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IB15: Wheels Manufacturing Solves The Squeaky Pressfit Bottom Bracket, Busts Out Banger Hangers

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IB15_Wheels-Manufacturing_Spacers

Wheels Manufacturing lurks in the chasms from product left behind in the industry’s never-ending march towards The Modern Standard. While many ignore or avoid the troll-filled forums and poisonous comments sections of blogs full of unhappy customers who are just trying to make their bikes work, the dedicated team at Wheels Manufacturing pour over them looking for inspiration for new, ultra-functional solutions. They keep throwback product on the road and challenge existing standards if they feel they can improve on the theme. It’s this ingenuity that makes them one of the great un-sung heroes of cycling. And, as you can see, they do it with class.

Nick Lasar, Wheels Manufacturing Professional Customer Service Representative, is often the first line of feedback from IBS service departments or from garage wrenches through their extremely responsive online support chat, and he was excited to show off some game-changer product this Interbike. “We are dedicated to addressing the inherent issues with the pressfit system,” Nick proclaimed as he shuttled me over to their end-all be-all solution to the squeaky bottom bracket…

IB15_Wheels-Manufacturing_PF30 IB15_Wheels-Manufacturing_BB86

Introducing the threaded pressfit bottom bracket. Rather than depend on the tolerances of the frame being en pointe, Wheels created a two part system where thin cups thread into one another on the inside of the shell. The threads ensure proper bearing alignment for easy crank installation and a tight fit. Both PF30 and BB86/92 configurations will be available October 15th through the Wheels Manufacturing website for $74 a pop for standard Enduro ABEC-3 bearings, $99 for angular contact, or $175 for ZERØ ceramic bearings (if you’re fancy).

IB15_Wheels-Manufacturing_EBB-BB30-2 IB15_Wheels-Manufacturing_EBB-BB30

Also new and exciting is the eccentric BB adapter with versions covering both PF30 and BB30 bottom bracket shells. These come standard with Enduro ABEC-5 Angular Contact sealed bearings and work across 68mm to 73mm shells with all 24mm cranks. And they come in red.

IB15_Wheels-Manufacturing_hangers

New for the season are seven new contributions to their extensive derailleur hanger collection. At the time of the show, we were assured that even more were on the way and that “we have a hanger meeting next week.” The hangers, as everything seen seen above, are precision machined in the USA.

IB15_Wheels-Manufacturing_press-kit

WheelsMfg.com

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Lemond Rider
Lemond Rider
8 years ago

Wheels Manu. has been a life saver for many years to us in the trenches in the shops.

JD
JD
8 years ago

Those BB’s look nice, the only issue I see is that I won’t be able to access my Di2 cabling inside my Canyon Ultimate CF SL anymore without taking the whole BB out. So that mabe a problem.

Mountain Dew Drinking Flatbiller
Mountain Dew Drinking Flatbiller
8 years ago

I’m confused. I’m currently using a Wheels PF30 BB from last year, and it works. This article implies that what they sold me last year sucked, and that I now need to get this one, which evidently “works.”

So mine doesn’t? If so, I want a free upgrade. They need to choose their marketing words more carefully.

Speaking of threaded, I’m running the E13 version on my bike and it’s rock-f*ing-solid.

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
8 years ago

Mountain Dew… every bike company comes out with new things when they figure out how to make things better. Think Stickyfingers should have stayed with their early 80s Stumpy because it was so good when it came out?

Shawn
8 years ago

We love and use all Wheels MFG stuff in the Ruckus labs!
I also personally love the PF EBB for my SSCX set up.
Keep up the great work Nick!

Mountain Dew Drinking Flatbiller
Mountain Dew Drinking Flatbiller
8 years ago

@Veganpotter

Noted. It’s just the way they communicated the updates. They might as well have said, “We royally f-ed up that last one.” Saying, “That one was good, although this one is better” would have not hurt my little feelings as much.

(tear)

sillyboi
sillyboi
8 years ago

suspicious. they need to show us more about it. in a PF30 shell, so these BBs thread to each other but what about the fit to the frame itself? this seems a tad like the THM PF30 BB and those are actually loading up to the shell face but not the actual shell infer surface. Its just not enough surface area for my money. will eventually creak or do something odd.

sillyboi
sillyboi
8 years ago

follow up to my previous post, praxis addresses this with the expanding collet.

