Trouble with Race Face X-type BB's

[mmichel]

Folks,

I recently had the left BB Cup of my Race Face X-type BB lock up. I rushed a new set of outboard bearings (BB only) in order to race Quantico. That first set lasted since April of this year. Now that same side is beginning to show signs of locking up as well (only a few weeks although that included SM100).

Anyone else had bad luck with Race Face and X-type BB's. I am seriously considering going back to Race Face's ISIS BB. I thought that was flawed when I went to X-type, but the ISIS BB's lasted close to a year usually. Maybe I should go full retro and find some old school square bore tapered cranks. That stuff used to last for years and was totally rebuildable.

I keep a compulsively clean bike. There is nothing but mild soap rags and gentle rinsing going on there, so I don't think I'm penetrating that bearing, but maybe something like that is going on.

Also, I (a shop) recently retapped the BB shell on the frame and did get some material out. Threads should be perfect. I wonder if I need to face off the shell again, but I doubt something "new" could arise there after owning the bike for 3.5 years.

Matt

[langer]

I feel your pain, the seals on RaceFace outboards are terrible. I gave up on external BBs. Went through two sets of Race Face and one set of Shimano. Threw my old trusty BB-un52 square taper back in there and have been happy ever since. If you really want to stick with outboards, give the Enduro replacement bearings a whirl. The companies claim the bearings are not serviceable, but they really are if you are careful. enduroforkseals.com
-jon

[allroy]

I had my RF xtype bb disintigrate on me, was really quite interesting to see all the pieces falling off. I've been using Shimano Durace x-bb since winter and it's holding up really well, whole season of racing and still ticking.

I'm probably going to give the enduroforkseals.com a try when it gets to that point, I know the ESI silicon grips are great.

[Nick]

Nevr use anything bearing-wise from raceface. they suck. You can get Phil Wood bearings to press into the RF cups. Very nice upgrade.
Or just buy a shimano external BB and forget about it. I've got 3 seasons on the same set of XT bearings on my singlespeed. vroom.

[wrench177]

3 years on my XT octalink BB and 2 on my XT external BB. Never had a problem with either. Not high end....they just seem to work.

[CountZero]

It's not the seals. There hasn't been a seal invented that really keeps moisture and grit out of cartridge bearings.

It's the bearings and grease that are the problems.

First, Raceface uses full-complement balls in their cartridges. Look it up. More balls per cartridge than a comparable shimano item. The balls rub against each other constantly. Even without grit, they can wear out pretty quickly.

Second, and probably more importantly, Raceface uses a crappy grease that quickly gets displaced from the cartridge. The bad grease/lack of grease is what really lets the grit in.

[jed]

I went through 2 sets of RF external bearings before giving up and replacing them with Shimano XTR bearings.

[jfoley]

Remember when bottom brakets had bearing that you could actually service or replace? i don't, but those days are back thanks to external bearing bottom brakets. Both Phil Wood (http://www.philwood.com/) and Enduro (http://www.enduroforkseals.com) make replacement bearings and the tools to replace them...

http://www.enduroforkseals.com/id101.html
http://www.philwood.com/Price%20List/P19.pdf

[jabberwocky]

Another option is to follow the guide in this MTBR thread and clean and regrease the bearings in your current bottom bracket (obviously not an option if your current bearings have exploded):

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=136309

[mmichel]

jfoley and Jabberwocky,

Great posts and info. I will try the in frame rebuild. If it fails, I like the Enduro tool. I may commit to rebuilding the Race Face stuff regularly.

Matt

[mmichel]

I tried the method Jabberwocky pointed out at this link on my Race Face X-type BB's.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=136309

I was definitely able to salvage my second BB (the one that is only a few weeks old). The grease was indeed mostly gone. I loaded the bearings back up with Phil Wood Waterproof Grease and stuck it all back together. The cranks free spin for 4 rev's (like they did new). Before the rebuild they squeeked to a stop at 1.5 revs. I think they are as good as new. I guess I will have to do this every month or so to keep them running.

In case anyone tries this, the mtbr post says that knocking them out takes some finesse. It definitely does. I practiced on an old one and damaged it a little on the way out. I did good on the next two. He/she also says that Race Face caps are hard to get back on. Indeed they are. I like the method he/she mentions of removing the cup, laying the plastic cap on the floor or work bench and pressing the cup over it with your hands. I destroyed the practice cap and then got the hang of it. On my two real ones, I got the caps back on with only minor struggles.

Great posts everyone. I feel good about my Deus cranks and x-type bearings again. I also feel good not to be losing 1% efficiency to BB drag at the Middle Mountain Momma Race this weekend.

Matt

[love2climb]

Just recently dropped the RF x-types and went back to the good ole un73. Much happier myself.

[yqx]

Here is a picture of my less than one year old RF XC/AM external bearing, drive side. Completely dry and rusted. Now I need to figure out how to pop the bearing out without using the expensive tools Enduro has on their website. :(

[CountZero]

Here is a picture of my less than one year old RF XC/AM external bearing, drive side. Completely dry and rusted. Now I need to figure out how to pop the bearing out without using the expensive tools Enduro has on their website. :(

Yup.

You can probably resuscitate that cartridge, if so inclined.

Soak it in penetrating oil to break up the rust. Then, run some toothpaste or polishing compound through there to clean up the balls' surfaces. Then, repack it with a really good grease.

Or, throw it out and get Shimano cups for $50 or so.