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Submitted by
Steve Johnson
a Cross Country Rider
from Port Angleles, WA
Date Reviewed: March 9, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | Gold Creek | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$90.00 | | Purchased At: | Cambria | | Strengths: | Light weight, Easy to install, Ti spindle | | Weaknesses: | Bearings | | Similar Products Used: | American classic 6yrs(still in commuter bike), Shimano XT,LX, | | Bike Setup: | Tracer W/Uzzi Sl link, Romic, RS PsyloRaceAir, Martas, titans, Hadley signature hubs, 317s, XO rear, XTR front | | Bottom Line: | The hollow ti spindle on the jis is beautiful. The bearings are another story. Here's my tail of woe. Bearings failed after only 260 mi in usually mucky conditions that require a bike hosing after every ride. I do not hit the BB area with a direct full force stream while washing. I noticed creaking and on inspection found the crank spin rough. So I pop the BB apart and notice that there was NO evidence of contamination. I take the bearings down to Kaman industrial supply where Ken reads the seal and orders up replacements. They arrive in a day and the bearings are a different size even though the numbers match exactly! FSA, in their infinite wisdom, took a user serviceable bearing and modified it thereby making it proprietary. So I called FSA and the Rep was very nice and said that yes the BB was not serviceable but that it was under warranty and they would replace it, which they did in a timely fashion. The "new one" is now running rough after 300 mi of the same stuff. So I might ask what good it does to run a beautiful spindle on non-serviceable crap bearings? Reading the BB reviews it looks like Phil Wood knows how to make a high quality BB and I have already ordered one from Speedgoat. Don't waste your doe on FSA posers, cry once and pop for the best you can't afford. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
e
a Downhiller
from honolulu
Date Reviewed: September 14, 2003 | | Favoriate Trail: | all | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | LIGHT WEIGHT, STRONG, | | Weaknesses: | DURABILITY | | Similar Products Used: | XTR | | Bike Setup: | SWEET | | Bottom Line: | UPDATE TO PREV. REVIEW: THIS BB WORKED GREAT FOR 1 YEAR. IT IS REALLY MY FAULT THE BEARINGS ARE WORN SINCE I USE IT ON MY FREERIDE BIKE. GREAT FOR XCOUNTRY. I WAS DOING ROUTINE MAINT. AND FOUND THAT THE BEARING WERE REALLY ROUGH. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
crazyi harris
a Racer
from san antonio tejas
Date Reviewed: September 4, 2003 | | Favoriate Trail: | flat rock ranch ,comfort tejas | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$89.00 | | Purchased At: | jenson.usa | | Strengths: | light weight. fair price! GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE !!!!! | | Weaknesses: | bearing did'nt seem to last that long . but better than other review's listed ! | | Similar Products Used: | race face ti ,shimano | | Bike Setup: | haro 2002 werks xls, white bros. at-4 fork.chis king wheelset.easton mk lite bar.truvatia team crankset, eggbeater. | | Bottom Line: | bearing's seem to fail a little to soon.But with great customer ser. i will always be using FSA product's !!!!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ted Kanemitsu
a Weekend Warrior
from Kualapuu, Hi. USA
Date Reviewed: July 20, 2003 | | Favoriate Trail: | Blood Drive | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$85.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Light. | | Weaknesses: | Noisy. In fact, after about 6 months, it frozed up on me. Although I should have sent it in for warranty work, I decided to see if I could fix it myself. I found that there was no way I could open the thing. It's entirely sealed. I soaked the whole thing in lube over night, and let it drain for a couple of hours. Now the thing seems to be working fine. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano UN-72 | | Bike Setup: | 13 inch Specialized M-2 StumpJumper,XTR,9.0SL, Chris King W/S, Easton EC90 bar & seat post, Avocet O2-Air 40, Avid Ultimate levers, Arch Rival brakes, FSA XC-120 stem, Race Face Next crankset, Cane Creek H/S, SRAM P-69 chain, Kenda Klimax tires, Aprox. 19 pounds. | | Bottom Line: | I think I would have bought the Race Face Ti. with adjustable chain line. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
derby
a Cross Country Rider
from San Anselmo
Date Reviewed: February 18, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$80.00 | | Purchased At: | Cambria | | Strengths: | About 15 - 20 grams lighter than Raceface Signature or Prodegy (minimal weight savings not work the extra money for ti) | | Weaknesses: | Sloppy bearings when installed, rapid wear (typical ISIS design defect due to small ball bearings required to fit larger spindle. RaceFace ISIS wore out just as fast)) | | Similar Products Used: | RaceFace's Signature XS and Prodegy | | Bike Setup: | Tracer, 4 inch travel, coil F&R, Avid disc | | Bottom Line: | I suspect lighter rider will get better usable life than I do. I'm 200 lbs and climb a lot. I'm getting about 1,000 miles use out of each ISIS BB. The ISIS design appears to be defective. The smaller ball bearings wear out very quickly compared to any square taper Shimano LX, XT, XTR. Riding roughly the same amount of time on the same trails I'd get 1.5 years out of Shimano UN72 (XT), or about 6,000 miles use. I've worn out 2 Raceface Prodigy's, 1 RF Signature XS, and now the FSA ti. All the RaceFace BB's started out tight and became unusably sloppy in 4 - 5 months, The FSA started out with some slop (like a 1/3 worn out RaceFace, but didn't deteriorate noticeably until the last few weeks before ring shifting became impaired and the slop was overwhelming.
