Submitted by
deadkenny
a Weekend Warrior
from Surrey, UK
Date Reviewed: October 12, 2011
Strengths: Cheap, easy to fit, just works.
Weaknesses: Perhaps cheap quality, but had little if any problems.
Bottom Line:
Numerous times I've stripped down the bike to clean and remove creaking which turned out to be coming from the pivots and not from the BB, every time. The BB has been on there for 2 years in the most muddy conditions possible and not a creak or grind from the BB itself.
One thing though is as mentioned about the fit. These were pre-fit and have just never been a problem. Servicing the pivots on my GT requires the cranks to come off, so I've done that a few times and first thing I read was a tip to tap the cranks with a rubber mallet when they're bolted back on just before a final torque to ensure they're tightly seated. Not sure if that was something GT or even SRAM said, or I just read it somewhere on the web, but I do that and torque up to spec. Never, ever used loctite and the GT manual never said to do so either (it specifies where on the bike to use the stuff).
Another thing I read somewhere was to use plenty of grease on the exposed parts of the bearings and the contact point of the crank, as well as the splined part of the crank axle.
Also, the Firex canks I've got are self extracting bolt style with just hex key on the axle bolt to remove and fit. This pulls the cranks together. Don't know if some have a different system, or all GXP cranks are like this. Again, torque to spec.
One other thing to point out is since many of these reviews, SRAM have made some modifications to the BB cups with better seals to avoid muck getting in there. Got another bike now with these BBs and will see how I get on with it.
Bike Setup: GT I-Drive 5 XCR. Truvativ Firex cranks.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
PointBoy
a Cross Country Rider
from New Jersey
Date Reviewed: September 11, 2011
Strengths: nothing
Weaknesses: worst designed BB that I have ever used. Plastic dust cap/seal on drive slide constantly slides out causing play in the crank arms. I have two bikes with this bottom bracket, it happens on both bikes. My friend has a GF Rig and came with the same BB; happens on his bike too. Search these forums or google it and you will find countless people with the same problem.
Bottom Line:
not even an email address listed on the SRAM website? Come on - wth.
These suck. This bottom bracket came stock on my Trek/Fisher Rig. I've been through three (3!) sets this summer. One set lasted less than 100 miles before becoming so loose and sloppy that I could feel the cranks move with each pedal stroke. Another set failed in the middle of a race so that I could not even pedal. Thanks. I finally go so sick of them that I ordered a Chris King bottom bracket. If I get a full season out of the King bearings it'll be cheaper than what I've spent on SRAM's junk this summer. SRAM/Truvativ should be embarrassed and ashamed to sell something as poor as these.
Similar Products Used: many different bottom brackets over the 25 years I've been riding.
Bike Setup: Fisher Rig single-speed.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
John
a Cross Country Rider
from Bristol , CT
Date Reviewed: August 4, 2011
Strengths: Still rotates smoothly, no drag, even after having the crankarms off and on many times for chainring swaps. There isn't any play in the bearings, yet.. Read on.
Weaknesses: Starting to leak grease from the bearing seals.. Not a good sign of things to come. Probably will need replacement before the Fall.
Bottom Line:
GXP bottom bracket came stock on bike with a set of SRAM carbon cranks 2x10 setup. The bottom bracket is the cheap black cups GXP unit, about $25 everywhere so it won't be expensive to replace. Durability doesn't look good for the future as it was leaking grease from the bearing seals after only a month of riding. I prefer low maintenance over cheap replaceable components. Especially for something as critical to bike performance as the bottom brakcet.
Similar Products Used: Too many to bother listing. But the best so far has been a Race Face X-Type ATLAS bottom backet on my former bike that has lasted over two years now. Not too shabby..
Bike Setup: 2011 Stumpjumper Elite FSR
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
chilternlard
a Weekend Warrior
from watford
Date Reviewed: July 19, 2011
Strengths: Fit my boardman and van nicholas frames and works with my existing truvativ chainsets. Relatively cheap. Newer design of seals look better.
Weaknesses: The bearings wear out rapidly under my normal UK cycling conditions. When faced with 30 miles a week of mixed road (50%)and off-road (50%) chiltern mud (deep and sticky), water and flint they average about 6 months lifespan before the bearings are knackered. That's about 400 miles in my estimation. 2 different bikes, same problem. Old (pre 2010) and new (post 2010) design have same problem.
