Does anyone have a point of view on the pros and cons of whether to use the new Campagnolo bottom bracket compared to the CeramicSpeed on a Colango that uses BSA English threading?
You’ll find it much easier to fit the circlip on the Campagnolo BB - it now goes on the non-drive side for SR13, rather than being hidden behind the chainrings (don’t know why they couldn’t have done it this way the first time around).
As for bearings, I’d probably go with the Campagnolo ones anyway - they’re a quality bearing, with the significant advantage of getting them for free when you buy the cranks. The CULT bearings use a similar nitrogen steel alloy in the races as Enduro use in their XD15 bearings, so they tend to be pretty durable.
1 Like
I’d consider Enduro’s XD-15 bearings. They have bearings for Campy cranks, if you want to use the Campy cups, and they have cup and bearing options for Campy if you wanna go that route.
I’ve got the new 13 speed group set and it’s my first Campagnolo BB, so I was noodling around various options for the eventual replacement and to learn more about servicing the ultra torque, when I saw a nifty video on BBInfinite site explaining how they have a better design than the original Campy that avoids creak. It’s specifically eliminating that wave washer you described. The Campy cranks are tight dimensional tolerance but they have to allow some variation in frame shell dim’s, so that washer provides a bit of tension to cover that. BBInfinite’s shell is designed closer to the Campy shaft spec so does not use the washer, but does recommend a specific compound to seal that <1mm gap.
@Chan_Stevens Good choice of groupset, I’ve only been for a short test ride on it, but it felt like they finally did what they should’ve done with WRL.
I was referring to the retaining circlip on the outside of the cup, not the wavy washer which sits behind the bearing. Up until now, it’s been hidden on the drive side (not ideal if your bike has a chunky BB shell), but for SR13 they’ve decided to put it on the left side instead, where you can actually reach it. I’m tempted to swap to the new cups next time I service the bearings.
You’re fairly unlikely to experience the creak with the stock BB, unless you’ve been running a knackered bearing for a while, or your frame alignment isn’t great (in which case, probably best you still have that wavy washer). I wouldn’t worry about it unduly. Just give the stock bearings a good clean and re-grease once a year or so, and you should be good.
1 Like