[Shinkers]

I've done my fair share of bagging on PF bottom brackets, but in reality I have actually only ever had a problem with a threaded bottom bracket (that unthreaded itself 30 miles into a 50 mile gravel ride).

These days, I'm far more picky about other things on my bike and wouldn't let the BB standard sway me in a direction.

The one thing about PF that I do think could be a potential issue is wearing the PF interface after multiple BB's are installed over the life of the frame.

 

[WillDB]

I have a Surly Ice Cream Truck with a PF bottom bracket. I too worried about it. Whenever there is creaking on the bike, its origin is never the BB. It's kind of a shame, since the newer ICTs have a seat/chainstay cracking issue. Was moments away from buying a horse thief that had a PF BB, but this alone swayed my decision.

 

[ocnLogan]

Like others, PF isn’t my preference, but it’s not a deal breaker.

I recently had to replace the shimano PF BB on my Kona after three years of riding in pretty wet conditions. The bearings roached and the BB disintegrated when I tried to get the bearing out with the tool.

installing a new PF BB went super smoothly though. And the old one never gave me any problems other than when it died.

But the new bike with threaded BB was much easier/more pleasant to install/remove, that’s for sure.

 

[Amt0571]

Pressfit has never been bad per se.

What's bad are frame manufacturers, that are incapable to make frames with the correct tolerances despite selling them for the price of a motorbike. And that doesn't apply only to press fit.

 

[shwndh]

Like most, I'd prefer threaded, but I have three bikes with PF bottom brackets and no issues with them. Every time one of those bikes develops a creak, I think oh great, but every time I trace down the creaking it's not the bottom bracket. Not to say it doesn't happen, but I haven't experienced it. One of my PF bikes has over 10K miles on the original BB. Most dual suspension frames have 4x as many pressed in bearings in the pivots as in the bottom bracket and you don't hear too many complaints about those. Sure some of them become problematic, but for the most part they fit tightly and work. Having to have another set of tools to work on them is the most annoying part for me.

Same here. I have a Giant Anthem and my PF BB is 4 years old and no issues with it. The creaks are always coming from other stuff that was easy to remedy. But my next bike will be a threaded BB. I feel I just got lucky. I will take it to the shop to get the BB bearings replaced to keep my warranty - don’t want to deal with it when the time comes.

 

[Radical_53]

To me, threaded only made sense for metal frames. For CF, you’d have to glue a threaded insert into the frame which then holds the bearing inside another shell. Just absurd.
Of course it has to be done well but it has been working fine forever for headsets, why wouldn’t it work for cranks?


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[834905]

I've had PF and used an EBB. Never had any issues and 99% of the time when my bike is creaking or clicking, it's either my seatpost or SPDs. Honestly my biggest beef with PF is building / maintenance. Knocking bearings out and pressing new ones is sucks compared to just threading a BB in.

 

[Thoreau]

I've had PF and used an EBB. Never had any issues and 99% of the time when my bike is creaking or clicking, it's either my seatpost or SPDs. Honestly my biggest beef with PF is building / maintenance. Knocking bearings out and pressing new ones is sucks compared to just threading a BB in.

That extra work is one thing I actually LIKE about PF. It gave me an excuse to buy the bearing press kit from Park Tool =)

I have yet to actually use it though. half my bikes have been PF, and I have yet to need to replace ANY bb, regardless of type. Well, I did have to replace the one on my Stumpy when I went to some dub cranks, but that was just due to spindle change. So yeah, I'm in the 'dgaf' camp on this one.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

The only PF bikes I owned have been Pivots and a Cannondale. The Cannondale sucked. The creaks on my Pivots never came from the BB. Believe me, I went down that rabbit hole many times.


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[VegasSingleSpeed]

I thought my PF BB on my Yeti SB130 was bad. Several bearing swaps and the creaking just wouldn’t go away. Finally found the NDS crank arm was way loose from the factory. Tightened to spec. No more creaking since.

How did you swap the bearings several times without properly reinstalling the NDS crankarm any of those times?