I'll continue to swap worn out ISIS BB's for the 2 year warrantee duration. Both RaceFace and FSA have been replacing them with new. The latest RaceFace Signature has wider looking bearings. It sure is nice to have tight BB again. Hopefully it will last longer.
I'm giving the 2 chili's over all rather than 1 because the bigger hollow spindles make any bike noticeably less flexy pedaling.
| Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
e
a
from honolulu
Date Reviewed: February 17, 2003 | | Favoriate Trail: | DH | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$70.00 | | Purchased At: | raging isle | | Strengths: | super light, durable, silky smooth, no maintenance, stiff | | Weaknesses: | none | | Similar Products Used: | XTR on my other bike | | Bike Setup: | stylo team, XTR, DH and Free ride | | Bottom Line: | This BB has been great. I have beaten it and bashed the cranks, and once installed I never had to re-adjust. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bob
a Cross Country Rider
from Red Bank, NJ
Date Reviewed: March 21, 2002 | | Favoriate Trail: | Any in Pisgah Nat. Forest, NC | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$100.00 | | Purchased At: | biketoolsetc.com | | Strengths: | Incredibly lightweight and stronger than other Ti BB's (such as Raceface). FSA uses a special smaller 14mm Crankarm bolt..which gives you more Ti in the BB, making it stronger. FSA has no weight restriction to ride on this ISIS Ti BB. | | Weaknesses: | The product is not precision manufactured., (In my experience). I have my BB teamed up with FSA's Carbon Pro 4-Arm 175mm Crankset. During installation I found that the Crankarms would not seat all the way down on the BB.
Therefore the BB was slightly to large or the Isis crank splines were too tight.
After much patience, a lot of grease, and a few rides I have almost been able to get the arms all the way down.
Because the arms are not seated...each time I ride the arms work their way down a little and the crankbolt gets loose.
Eventually I think they will seat. If you are not aware of this problem and don't know to tighten the bolts each time you take a ride.. you are looking at a disaster in the making.
| | Similar Products Used: | XTR | | Bike Setup: | Trek STP 400 | | Bottom Line: | In all fairness I think FSA is having some growing pains.
This seems to be an excellent product. If you consider that the FSA Crank and BB setup weighs 8-1/2 ounces less (yes..I weighed it..LOL). than an XTR crank and BB. That is over 1/2 lbs. on a centrifugal bike part!!!!!!
It brings my bike down to the 19lb area and it feels anti-gravitational!!
I weigh 200lbs...so after I have the product for a while I will post again and rate the durability.
My chilis are a little low… I feel that I shelled out $400 for a Crankset and BB and it should be built to spec. I think if FSA fine-tunes the product is will be 5-1/2 chilis across the board!
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
W. Smith
a Cross Country Rider
from Denver
Date Reviewed: October 30, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$100.00 | | Purchased At: | the bike pitt | | Strengths: | Lightweight, splined design. Reasonably stiff. | | Weaknesses: | Bearings are a hair rough | | Similar Products Used: | XTR and Truvativ ISIS | | Bike Setup: | Sugar 1, next Lp crank | | Bottom Line: | Almost too early to tell, but to this point the BB feels stiff enough and has not squeaked or loosened since the initial install.
The weight of this unit is awesome!! If a Ti BB has a chance for those of us over 170 the splined design is it. I will beat it up this winter and check back. So far no complaints it is solid and light. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Paul Lang
a Cross Country Rider
from Asia
Date Reviewed: August 23, 2001 | | Favoriate Trail: | any trail. | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | lbs | | Strengths: | light, smooth. | | Weaknesses: | flexy. not as durable as xt/xtr by far. | | Similar Products Used: | lx, xt, xtr | | Bike Setup: | fastrax hardtail, easton ct2 flatbar and seatpost, easton ea70 stem, king headset, 01 Sid XC, Complete XTR drivetrain and brakes (bar ritchey cranks and fsa ti bb), crosslinks, Mt.Baldy tyres, SDG saddle. | | Bottom Line: | This is my third bb in 12 months since the last two fell apart. I train 5 days a week and average 800kms a month so a 3200km lifespan isn't shockingly short compared to around 4500kms with an xt or xtr. I never service my bb's (though I know I should) because I just buy a new one as soon as I feel it's time for it to go.
The main problem is that I feel it is too flexy for my liking compared to an xt or pre-splined xtr. I weigh 178lbs so I guess this product would suit anyone 160lbs or under. I suppose all ti bb's perform similar?
The sealing seems to work quite well, and its darn smooth too - pity about the flex.
Hope this helps. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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