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Home | Product Reviews | Bottom Bracket | Race Face Evolve FR | ||||
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Submitted by
Stuart
a Downhiller
from Abbotsford, B.C.
Date Reviewed: 12/28/2005 2:06:21 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | dirt merchant |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $50 |
| Purchased At: | lbs |
| Strengths: | It worked nice for a few months......i guess..... |
| Weaknesses: | I was riding along one day after a good ride, and i was climbing a particularly large hill, when i heard a crack and my cranks stopped turning. A crack is NEVER a good thing on a mountain bike. Turns out, the bearing housing cracked open and the ball bearings were falling out. WHAT THE HELL?!?! |
| Similar Products Tried: | raceface prodigy, truvative gigapipe |
| Bike Setup: | morphine with freeride spec |
| Bottom Line: | The bottom bracket should be the most dependable thing on a bike. THERE ARE WAL-MART BIKES that have had bottom brackets that lasted longer than this!!!!!! Never mind a raceface product...I mean, COME ON! I dont think I'll be buying a new raceface bottom bracket again. As soon as my prodigy wears out, i'm going x-type or something similar |
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Submitted by
Greg
a Weekend Warrior
from Canada
Date Reviewed: 12/24/2005 9:52:53 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Price Paid: | $55 |
| Purchased At: | Bike Canada |
| Strengths: | Strong, Smooth, Longest lasting BB yet |
| Similar Products Tried: | Truvative |
| Bike Setup: | 2003 Norco Team NS, 2005 888VF, Doublewides, Kona Buldge Cranks,Kenda Kinetics |
| Bottom Line: | I've had this BB since 2003, started feeling rough in 2004, roughness went away, have done many jumps and drops, lots of flat landings still going strong, Best BB I've ever used. I don't ride in alot of wet conditions which is probably why its lasted so long. I would recommend this for all types of riding, unless your a weight weenie |
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Submitted by
isis go bye bye
a Cross Country Rider
from Parts Unknown
Date Reviewed: 9/23/2005 9:03:37 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | 503 spurs |
| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Price Paid: | $55 |
| Purchased At: | Pricepoint & Speedgoat |
| Strengths: | Was better than a lot of other ISIS BB's I've purchased, but product life was still short. |
| Weaknesses: | I've been through about 10 of these things and have finally given up on them- they lasted about a month of XC riding in the midwest. The creaking is unbelieveable- I blow $3,000+ on a mountian bike and the only, and I mean ONLY problem I've been having is with the ISIS system on the thing- I have finally learned (the hard way) about the ISIS hype (I think the manufacturers of the isis BB's are more interested in repeat business than desingning a quality BB-that's my personal opinion). Race Face can be happy though, they got a lot of business out of me, but they will get no more, I've switched to a square taper set up and am running a Shimano now with no problems, and the good thing is the Shimano rides like a Cadillac (nice and smooth) in comparison to the Race Face. Another weakness of this product is, that when I use it and the creaking is doing it's thing, the little kids on the Wall Mart bikes look at me like... "what's wrong with your bike"?. What's wrong with it? I was smart enough to spend the $$ for quality components and get the desired results, but not informed enough to know that any ISIS system is not a quality component. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Truvative, FSA, others |
| Bike Setup: | Blur, fox shocks, easton bar, thompson post & stem, Mavic- all good stuff (except for the BB when it was isis) |
| Bottom Line: | THANK GOD isis is out of my life! Man what a freaking head ache! I'm sorry, but the concept of spending thousands on a mountian bike and then having the pleasure derived from it decreased substantilly because of a (in my opinion) part that is designed to have a short life, sucks! Jesus, the thing is a $50 part and it makes my bike creak like a freaking ROCKING CHAIR- GIVE ME A BREAK!! I think the isis "syndicate" should redefine their marketing strategy and not put so much focus on "measured failure & repeat sales" and give the consumer a little more respect... this is mountian biking... I thought we were a group of people that were above taking advantage of "situations". ISIS guys, you know how to design a quality BB, so please do it. |
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Submitted by
Gary White
a Cross Country Rider
from LONDON, UK
Date Reviewed: 3/25/2005 3:31:44 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Old Springs Trail, Marin, Ca |
| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Price Paid: | $50 |
| Purchased At: | Cycle Surgery, LONDON, UK |
| Strengths: | Fit-and forget, strong, not too heavy, ISIS system |
| Weaknesses: | Some people say premature wear but I haven't experienced that after 3 years on 3000 miles. |
| Similar Products Tried: | RF Signature XS & FR, Prodigy |
