulty in locating a reasonable bike now without the PF.

 

[User33236]

The BB in my RT-58 got well and truly soaked (as did the rest of the bike) in last years Ride London. Got back home and spend 15 minutes popping out the BB, cleaning, drying regreasing and reinserting. One year on there are still no traces of corrosion, glavanic or otherwise.

My wife's Lapierre with a PF BB was a complete PIA in comparison.

 

[smokeysmoo]

Didn't realise the difficulty in locating a reasonable bike now without the PF.

CAAD10, or indeed the new CAAD12, (haven't checked spec of the 12 TBH), but it's bound to be BB30 as Cannondale invented it, them just convert to HTII


PS: I might be a tad biased TBH

 

[fossyant]

You can get converters that will allow HTII.

 

[fossyant]

Praxis of course
http://www.praxiscycles.com/conversion-bb/

 

[wam68]

Praxis of course
http://www.praxiscycles.com/conversion-bb/

That is very interesting link. Thanks

 

[derrick]

Bianchi