 

[tdc_worm]

have had both....I have broken the bearing carrier off of the male threaded insert on the drive side of more than one threaded BB that was appropriately torqued (side note: once the tension is released on those threads, the insert will then spin out and lock the cranks causing a "catastrophic failure" in the sense that you cannot pedal the bike back to the trailhead).

one of my PFs has creaked. i installed with a homemade bearing press and didnt use a locking agent. I have sense bought a park bearing press...which, at this point, is the only downside....way more expensive than threaded BB socket (which I own three different versions of.....STANDARDS argh!)

check out BB Infinite. I think they may be on to something. There youtube vids, while full of marketing, seem to make sense.

My last 4 bikes have been BSA, but I have a PF92 frame on order. It will be getting a BB Infinite module.

 

[prj71]

To me, threaded only made sense for metal frames. For CF, you’d have to glue a threaded insert into the frame which then holds the bearing inside another shell. Just absurd.
Of course it has to be done well but it has been working fine forever for headsets, why wouldn’t it work for cranks?


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My Giant Road bike was carbon with PF BB. Was a 2015 model. Had to be serviced twice a summer for creaking problems. Finally got rid of it April of last year. Replaced with carbon Trek road bike that now uses T47 threaded BB. Not one issue.

Headsets don't see the forces like the BB. That's why headsets never have issues.

 

[J.B. Weld]

My Giant Road bike was carbon. Was a 2015 model. Had to be serviced twice a summer for creaking problems. Finally got rid of it April of last year. Replaced with carbon Trek road bike that now uses T47 threaded BB. Not one issue.

lol, well that proves it!

 

[Dkayak]

Press fit offers no advantages and sometimes causes annoying creaks. I've had one of those in my wife's gravel bike and it was an annoying time-eater to track down and fix (hopefully for good). My identical bike remains silent. Most do, but those that do not are a big frustration.

It's true that many other things can cause creaks, but those other things are necessary parts of your bike. You need seat rails, crank arms, etc, but a PF bottom bracket is just not necessary. If we all refuse to buy PF, it will soon be extinct. Just say no.

 

[alexbn921]

Press fit is lighter and should work better. With Shimano cranks that preload the bearings there are a lot less problems.
Sram GPX cranks don't capture 1 side and tend to punch out the bearings.

 

[J.B. Weld]

Press fit offers no advantages and sometimes causes annoying creaks. I've had one of those in my wife's gravel bike and it was an annoying time-eater to track down and fix (hopefully for good). My identical bike remains silent. Most do, but those that do not are a big frustration.

It's true that many other things can cause creaks, but those other things are necessary parts of your bike. You need seat rails, crank arms, etc, but a PF bottom bracket is just not necessary. If we all refuse to buy PF, it will soon be extinct. Just say no.

Threaded bb's have press fit bearings in their cups. Really all modern bb's involve some sort of press fit bearing.

 

[Dkayak]

Press fit is lighter and should work better. With Shimano cranks that preload the bearings there are a lot less problems.
Sram GPX cranks don't capture 1 side and tend to punch out the bearings.

Work better in what way? My threaded ones turn smoothly and silently, the only things I need from them. Less problems than what? Less than threaded?

I’ll happily trade a few grams for a more robust, serviceable system.

 

[Rod]

Another person who's not a fan of press fit bearings. My bearings simply wear out so much faster or get full of grime. My threaded BB would last forever, but not press fit.

On my other bike the BB would never stop squeaking.

 

[dysfunction]

Press fit is lighter and should work better. With Shimano cranks that preload the bearings there are a lot less problems.
Sram GPX cranks don't capture 1 side and tend to punch out the bearings.

That would really depend on the work done on the frame. It's generally easier to machine threads than a press fit bearing surface.

 

[Dkayak]

Threaded bb's have press fit bearings in their cups. Really all modern bb's involve some sort of press fit bearing.

Those press fits are integral within the bearing assembly. The bike maker doesn't need to do anything to ensure they remain snug and quiet.

Are you suggesting threaded bottom brackets have the same probability of creaks? Call me skeptical. I’ve only had noisey PF bikes. For me I’ll gladly pay more and add a few grams to reduce the risk. YMMV.