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Submitted by
wazzer
a Weekend Warrior
from Preston, Lancashire, UK
Date Reviewed: November 12, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | Glentress | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | Wiggle.com | | Strengths: | Looks great | | Weaknesses: | Only lasted 6 months | | Similar Products Used: | Deore XT, Race Face | | Bike Setup: | Orange 5 S | | 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. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rewi
a Cross Country Rider
from NZ
Date Reviewed: November 11, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | RotoVegas | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | 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 | | Similar Products Used: | XT/XTR | | Bike Setup: | Maverick Durance; SRAM XO; DT Swiss | | 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. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
MarkMTB
a Cross Country Rider
from Durham, NC
Date Reviewed: July 3, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | Anything in Pisgah | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Started off smooth | | Weaknesses: | Drag when new; poor bearing seals | | Similar Products Used: | Bontrager ISIS | | Bike Setup: | Salsa El Mariachi; Truvativ Stylo 1.1 Crankset; 1x9 Drivetrain | | 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. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mark
a Cross Country Rider
from Orlando, FL
Date Reviewed: January 18, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | SAntos | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$90.00 | | Purchased At: | Ebay | | Strengths: | Inexpensive, well-reviewed | | Weaknesses: | common problem with install is NOT mentioned in the manual | | Bike Setup: | 2005 Jamis Dakar XC Expert | | 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.... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
darin
a
from Harrisburg, Pa. USA
Date Reviewed: December 27, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | All of them | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Purchased At: | Came in the build kit with my new bike | | Strengths: | Simple | | Weaknesses: | Not installed correctly by either the dealer or Santa Cruz, who ever put the bike together. Not the products fault though. | | Bike Setup: | Nomad, Sram X9, Fox Float 36RC2, Fox 5.0 DHXAir | | Bottom Line: | I fealt I needed to put a review up after my experience and reading all of the bad reviews on here.
Please read through this, I think some of the problems people are experiencing may be from improper setup.
I bought a new Nomad about 3 weeks ago and in the first 1/2 mile of riding it the cranks came loose. I stopped and tightened them but within another 1/2 mile they were loose again. This time I tightened them tighter but when I did the cranks got tight and didn't want to turn. I shortened up the ride so I wouldn't ruing the BB and it was raining anway.
When I got home I pulled the BB apart to try and figure what the problem was but everything looked fine. I searched for the BB instructions on Sram's site but couldn't find them. So Monday I called the dealer, explained the issues and was told to clean the bolt threads that hold the cranks on, use blue loctite and torque it down to the suggested rating. Since the cranks got tight that they wouldn't turn when I tried tightening them with just an allen on the trail, I tried torquing it without the loctite. Specs were 35-40 ft lbs and the cranks got tight at 10.
To make a long story short I called Truvativ tech line, from our discussion the tech thought the issue was due to both spacers for the BB cups being installed on one side instead of one on each side. I also had the tech direct me to the online manual. When I spoke to the tech guy he was pretty pissed about "all of the dealers" telling people to just use blue loctite on it.
Once I got the manual I figured out the problem was due to the BB being installed WITH the spacers. The BB kit comes with two spacers, depending on your frame width you either use no spacers or two spacers. The frame width of the Nomad should not have any spacers installed. Hence the reason the cranks got tight and didn't want to turn when I tighten the crank bolt.
I bought the BB cup socket, removed the two spacers from the drive side (both spacers should NEVER be installed on the same side BTW) and torqued the cranks down to 38 ft/lbs. with NO loctite. I have ridden several more times in ice, snow, mud and rain and the BB has been working perfectly.
Whith what the Truvati tech guy said about the dealers telling people to use blue loctite and reading the issues everyone has had with bearings it just makes me wonder how many of these BB's are installed wrong cuasing the bearings to fail. When the wrong combination of spacers are installed the crank bolt puts extra side load on the bearing which would cause them to wear out very quickly.
I'll report back after another month or so of winter riding to let everyone know if my BB is still working properly.
BTW one of the guys I ride with has the same crank/BB setup for over a year and loves it.
For now there is no reason for anything less than a five flaming chilli report..... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
dave
a
from god's country usa
Date Reviewed: September 20, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | hmmmmmm?? the black color matched my bike. | | Weaknesses: | mostly the whole thing, including disassembly | | Similar Products Used: | plastic cutouts on a pencil | | Bottom Line: | CRAP. swap this out now. Both my mtn bike and road bike have Truvativ cranks.. both are crap. Bearings wear out fast and on both bikes a little aluminum sleeve gets wedges on the spline so I can't even pull the cranks off. The first time, I ended up forcing this sleeve through that plastic. ya, lots of hammering that I don't like to do to a bike. Last night I had to hack saw it off. I can't believe companies (bike) are putting this crap on their bikes.