| Bike Setup: | Cove Stiffee FR 17” frame (2002 model); Mavic F618FR rims with Hope Bulb hubs; Panaracer tyres (various, change with seasons); Hope C2 brake system; Race Face Turbine LP crankset 44-32-22 and RF Prodigy ISIS BB; Shimano 12-32 XT cassette; Sachs PC69/99 chain; Shimano M636 DX pedals; Fox Float RLC forks (set@ 100mm travel); Race Face Prodigy seat post, Easton EA50 Monkey riser bars, Easton EA50 stem (90mm, 10 degree rise), Koobi SI saddle; XT shifters (non-rapid rise) and front mech, XTR rear mech (non-rapid rise), XTR cable set; Chris King headset. |
| Bottom Line: | Much better than their twice as expensive and now discontinued Signature series (see my review for XS BB). Fit and forget, very strong. NB Spacing washers are used for a 68mm BB shell width. The drive side needs to be tight and bottomed out on the washer when fitting, otherwise it will work loose after 100miles, leading to crank wobble and shifting problems. I tighten the drive side first and then tighten the non-drive side until it bottoms out. I don't jet wash around the BB area and I have two Prodigy BBs on two bikes and I have had no premature wear problems. |
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Submitted by
Chris
a Downhiller
from Sussex, England
Date Reviewed: 1/30/2005 7:19:20 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $80 |
| Purchased At: | Chain Reaction Cycles |
| Strengths: | Strong axles |
| Weaknesses: | Bearings |
| Similar Products Tried: | Many $himano units |
| Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz Bullit |
| Bottom Line: | Have used these cranks for about 9 months and the bearings are completely shot. Having to send back for a replacement under warranty. In comparison i have used a $himano UN72 for over 5 years before buying this and i swapped it to my hardtail as it still spins smoothly. Come on RaceFace sort your act out with your bottom brackets. |
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Submitted by
gonzostrike
a Downhiller
from missoula MT
Date Reviewed: 11/13/2004 4:02:08 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | yo mammy |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $50 |
| Purchased At: | Bike Doctor |
| Strengths: | price, smooth bearings |
| Weaknesses: | early failure |
| Similar Products Tried: | Truvativ Sealex DH |
| Bike Setup: | Ventana X-5 w/ Turbine LP crankarms; Curtlo custom SS w/ Turbine LP crankarms |
| Bottom Line: | great smooth BB that fails too early. I had this BB on two bikes and on each one it lasted less than one year. I ride lots of miles, but I spread my riding among 4 bikes. true, the 2 bikes I ride most are the 2 with these BBs, but... come on, Race Face. you can do way better than this. |
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Submitted by
Greg
from Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
Date Reviewed: 8/24/2004 9:13:55 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Strengths: | Strong axel, 2yr warranty |
| Weaknesses: | Has developed a small amount of play in bearings. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Truvative sealex(had play in bearings from day one) |
| Bike Setup: | 2004 Giant AC, 2003 JR.T, Kona Buldge crank |
| Bottom Line: | This is the best ISIS bottom bracket I have used, I don't ride in a lot of wet conditions, which may explain why I have had better results with bearing life, it was feeling rough in the springtime, but has smoothed out since and only has enough play in the bearings to be noticed. I recommend it to trail riders/freeriders, crosscountry riders will probly want something lighter. |
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Submitted by
Chris
a Weekend Warrior
from New Zealand
Date Reviewed: 7/4/2004 2:01:53 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Purchased At: | Jenson USA |
| Strengths: | Looked Like a good deal with cranks and rings |
| Weaknesses: | Non-servicable, Poorly sealed, Poor bearing quality |
| Bottom Line: | I bought this as a package deal from Jenson including prodigy cranks and rings. Overall I cant complain too much because the price I paid was way less than what I would have had to in New Zealand. I've been using this for about 9 months, and the non-drive bearing is about stuffed. I stripped my BB and found it full of grit / dirt, and with the BB's design, no way to replace or even adequately regrease the bearings. I could have tried for a warranty repair, but instead have drilled a small hole in the casing between the bearings and have forced grease in with a syringe to regrease the bearings. The play is still there, but it runs a lot more smoothly. I will be needing a new BB sometime soon. When I bought hubs I specifically looked for user-servicable ones with replacable bearings. It would be noce to be able to do this with this bottom bracket. I wouldn't recommend this BB as a stand-alone product. |
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Submitted by
russ ranney
a Cross Country Rider
from Boone, Nc, USA
Date Reviewed: 6/29/2004 8:12:56 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | sink hole |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $40 |
| Purchased At: | pricepoint |
| Strengths: | nothing |
| Weaknesses: | creeks, weak, too expensive for what it is |
| Similar Products Tried: | shimano stuff |
| Bike Setup: | rocky mountain flow: dh parts |
| Bottom Line: | piece of crap. This trinket creeked like hell for the first month. After the 2nd month it had tons of play in it. I mostly ride xc, some light DH, so there is no excuse for this piece to to fall apart so soon. I've outfitted my bike with all heavy dh parts to avoid breaking whimpy xc stuff. This thing is weaker than shimano xc brackets. |
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Submitted by
