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Home | Product Reviews | Bottom Bracket | Truvativ GigaPipe Team SL 03 | ||||
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Submitted by
Stacey
a Weekend Warrior
from Calgary, AB, Canada
Date Reviewed: 6/5/2005 10:33:29 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Strengths: | Uhhhhh.... |
| Weaknesses: | Bearings/Seals are ridiculous...I'm not even convinced it has bearings at this point! |
| Similar Products Tried: | Race Face OEM Splined (Prodigy perhaps?) |
| Bike Setup: | Heckler, Fox Vanilla 125, Truvativ Holzfeller, etc.... |
| Bottom Line: | Without any question, the worst product I have ever attached to a mountain bike. I don't believe I even got 10 rides on this BB before it was finished. Now, to be fair it did still spin, as one reviewer described, when the crank arms are still attached (although it is very tight). However without the crank arms on, it was next to impossible to rotate the spindle with ones fingers. I did have a couple rides in quite wet/sloppy conditions, however I would expect a little better performance from the seals than this. In those 10 rides all the BB saw was moderate trail riding, no heavy downhilling, no real big hits, just typical trail riding. After cleaning the BB up a bit it spins better, but still far from the way it should be. My previous RF BB stood up to far more extensive abuse in it's couple years. I do not expect to buy another Truvativ BB anytime soon. |
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Submitted by
John S.
a Cross Country Rider
from Austin, TX , USA
Date Reviewed: 3/19/2005 8:42:21 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Walnut Creek Park; Muleshoe |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $40 |
| Purchased At: | Performance |
| Strengths: | It looks like a well-made, high quality product. |
| Weaknesses: | Quality/durability. It failed within one year of trail riding. I don't race and I avoid riding in wet conditions, yet the bearings became contaminated and got real rough. Even out of the box, I noticed the BB didn't spin as butter smooth like Shimano's BB do. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano BBs (E-type). Never had a problem with their products. Since I was in a bind at the time, I replaced it with a Raceface SRX BB: time will tell if their BB holds up better (or worse). |
| Bike Setup: | '02 Specialized S-Works FSR with a Truvativ Team Stylo SL crankset. |
| Bottom Line: | I would avoid purchasing this BB because it's bearing seals and durability are questionable and presently not comparable to Shimano's quality BBs. I wonder if it's just an ISIS-related design issue because I've read similar negative reviews of Raceface's BBs. |
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Submitted by
Bob H.
from San Rafael
Date Reviewed: 11/17/2004 6:27:32 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Thousand S's |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Strengths: | not too heavy |
| Weaknesses: | Quite a bit of play, crappy single bearing design, doesn't use the shimano bb tool |
| Similar Products Tried: | various shimanos and campagnolos |
| Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz Chameleon, Z1 FR SL, assorted components |
| Bottom Line: | Unless you can get a good deal on it, I would steer clear of this bb. The design isn't very good, and I've heard bad things about its durability, the play could also be a big issue if you have wide chainstays (crank hitting frame). |
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Submitted by
Tomas
a Cross Country Rider
from Gothenburg, Sweden
Date Reviewed: 8/27/2004 1:23:23 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $45 |
| Purchased At: | Jenson |
| Strengths: | Stiff, no creaking |
| Weaknesses: | Short lifetime |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano |
| Bike Setup: | Trek Fuel 98 -02 disc with plenty of x-tras, stylo team cranks |
| Bottom Line: | After having used this bottom bracket on my xc bike for one year it is no longer usable. It can be described as anything else than smooth. Caused by poor seals and/or bearings? Yes, it still spins but without the cranks installed you almost need a wrench to do it! Possibly it lasts longer only if you live and ride in sunny California, but in wet and muddy conditions: forget it! The only good things I could say is that the bb seemed stiff without noticable flex and wasn't creaking. |
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Submitted by
Steveo
a Cross Country Rider
from Pittsburgh
Date Reviewed: 8/16/2004 6:10:27 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Strengths: | Stiff maybe |
| Weaknesses: | bearings and/or seals |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano octalink, Raceface taper |
| Bike Setup: | Owl hollow, marzochi 80, sram, avid v,Truvativ cranks, cane creek wheels |
| Bottom Line: | Went Isis cause I bent my turbines and got a deal on the Truvativ cranks + bottom bracket. Unfortunately, after some good rides and one wet race, the bottom bracket bearing, non-drive side, froze. Totally soaked it in lube and got it running but have had problems ever since with the bearings not being able to handle wet weather. Now there's play, probably from wear on the non-drive side cone/stiff bearing. I'm just not into disassembly and BB lube jobs after every ride. SOOO, got a american classic with replacable/servicable bearings, and if this doesn't work will try race face. I've heard this is a problem with ISIS, but I've had a shimano xt octalink that has NEVER had problems, can shimano make ISIS???? |
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Submitted by
Dave
a Cross Country Rider
from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada!
