Bicycle Bottom Brackets Review

For the avid bike rider part of the experience in hitting the trail is taking care of your equipment. In this case, that refers to your bike. Bike maintenance and repair can be an enjoyable task and can help you get to know your own bike(s) inside and out. Bike shops tend to charge pretty high fees just to perform even the most basic work on bikes. One important part on your bike is the bottom bracket or what can be called the “bearing system”. These brackets, like the Shimano bottom bracket and Campagnolo bottom bracket,  help the bike actually move

Bike bottom brackets like an FSA bracket, come in two styles. The first style is a unit that allows you to take it apart or grease it up once a year. The second type of bottom brackets for your bike is a sealed unit that requires zero maintenance. These types of bottom brackets like the SRAM bottom brackets and Phil Wood bracket usually come with a 5 to 10 year warranty, but often last much, much longer. If you ride a lot of off-road trails with mud, water, gunk, and so on, a sealed bottom bracket unit is a better choice.

Bottom brackets are sold by direct manufactures as replacement parts, or you may order and install aftermarket bottom brackets, like a Truvativ bottom bracket, in order to upgrade the more basic unit your original bike came with. If you are not comfortable installing your bottom bracket then you may have to befriend a good bike mechanic that won’t charge you too much to help you with the installation. Make sure you know the correct size and style of your bike before you buy the bottom bracket. Take it in to the bike store if possible to match it up to the new component.

What It’s For

Your bike’s bottom bracket holds the ball bearing system that allows your crank set and pedal to turn, which then of course propels your bike forward . For the best ride and for those who are building a bike, aftermarket bottom brackets are superior to the factory standards. The more expensive aftermarket units have many features that can’t be found on stock bottom brackets. For example, the more ball bearings you have, the smoother the ride. Another small item that makes a difference is to have a sleeve over the bottom bracket so dirt, dust, and grime can’t clog the ball bearings inside.

Major Manufacturers

Shimano, Hollowtech, Octalink, Red Eye.

Pricing

Prices for bottom brackets start at about $99 and can go up to more than $180 for sealed units.