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FSA/Shimano bottom bracket compatibility

by Accessibility for all
Mon, Mar 23, 2015 09:37
10

I have a Whyte Cornwall, which has been fine. It came with this crankset:

FSA Gossamer Pro EVO-386 34-50, 10 Speed, Compact Double

...which is also fine. However, it also came with this bottom bracket:

FSA EVO-8681 (68mm with usual thread)

...which has lasted 3,500 miles and appears to have bearings made from cheese. It's now making the "click of death".

My question is, having not had anything other than Shimano cranks before now, can I replace this BB with a Hope or Chris King unit?

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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Accessibility f... | 9 years ago
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Thanks for the help. After doing a lot of reading about this design I've come to the conclusion that it's limited by FSA's crappy bearing seals. I'm doing the Cheshire Cat this weekend so I'll continue with the sloppy bearings until next week, when I shall remove the crank, see what bearings the BB uses, and order a few sets of replacements at a fraction of the cost of a new BB.

In the meanwhile I have a nice shiny uncomplicated Hope BB sitting waiting for my new steel frame to arrive 1

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Accessibility f... | 9 years ago
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Nightmare. Why can't they all just use the same bloody standard? I note that a replacement FSA BB is about £40, which in my opinion is about £39.95 too expensive.

I'm sorely tempted to remove the FSA crank and pitch it in the nearest dustbin...

Is a bearing press required to replace the bearings on these BBs?

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Jack Osbourne snr replied to Accessibility for all | 9 years ago
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Officially, yes. Realistically...Nope. Grease, lump of flat wood and a mallet. Tap gently.

The tough bit will be getting the friar tucked bearings out without damaging the bearing seats.

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Jack Osbourne snr replied to Accessibility for all | 9 years ago
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Officially, yes. Realistically...Nope. Grease, lump of flat wood and a mallet. Tap gently.

The tough bit will be getting the friar tucked bearings out without damaging the bearing seats.

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Accessibility f... | 9 years ago
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Well I'll just pop the Hope BB on the shelf for now then, I'm waiting for Mercian to build my new bike (been waiting since July, lol) so it can go on that.

I've replaced enough BBs in the past to know that when the crank starts rocking in the frame, no matter how slight, the bearings are toast and that no packing of grease will fix it. I have a spare 6700 Ultegra BB on a shelf, perhaps that will fit it?

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Jack Osbourne snr replied to Accessibility for all | 9 years ago
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I have a 6700 Ultegra bb on my hybrid which replaced an awful FSA MEGAEXO. Great unit, but here's the bad news...

It won't work with the bb386 crankset as it's Hollowtech II format which runs with 24mm spindles. BB386 spindles are 30mm diameter.

Sorry but you either need new bearings, a whole new bb386 bottom bracket assembly, or a chainset that will fit the Hope or Ultegra units you already have. Other options are available, but fall into the "bodge" category.

Personally, I'd try replacing the bearings first.... After that, your options are a bit more spend.

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monty dog | 9 years ago
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Hope and Rotor do BSA30 BBs as should Raceface cinch - Chris King don't appear to do a 30mm spindle BB. A further option is to clean and repack the bearings if it hasn't corroded - pop the seal, dunk the bearing in degreaser to clean and then dry. Inject fresh grease and refit the seal. You could also simply replace the bearings in the housing - they're the same as regular BB30 ones.

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Jack Osbourne snr replied to monty dog | 9 years ago
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monty dog wrote:

Hope and Rotor do BSA30 BBs as should Raceface cinch - Chris King don't appear to do a 30mm spindle BB. A further option is to clean and repack the bearings if it hasn't corroded - pop the seal, dunk the bearing in degreaser to clean and then dry. Inject fresh grease and refit the seal. You could also simply replace the bearings in the housing - they're the same as regular BB30 ones.

A bsa30 bb would require spacers to deal with the extra spindle length of the bb386 crankset. Why bother with a bodge when you could just stick with the design format?

Retreating or replacing the bearings are further options... Almost mandatory for anyone with a pf30 bb... Or any other type made by FSA.

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Jack Osbourne snr | 9 years ago
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NOT REALLY.

Mega exo and Hollowtech II were directly compatible... This isn't so straightforward. Mainly because of spindle length and that you have a standard threaded bottom bracket shell in the frame. If you had a pf30 shell it would be doable.

Here's some options :

You could buy another threaded bb386 and hope for the best... Then repeat until the chainset needs new rings, at which point you replace the lot.

You could buy a new chainset now and get whatever compatible threaded bottom bracket you like.

You could re-engineer and adapt everything at great expense for it to just about work.

I'd go with the first option.

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Accessibility f... | 9 years ago
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Ah I just noticed this thread which appears to say...yes.

http://road.cc/content/forum/117399-bottom-bracket-wear

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