Tommy
from Northern NJ
Date Reviewed: 5/10/2004 7:45:43 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $75 |
| Purchased At: | LBS |
| Bottom Line: | Just an update to previous review. I returned broken BB to LBS and they shipped it back to raceface. Kudos to raceface and LBS. They sent me a new one within one week and all I had to pay was $8 for shipping. They told me they would warranty BB for 2 years. My recommendation if you purchase this BB is to hold onto receipt and return it for a new one when it breaks. It's only a matter of time before I kill the new one and off it will go again. Still 1 chili for poor value on a $75 BB, but overall is now a 3 since they stand behind product and warranty no questions asked. |
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Submitted by
Erik
from British Columbia
Date Reviewed: 5/4/2004 1:31:26 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Strengths: | ISIS Drive. 3 Bearings. |
| Weaknesses: | Bearings |
| Similar Products Tried: | Various Shimano square-tapered & Truvativ ISIS |
| Bottom Line: | RaceFace + components w/ bearings = problems. I've heard this time and again, and now I have personal experience. I went with this BB over the SRX because I tend to ride more aggressive XC and will take my XC hardtail over drops and jumps. I thought this BB would be able to stand up to it since the hits we're talking about are not really all that big. Creaking and bearing play is issue #1 these days. Not recommended for harder riding conditions. Should be fine for LIGHT trail riding (i.e. beginners) but NOT for any type of freeriding at all. |
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Submitted by
Tommy
a Cross Country Rider
from Northern, NJ
Date Reviewed: 5/2/2004 4:33:13 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $75 |
| Purchased At: | LBS |
| Strengths: | Very stiff when first installed, but that will change |
| Weaknesses: | creaking, bearings, overall product life |
| Similar Products Tried: | bontrager, shimano |
| Bike Setup: | SantaCruz SL, marzocchi, truvativ, hayes discs....etc. |
| Bottom Line: | Do not buy this product is you are truly a freerider. I purchased the FR version because I ride aggressive XC and I usually destroy other weak XC products. I've only ridden this product for maybe 6 months and a maximum of 500 miles. The bearings began to get very tight and make strange noises. It still spins, but it feels like you're riding with the brakes on. Not sure what the warranty is on this product? Currently running spare bontrager BB with no problems at all. Could somebody please make a BB that will last more than a year. |
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Submitted by
henry green
a Weekend Warrior
from boulder, co
Date Reviewed: 2/2/2004 3:37:15 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | keystone, co, or maverick jumps |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Purchased At: | $55 |
| Strengths: | works well for some time, very little flex, light |
| Weaknesses: | falls into a little pile of crap after a while, starts to squeak loudly, bearings stiffen up, and the threads holding the cranks on strip out and bolt won't tighten |
| Similar Products Tried: | first "high end" bb |
| Bike Setup: | 02 kona stinky primo, 02 jr. t, race face prodigy dh cranks, xt rear derailleur |
| Bottom Line: | don't get this if you aren't going to buy another bb in, like, a month. it works like a dream for a short time, but requires lots of maintenance, and basically just gets really crapped out. now i have to get another bb because the bearings squeak/rattle and the threads inside that the bolts screw into are totally jacked. not good. |
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Submitted by
joe petruso
a Cross Country Rider
from las vegas, nevada
Date Reviewed: 10/26/2003 3:05:17 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $50 |
| Purchased At: | mail order |
| Strengths: | nothing... |
| Weaknesses: | Creaks like crazy. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Square Taper Shimano. |
| Bike Setup: | nrs air |
| Bottom Line: | I do not recommend the purchase of this product. I rode it only twice, and it started to creak. Also it seems to have lost its stiffness too. I took it to the local bike shop and they regreased and tightened. I took it out for a joy ride with my girlfriend and it started to creak again. The left crank arm makes the majority of noise. I am going to try a FSA BB and see if it helps. For 50 bucks you would expect a BB to last longer that 3 rides... |
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Submitted by
dd dd
a Weekend Warrior
from Oxon, Uk
Date Reviewed: 10/17/2003 8:04:35 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Strengths: | It worked ok for a while. |
| Weaknesses: | Poor design and materials. Short life / poor quaility bearings. Bearing seals cause a lot of friction but don't work too well. Massive shell that is just small enough to fit in the bbshell and make lineing up the bb threads difficult. Other products don't have these problems |
| Similar Products Tried: | fsa \ shimano etc. |