Date Reviewed: 8/13/2004 7:47:02 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $42 |
| Purchased At: | JensonUSA |
| Strengths: | Still runs smooth despite lots of mud and clay over fall, spring, and summer. |
| Weaknesses: | None |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano XT square taper |
| Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz Heckler, 5th Element coil, Fox Vanilla 125R forx, Truvativ FireX ISIS cranks |
| Bottom Line: | I thought I suffered from bottom bracket or ISIS creaking issues. However, it was a mis-diagnosis that I battled in futility for 6 months. The Truvativ bottom bracket and crank set were actually creak-free. The driveline creak originated from my beefy rear wheel drop-out. It was slightly misaligned to my frame and I suspect the mounting bolts weren't tight enough. Now that I've solved the drop-out issue, my bike runs creak-free under the hardest pedaling! I'd just like to say that Truvativ tech support offered suggestions to help troubleshoot the issue and were willing to stand up for their warranty. Dave Blackburn was a true gentleman. The GigaPipe Team SL has taken some pretty serious beats at my hands. I ride aggressive XC with lots of rocks and roots and some drops around 2' - 3'. I've also used it for DH a couple of times. The BB is still smooth and spins effortlessly. No loss of containment, no grit. I'm very happy with this product. |
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Submitted by
Carl-Arnold Wilke
a Cross Country Rider
from Stuttgart
Date Reviewed: 7/27/2004 2:13:26 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Lake Garda |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $65 |
| Purchased At: | Supergo Santa Monica |
| Strengths: | Good brand image !!!! |
| Weaknesses: | The quality and endurance !!! |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano XT and FSA |
| Bike Setup: | Tomac 98 special pro |
| Bottom Line: | This BB was part of a Tomac 98 special pro which I bought in october 2003. From the first day on, I have had problems with creaks coming from the cranks/bottom bracket. After 3 months stress my bike dealer in Germany replaced this bracket and find out that all bearings are demaged. He recommended not to use another Truvativ Giga Pipe SL BB because other customers of his shop have had the same experience. Now I use a FSA Platinum pro BB and there is no problem. Truvativ is doing a good advertising job, all the young kids want to have Truvativ products, because they are 'cool' but the quality is really poor!!! |
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Submitted by
Josh
a Cross Country Rider
from Cairns Australia
Date Reviewed: 7/22/2004 10:05:25 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $65 |
| Purchased At: | LBS |
| Strengths: | Lightweight and smooth bearings initially |
| Weaknesses: | Bearings, Bearings, bloody bearings. |
| Similar Products Tried: | 02 Truvativ SL |
| Bike Setup: | SPecialized Epic, Magura, Dukes, XT and Firex SL |
| Bottom Line: | This one was a warranty for the previous years model that died. This time the bearings take contaminants inside and every thing locks up after the bike sits (See Gregor's review). It took nearly a year so I accept that bearings generally only last that long but I can't get replacement bearings in Australia and Truvative reckon it's too expensive to send stuff over here. So whats the point in the damn thing being rebuildable????? Might as well be a Shimano throw away. Potentially a good BB but usless because of a lack of back up. Buy it if you only ride on dry roads. |
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Submitted by
base rider
from uk
Date Reviewed: 7/7/2004 10:59:55 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $45 |
| Purchased At: | chain reaction |
| Strengths: | bearings seem fine lightweight |
| Weaknesses: | small splines resulted in play on the interface with my northshores have to use pecial tool |
| Similar Products Tried: | shimano octalink |
| Bottom Line: | The splines on this are too small, which means that there's play on the interface between this and my northshores. its not the cranks because it's fine with other bb's. if it fits with your cranks fine im sure its great - the bearings have been fine in mine while ive had it. you also need a pretty expensive tool to get it properly fitted, although it can be bodged with a screwdriver and a hammer. i am replacing miune with something from the fsa range with the correct sized splines and that fit onto the usual tool |
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Submitted by
michel
a Weekend Warrior
from france
Date Reviewed: 5/5/2004 11:29:42 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | mountain single tracks |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Strengths: | NA |
| Weaknesses: | quality, endurance, waranty, amazing internal increasing clearance |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano XT bottom bracket |
| Bike Setup: | Cannondale Jeckyl 800 |
| Bottom Line: | the worst product i ever used. do not buy such a junk part even if the crankshaft is not so bad. do not replace this giga pipe by a TI model, it will have the same spanlife : about 90 days. sorry for Mr. TRUVATIV |
