UKC

How long would it be reasonable to expect a cartridge bearing square taper bottom bracket to last.

I've just taken the cranks of mine after about 500 miles of all weather riding and there is an audible noise when rotating the spindle in the fingers as well as a click that is found when putting down power either in or out of the saddle which seems to be from the bottom bracket. This is compared to the one in another bike that had probably been in there for over 20 years and was still working.

In reply to Andrew W: 500 miles, sounds faulty to me, I had one last 6 months probably about 1000 miles, bike shop fitted a new one for free, I felt that there were a lot of poor bearings about, I would expect at least 3000 miles usually a lot more
cheers Phil

In reply to Andrew W: What sort of bike is it, or is this a replacement bottom bracket that you have fitted?

If we're talking a 300GBP Halfords special then yes, I wouldn't be surprised that you'd only get 500 miles from it. On the other hand, if this is a half decent bike then I would be expecting more. With the more recent external cupped bottom brackets, particularly on a mountain bike, then 500 miles may not be too bad.

In reply to rmt: Its a replacement bottom bracket for a fairly old bike, I'm not sure of the brand or model as my LBS installed it but it looks like it should be fairly high quality as both sides seem to be machined aluminium with what looks like laser engraved details on one of the cups.

Its been used for commuting near the sea so gets quite a lot of use in all weather but I would have thought it should last longer than this.

I'm going to take it into the LBS today to see what they have to say about it.

In reply to Andrew W:

tha average i used to get was about 3 months out of a BB but i wasd doing about 400-500 miles a week, they are often pretty cheap and they do take a lot of abuse so i used to replace them at the first signs of anything going wrong

In reply to Andrew W:
I've been amazed had how short their life span is - but then I'm a MTBer with a fondness for riding through fords. Yep, start getting noises after 500 miles, might get a 1000 miles before they become unbearable.

Really annoying are press-fit BBs on MTB - £25 part which requires £150 of tools to replace

In reply to Andrew W:

I ride an old Specialized Rockhopper to work and back each day, about 7.5km round trip. I bought the bike in 1999, and it was stolen two years later, and I recovered it a couple of years after that. I don't maintain it particularly well. So, just travelling to work, it's done over 14000 miles. And only recently has the BB started to click with an iffy bearing (like the OP), and need replacing.

When I replace it, I'll be disappointed if I need to replace it again after 500 miles. Or even 1000. Or 10000, come to that...