TRUVATIV, please read these reviews and fix your crap! or at least make it compatible with another BB, That way you can still get your label on the cranks, and we can live happily ever after knowing our BB doesn't suck. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Stevius
a Downhiller
from Blacksburg, VA USA
Date Reviewed: September 10, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | Jacob's Ladder | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$150.00 | | Strengths: | Quiet, Sturdy, Cost-effective | | Weaknesses: | Installation, you MUST have your frame faced (its only $15 and I was probably getting scammed) | | Bike Setup: | Marin Northside Trail, SRAM components (mixed x5 and x7) ethirteen guard | | Bottom Line: | Great bracket. I don't understand what all these folks are talking about. I ride mine pretty hard, jumps, downhill, stair sets, maybe even a thousand miles and haven't heard so much as a click out of it. I think the problem must have occured during the installation. I installed it myself but I had my shop face my frame first. !!!If you don't have your BB shell faced its going to screw up, simply because of the way in which the technology works!!! If you don't follow the instructions you will most likely destroy it. So learn to read, Yo... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Willi Coyote
a Cross Country Rider
from Bad-Homburg, Germany.
Date Reviewed: August 30, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$150.00 | | Strengths: | Weight. Price. (as a crankset). | | Weaknesses: | Complete rubbish. poor quality. noise. NO Alternative if purchase as part of a crenkset. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano LX. | | Bike Setup: | LiteSpeed. RS 140mm. Sram X-O, Truvativ Stylo.... | | Bottom Line: | Supplied with TruVativ crank set Stylo.
No alternative BB at this time. FSA = same problem.
I hope truvativ will get some better lagers for this product.
Buy Shimano's BB or crankset. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Zack Geyer
a Racer
from Green Bay, WI
Date Reviewed: August 19, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | slickrock | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | None cept it fits my frame and my crank | | Weaknesses: | Complete garbage!!! this bb came standard in my fisher and went bad after 4 or 5 races. I riped it apart, cleaned and relubed it and got by the rest of the season on a grinding bb. then i tried to replace it with a fsa one which was garbage also so i decided to give the GXP another try. It failed after two races. | | Similar Products Used: | FSA mega exo (crap), Shimano's external bb (really nice and long lasting), and many others | | Bike Setup: | Fisher Big Sur wit upgraded parts | | Bottom Line: | Dont Waste your time!!! Spend the extra money on shimano's bb totally worth it. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
keith lawson
a
from newcastle; england
Date Reviewed: July 30, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$30.00 | | Strengths: | Stiff; cheap to replace when it breaks | | Weaknesses: | Constantly having to replace it when it breaks | | Similar Products Used: | UN73 | | Bike Setup: | Stock stumpjumper 07 | | Bottom Line: | I've broke 2 of these; the last one lasted 1 ride! Basically if you ride in very muddy conditions the bearings get mud in them then will fail unless serviced subsequently.
If you think overhauling your BB every time you do a muddy ride would be fun or you live somewhere with little or no mud then maybe consider it otherwise look elsewhere.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Nick White
a Cross Country Rider
from Halifax
Date Reviewed: June 11, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | 50 | | Strengths: | weight, smoothness | | Weaknesses: | durability, design | | Similar Products Used: | shimano XT and LX | | Bike Setup: | Specialized stumpjumper M2, XT all round, truvative stylo crankset | | Bottom Line: | I bought this truvativ stylo crankset less than a year ago after reading some good reviews on it and because it was on sale for much cheaper than an equivalent shimano set-up. It worked so nice for quite awhile, but i ride this bike almost daily and after about 4 months it started grinding on the drive side. This causes my crankarms to loosen and the drive side bearings are now all but seized. Apparently riding in the rain is not an option with the GXP BBs. Its a shame because i love the stylo, it shifts perfectly and has hardly worn at all, but the GXP is such a let down. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Sam
a
from London, UK
Date Reviewed: June 2, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$75.00 | | Strengths: | Fairly cheap. | | Weaknesses: | Strength, durability | | Similar Products Used: | FSA Mega-Exo | | Bike Setup: | Stock 2006 Trek Fuel EX8 | | Bottom Line: | Supplied as standard fit with a Bontrager crankset all seemed well at first - smooth pedalling, good power transfer and they looked OK too.