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Submitted by
Uthman Ray IV
a Racer
from Los Angeles, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: 2/24/2004 12:15:08 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | all trails in Santa Barbara |
| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Strengths: | Stiff, strong, low maintenance, installation instructions written on it, spline design keeps crank arms from coming loose |
| Weaknesses: | Some type of lock ring on the non-drive side would be nice, but not at all necessary. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano XTR and XT, Race Face |
| Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz Heckler and V-10, w/WTB, Fox, Hayes, Truvativ, Easton and Thomson components. |
| Bottom Line: | I would definitely recommend this bottom bracket--its stiff, light weight, reliable, easy to install, and works great with chainguides. I have heard complaints of them coming loose and creaking, however have never experienced either myself---most problems could be due to improper installation/maintenance. So, make sure you follow the instructions when you install this bottom bracket, and install the correct spacers for your application. If you are riding in wet weather--no matter what bottom bracket you use--you will need to regrease it occasionally. Along with the Truvativ Holzfeller cranks, this setup provides a great setup for aggressive riding. |
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Submitted by
Bob
a Weekend Warrior
from NJ
Date Reviewed: 11/4/2003 4:44:15 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $44 |
| Purchased At: | jensonusa |
| Strengths: | It lasted for 6 months |
| Weaknesses: | It lasted for 6 months |
| Bike Setup: | Id, Thompson, Avid discs, WTB, custom wheels w/ AmCl disc hubs, Romic, XT/LX for durability, Monkeylite, Schwalbe King Jims, |
| Bottom Line: | What a piece of junk! It started creaking at 5 months, and now, at 6 months its wobbling. So this is the last Gigapipe I'll buy. After the first one had to be returned b/c of wobble right out of the box, now this one lasts only 6 months....shame on you Truvativ! |
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Submitted by
T
a Cross Country Rider
from Tampa
Date Reviewed: 7/13/2003 1:53:00 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $49 |
| Strengths: | ISIS Drive, price. |
| Weaknesses: | None noted to date. |
| Bike Setup: | Specialized FSRxc. |
| Bottom Line: | This is my first ISIS drive bottom bracket, bought in conjunction with a Truvativ Firex crank. Tech support was good both before and after the purchase. Both went on easily and have performed very well to date. I installed both myself with minimal difficulty and excellent results.(This was the first time I have ever replaced either component.) To date, I have had neither squeaks nor undue flex. Overall I feel that this BB/Crank combination is an excellent combination of value and performance. |
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Submitted by
Gregor
a Cross Country Rider
from Ketchum
Date Reviewed: 6/26/2003 11:49:20 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | snail :) |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Strengths: | straightforward installation |
| Weaknesses: | bearings are rough after less than two months |
| Similar Products Tried: | XTR, XT, Race Face |
| Bike Setup: | YBB |
| Bottom Line: | Installed this BB this spring, has probably 500 miles on it, washed the bike with a hose a couple of days ago.......not pressurized, just water pouring out of hose....put bike in stand to dry... went to lube chain yesterday and the cranks didn't want to turn. With a little effort, I got them to spin, but noticed that they aren't smooth. Pulled the cranks off and noticed that there is "roughness" when you spin the BB. Everything is still tight and there is the "good" resistance from the grease, but there's obviously "contaminants" inside the BB now. It won't really be noticeable riding (for now), but I have a feeling that the BB will have a very short life. |
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Submitted by
Chance Richie
a Cross Country Rider
from Austin, TX
Date Reviewed: 3/22/2003 7:04:27 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Emma Long |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $45 |
| Purchased At: | Mystic Cycles |
| Strengths: | Hasn't broken |
| Similar Products Tried: | Some Specialized crap |
| Bike Setup: | Specialized Enduro w/ Raceface, Chris King, Marzocchi MX Comp, Cane Creek Cloud Nine, XTR shifters and deraileurs. |
| Bottom Line: | How do you review a BB? It either works or it doesn't. For as light as this one is it doesn't creak and it holds up well under extreme conditions. I have been riding through alot of mud and mess as the snow melts and the rain comes (I am in CT for awhile) and I have had no problems. I definitely noticed a huge difference in the stiffness of my drivetrain since last season but I don't know if that is the Gigapipe or the Raceface Next cranks I added at the same time. |
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