To be fair to them - I do not take them apart, clean them and grease them and they may well last longer if I showed them a little TLC.
Bottom Line:
They fit, but they wear out fast when faced with typical UK conditions.
Similar Products Used: superstar angletech gxp (only installed for 2 months so far but no complaints to date).
Bike Setup: Single speed hard-tail boardman pro 26" mtb with exotic carbon forks. Van nicholas Tuareg hard-tail sram/truvativ/rock shox reba race.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
doctormemory
a Cross Country Rider
from West Hurley, NY USA
Date Reviewed: April 6, 2011
Strengths: 1200 + Smooth, Noiseless Trail Riding Miles
Weaknesses: So Far No Defects
Bottom Line:
I've read all the negative reviews and I don't doubt the experiences, However, i thought I should at least relate my 1200 mile no incident usage as well.
Submitted by
ebart
a Cross Country Rider
from Grand Rapids MI, USA
Date Reviewed: June 21, 2010
Strengths: Nice Buying price and lower weight.
Weaknesses: Poor seal on BB cups.
Bottom Line:
Two flippin rides one with muddy conditions. I clean me bike religiously and still the seals let in tons of grit. Know I have to pull everything and try to clean it out. NOT IMPRESSED! I am thinking of putting an older Race Face DEUS crankset back in.
Submitted by
astro-head
a Cross Country Rider
from Philadelphia, PA, USA
Date Reviewed: September 13, 2009
Strengths: Easy(?) to intall.
Weaknesses: Bearings go bad quickly
Bottom Line:
My bike came with this BB from the dealer. It went bad after about a month. I pulled it and found that the bearing was toast. It was "clocking" as it rolled over a bad ball or something about every 12th of a turn. I got the dealer to send me a replacement. After talking with SRAM I figured it had just been installed badly (I removed the cup with my hand...no tool required). It went bad again about 15 months later (about 2000 miles on the bike). I suppose this is better, but I've *never* had a BB go bad like this. Like others, I kind of like the crank, so I just purchased the same BB again.
Weaknesses: GXP Bottom Bracket (what a surprise !) - oh and useless installation instructions.
Bottom Line:
Just thought I'd share my experiences with everyone.
I purchased a Stylo Team GXP Chainset/BB a year ago after realising it would cost the same to replace the chainrings on the original factory fitted Bontrager chainset. I found installing the BB cups quite easy (using a Shimano spanner). Knowing that my old Trek had a 73mm wide BB shell I knew I wouldn't need BB spacers (they're for 68mm wide BBs). Once assembled, I found the amount of torque required to force the non-drive side crank onto the GXP BB axle confusing. It seems that you have to keep tightening it right until the non-drive side crank is almost touching the bearing seal. Any less and there will be side to side movement in the BB axle. It's a fine balance. Luckily the crank bolt is so tight at this point that there's no chance of it loosening - no loctite required here, but don't be tempted to oil the captive crank bolt.
I don't quite agree with a previous comment that states that knocking the drive-side crank with a mallet will sufficiently seat the BB axle into the drive-side bearing, to the point where the non-drive side crank bolt tightness isn't required to keep it in place. If you do this, and haven't tightened the non-drive side crank far enough onto the BB axle, it won't be long before the BB axle has slid back out of the drive-side bearing, and side to side play will suffice.
If you tighten the non-drive crank hard enough, without it pushing against the bearing, then the BB axle will become fully seated into the drive-side bearing, although a swift tap with a mallet won't do it any harm.