In 150 miles the drive-side BB cup has failed twice. The first time it was replaced under warranty, failing after 50 miles. I thought it was down to bad luck but the shop claimed I'd abused the bike with a jet-wash and forced dirt into the bearings. The second one failed after only another 100 miles of riding (and no jet-wash) - the usual creaking and 1-2mm of play in the drive-side crank.
OK so at 200lbs I'm not the lightest of riders but I don't ride particularly hard, preferring fast, flowing singletrack to technical trails with lot of drops.
To have gone through two BB cups in 150 miles seems to me like there's a fairly significant problem. I'm not bothering to take it back to the shop this time - instead I'll swap it (and the whole crankset) for a Shimano rig. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Derek
a Cross Country Rider
from Welland, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: May 14, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | not sure | | Weaknesses: | durability | | Bike Setup: | Custom built Giant NRS | | Bottom Line: | I bought this bottom bracket with my Stylo Team GXP crankset. I figured it was about the same weight as Shimano XT but a little less $$$ and I thought all the external type bearings were interchangeable. WRONG!!!! The GXP is the only BB I can use with my Stylo and the bearings are shot after only half a season of riding. This really makes me mad, I love the crank, the chainwheels are holding up beautifully and it shifts like a dream. I have now purchased an XT crankset as I see absolutely no point in spending $50 for another BB that will only last another 4 months or so. At least with the XT crank, I can use Phil Wood bearings with this crank if the Shimano bearings turn out to be just as crappy. I just hope the bearings will get me through my first race of the season without seizing. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Virgile
a Racer
from Lausanne, Switzerland
Date Reviewed: April 15, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | Rochat Cycles | | Strengths: | Few friction (when new) | | Weaknesses: | Durability | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XT & XTR | | Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz Blur XC, SRAM XO, ... | | Bottom Line: | First BB out of order after 800 km of riding in quite dry conditions. Second BB after only 30 km training and a 130km race in wet conditions. Really disappointing for a so-called hi-end component. Decided to change for a reliable (Shimano) BB & crankset... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Christian Antal
a Cross Country Rider
from Oslo
Date Reviewed: February 11, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | US dealer | | Strengths: | Lightweight | | Weaknesses: | Seales, durability | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XT, XTR | | Bike Setup: | IF Ti deluxe, Pace RCti/Fox100, SRAM X0, Marta SLs, XC300, WCS | | Bottom Line: | BB came with Truvative Stylo Carbon GXP crankset.
BB only lasted a couple of months, then seized. Arms do not turn, and there is excessive vertical play in the bearings. There are also bulges on the plastic bearing covers. These bearings are not good for BBs, that's for sure. I wouldn't buy this BB again, seems also SRMA has moved more towards sealed BBs.
PS: I've had good experiences with other Truvative/SRAM products | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
pinkheadedbug
a Cross Country Rider
from Toronto, ON
Date Reviewed: November 9, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | pricepoint | | Strengths: | smooth, stiff, light, easy installation, relatively cheap for the quality | | Weaknesses: | seals, durability, maintainability, proprietary design | | Bike Setup: | Niner SIR9 w/ Truvativ Stylo cranks & SRAM X0 Drivetrain | | Bottom Line: | Got this as part of a pricepoint.com build kit. Went in easily and I was impressed by how smooth and stiff it seemed. However after a couple of days at Kingdom Trails in the rain (during which time the BB was submerged in muddy water a couple of times) it started to crunch. I removed the BB and realized one of the bearings was shot after only 500 miles or less. Sand had gotten in through the seals on the external bearings. When I tried to remove the bearing to replace it, I realized YOU CAN'T. The whole BB was toast. Worse, because of the proprietary design, my choices were either (a) buy another GXP or (b) buy another crankset AND another BB.
I ended up buying another GXP. So far so good with 200 miles on it and it really does feel nice but I am pretty sure it is going to have durability issues like the other one. I wouldn't buy this again if I had a a choice. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Todd
a Cross Country Rider
from Garner, NC
Date Reviewed: August 3, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Nice seals, doesn't creak. | | Similar Products Used: | Race Face x-type, Shimano. | | Bottom Line: | Seems like a nice BB. It runs smooth and is easy to service. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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