| Bottom Line: | It was never very smooth, the seals in the bearings cause a lot of friciton. After 3-4 months it started to make the strangest groaning and creaking noises I have ever heard a bb make. Then all of a sudden a week later the noise stoped and the cranks begain to turn a lot more freely. The only problem was the axel now had about 5mm of play. I ordered a replacement and when it arrived removed the bb. The left hand bearing outer ring had snapped in half and the rest of the bearing was ground and smashed to pieces. The worst thing about the situation was that the bb was a lot smoother and freemoving when metal was running on metal than when there was a bearing. I won't be buying another raceface bb again. |
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Submitted by
Brandon
a Weekend Warrior
from Netherlands
Date Reviewed: 9/26/2003 8:01:42 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Strengths: | Ummm... strong? |
| Weaknesses: | Bearings suck something else, but i don't know what it was, maybe bearing again |
| Similar Products Tried: | Stank ass FSA bb |
| Bottom Line: | When i first got it i was really happy with it. It ran smooth and silent. However after about a month i started hearing grinding noises from the drive side. Then, the drive side part of the bb began to unscrew itself and the non-drive side began screwing itself further into the bike. When i took the drive side crank arm off in an attempt to fix the problem the bb stripped my crank bolt and the bb itself stripped so now i have to get a new one. Boo! Race face, learn how to make a proper bb. It was expensive too. |
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Submitted by
Martin S
a Weekend Warrior
from Edmonton, AB, CA
Date Reviewed: 4/15/2003 8:03:03 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Purchased At: | RVC |
| Strengths: | Very stiff, stong, generally excellent except.... |
| Weaknesses: | Bearing seal quality,a problem Raceface has always had since day one |
| Similar Products Tried: | Prodigy Isis, lasted 4 months before bearing play, it was warrantied no prob, square taper BBs' shimano, raceface, syncros, white ind, suntour etc, etc |
| Bike Setup: | Joker, chris king hs, 321s, Z1 QR20,RF NShore cranks,XT thumbies. |
| Bottom Line: | So far a well behaved bb, although starting to get some grinding in the drive side bearings. I discovered this while the bb was out of my frame so it is definately the bearings. I shouldn't be surprised as many years ago I swore to never use a RF bb after working in a bikeshop and having to deal with customers and their expensive bbs'(and headsets) bearings going south. However I decided to give it a try, mainly because I liked the ISIS concept and the only bb avail when I bought my cranks was RF Prodigy which was a MUCH crappier bb. At present the bb still runs okay, but probably won't last until fall... |
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Submitted by
Lance Lowry
a Cross Country Rider
from Fullerton
Date Reviewed: 4/2/2003 11:52:58 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Fullerton Loop |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $30 |
| Purchased At: | priepoint.com |
| Strengths: | Very Strong. I have not even begun to test this bottom bracket due to the crappiness of my bike(Warp Ds3) and this is for fear of my frame braking not the BB. Maintenence free. I ride through loose sand and don't really have to mess with it- Only tune ups once in a whle |
| Weaknesses: | Probably not as great as signature series |
| Similar Products Tried: | Stock Giant BB |
| Bike Setup: | Giant Warp DS3, titec handlebar stem, Raceface prodigy DH cranks. |
| Bottom Line: | Got these in a deal for the BB and Prodigy DH raceface cranks(splined). Cranks won't come close to loosening and the BB is nearly maintenence free. Can't wait to get a better bike to put it to a real test. 5 foot drops have been no problem so far. I am more afraid of cracking my stupid frame. Will have to get a real frame to push this baby. Recommend it for someone who can't afford the pricy signature series. Very big and beefy. Go get one! |
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Submitted by
Brizzad
a Downhiller
from Virginia, USA
Date Reviewed: 10/21/2002 5:40:07 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Squaw Peak in Provo UT |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $20 |
| Purchased At: | Prodeal from RF |
| Strengths: | Fat, strong, ISIS. |
| Weaknesses: | Body is HUGE and i had to take off the sticker to make it fit into my DS frame. Still fit though, its just a no-name! |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shim XT.. its my first ISIS BB and its totally rad! |
| Bike Setup: | DB Reactor Dual with MRP BMX BB cup adapters with RF Prodigy DH red cranks (very trick) and fat RF Bashring. |
| Bottom Line: | This is the same BB as the Evolve DH, just in a 113 spindle. ISIS is easy to work with getting arms on and off and fitting snug, no more rounded out square taper junk. Its so beefy, wont bend or snap and I've had it for a while. It might weigh a little bit but its better than carrying a spare BB! Thats why the Signature costs 3 times as much. |
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Submitted by
Sverre
a Weekend Warrior
from Norwaii
Date Reviewed: 9/2/2002 3:34:04 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Strengths: | Workin fine for a few days.. |
| Weaknesses: | Bearings no good! |
| Similar Products Tried: | Shimano LX, Icon ++ |
| Bike Setup: | 02 Bullit w/Z1 QR20, Freeride - R Kit ++ |
| Bottom Line: | Race face really have to learn how to make better bearings. Seems like lot's of people is experiencing the same here... ask Shimano how to do it :p |
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