I found that tightening the non-drive side crank to the point where it's almost touching the bearing seal is just the right amount of tightness to keep everything snug without any introducing any sideways pressure onto the bearings. However, it doesn't take much grime between the cranks and bearings before the seals end up spinning round with the cranks (which I'm sure shouldn't happen). And anything like straw can jam itself tight into this gap. So that leads me onto the issue of the bearings. My non-drive side bearing is very rough after only about 10 long rides, most of which were muddy. I think the constant turning of the bearing seal allowed moisture to get in when it probably wouldn't have done so had it remain stationary against the bearing. Overall the GXP BB is a poor design, and I think I'm actually quite lucky in that my BB shell is just the right width, and that I'm a very experienced mechanic. I'm not surprised that so may other riders have issues. I'm going to take a risk and replace the bearings with some very nice ones (St. Steel or even ceramic) and if these don't last, the whole lots is going on eBay for £1.00
Submitted by
wazzer
a Weekend Warrior
from Preston, Lancashire, UK
Date Reviewed: November 12, 2008
Strengths: Looks great
Weaknesses: Only lasted 6 months
Bottom Line:
The Truvative crankset has been faultless (still is), but the BB dropped to bits after 6 months of very hard work. I was recommended to replace the Stylo cranks at the same time as the BB and fit Shimano instead. I choose to replace the BB only and keep the Stylo cranks because they change gear perfectly, they never suck the chain, and the chain keeps firmly in place.
Fitting the new BB was strange because the shaft appears to just touch the none drive bearing and I kept messing with the spacers to try and get the optimal fit. Then I read the instructions and fitted the BB cups with no spacers and all seems well.
I have only done 60 - 70 km with the new set up, but all seems well. The weather in the UK is miserable at the moment and the mud is ankle deep, so I will report back if they fail.
The original BB lasted 6 months, the replacement was only £19.00, which is very cheap for a BB, if it lasts another 6 months I will be quite happy, if it lasts a full year I will be back here praising Truvativ.
Strengths: Psychological - let's your competition know your on their tail
Weaknesses: Let's your competition know your on their tail
Truvativ test lab must consist of dust proof vacuum sealed zero gravity chamber
Bottom Line:
I wish I'd read these reviews before I bought - For reasons that I won't go into here I went with Truvativ to have something other than Shimano but had no idea the Stylo crank mates for life with GXP b/b.
After 4 rides my bike sounded like a garbage compactor. I cleaned the offending non-drive side out but still have to wear ear plugs after about an hour of riding when the creaking returns.
Based on the reviews below I guess I have worse to look forward to. I will try Darin's advice but have to say it doesn't look like Truvativ have fixed anything since the first review.
Submitted by
MarkMTB
a Cross Country Rider
from Durham, NC
Date Reviewed: July 3, 2008
Strengths: Started off smooth
Weaknesses: Drag when new; poor bearing seals
Bottom Line:
Smooth BB when new, though it appeared to drag more than my other bikes. Truvativ manual has a blurb about this getting better as the BB breaks in... well, as soon as that broke in, the drive-side bearing was gritty and no longer smooth. ~700 miles on it - didn't ride in bad conditions - definitely disappointed with the longevity of this BB. Unfortunately the Stylo is restricted to using a GXP BB - might switch over to an Enduro BB or swap out the whole crankset.
Bike Setup: Salsa El Mariachi; Truvativ Stylo 1.1 Crankset; 1x9 Drivetrain
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Mark
a Cross Country Rider
from Orlando, FL
Date Reviewed: January 18, 2008
Strengths: Inexpensive, well-reviewed
Weaknesses: common problem with install is NOT mentioned in the manual
Bottom Line:
Here's the solution for everyone who has a problem with the Stylo/GXP crankset creaking and/or feeling a little wobbly. This comes straight from a phone call to Truvativ tech support.
If you install the cranks and torque them to spec (35-40 lbs), you will likely NOT seat the spindle in the drive side bearing. Because of the floating (sort of) non-drive side bearing, if you just torque things to spec, you will have creaking and wobble in your crank, your crank bolt won't stay tight, your hair will fall out, your dog will run away, etc....
So how to avoid this heartbreak? Grease up the spindle and drive-side bearing. Get a soft-faced mallet (or wrap a towel around your hammer, like I did). Tap (whack?) the drive side of the spindle at the center of the chain rings a couple times to fully seat the spindle in the bearing. Then torque everything down to spec. Voila! No wobble!
Prior to doing this, my cranks wobbled a bit if you grabbed the crank arms. After I did this the wobble was GONE.
I can easily see how not doing this could result in creaking, loosening, and premature bottom bracket wear if the spindle is not fully seated in the bearing.
Hope this helps! Now that this is resolved, I love these cranks. They shift smoothly and quietly, and I do not feel any flex in them, and I am a big guy....
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