McClain
McClain
8 years ago

Praxis’ collet was out more than a year ago and is still a better design than this. I’ve used in on a PF30 Kona Jake the Snake for two years, absolutely zero issues.

FoolCyclist
FoolCyclist
8 years ago

I had horrible squeaking issues on my PF30 aluminum frame. Got one of these about 1 year ago. Worked great, no squeak… for about 2 rides then right back to the same squeaking. I won’t buy another frame without threaded BB, and that is getting to be fewer and fewer. I understand the desire to go to a larger spindle, but why cant we just make a larger diameter threaded BB shell. These press fit BBs are bound to start squeaking before to loon no matter how well the actual bottom bracket is designed.

Pit
Pit
8 years ago

Wheels mfg rules. Saved me a lot of time with hangers.

Mega kudos on the Rod Laver’s and the floor pose too!

badbikemechanicx
badbikemechanicx
8 years ago

Whoever that dude is in the photo – He is the shit!

JD
JD
8 years ago

@FoolCyclist for what it’s worth, when I installed my Rotor BB86 pressfit bearings in a carbon Canyon frame, I did as they recommend, i.e. use locite 641 retaining compound and I have not had any squeaking. I don’t know if that can held you.
Nevertheless, I’d still prefer a threaded BB any day.

Dustin
Dustin
8 years ago

You can imagine a parallel universe where the world had only seen PF BBs that thread together like this.

In such a universe, I have no doubt that some major bike company would then “invent” a threads-in-the-frame standard as the ultimate integrated solution to the problems of PF BBs.

And they would be right.

goridebikes
goridebikes
8 years ago

OH MY GOD IS THAT A 12MM SCS HANGER FOR SPECIALIZED BIKES???!!!!11!!!

Hogdog
Hogdog
8 years ago

Why won’t the industry just give consumers what they want? (Threaded bottom brakets). It seems their solution to the inherent problems of threadless bottom brackets is to add threads… WTF?

Framebuilders love the increased size of the pressfit stuff, but I’ve no idea why they won’t give us large diameter threaded bottom brackets and keep everyone happy.

Darryl
Darryl
8 years ago

Yet out of my five bikes, the only BB issues I have had in four years is a threaded one.
Pressfits work fine for me.

TheKaiser
TheKaiser
8 years ago

silliboi is right on with his observation of clamping on the face of the frame, and Foolcyclist’s report is an example of the problem with that.

In my view, designs like this may be an improvement vs. pressed in bearings, and they should help prevent the bearings from “walking” out of the frame over time, but they don’t address poor tolerances with the ID of the shell. Only Praxis and perhaps another small company or 2 that I am forgetting seem to really understand what is the best way to do this.

Cheese
Cheese
8 years ago

*pore, Anna. Nice use of en pointe, though.

Tim
Tim
8 years ago

@Darryl- I think your case is an unusual one.
It sucks to see how few frames come with a threaded bottom bracket; even Yeti doesn’t anymore. That leaves who- Santa Cruz and Canfield Brothers? As a few others have said, give us a new standard: big diameter threaded bottom bracket shells! It seems to me frame builders switched to press fit because it’s easier to manufacture. Easier to manufacture in a lazy way, that is, without respecting the necessary tolerances.

Magnetic Wheel Co.
8 years ago

Hell yeah, Nick! Get Dowwwn!

MaraudingWalrus
MaraudingWalrus
8 years ago

I spoke to Nick at length when I met up with him at USA Pro Challenge in Denver and discussed final adjustments and tweaking of a WheelsMFG PF30 -> 24mm eccentric bb for my belt drive SuperSix Evo, and he was incredibly helpful, and super cool to talk to. Lucky duck got to be in the Mavic car during the stage! He was very excited about the the threaded pressfit bb.
I’m excited to see it out there, and hopefully people take the time to figure out what the problem their particular BB is having is, and get the appropriate solution. Not all creaks are caused by the same thing, and, as a result, not all creaks are solved by the same thing.

Nelson
Nelson
8 years ago

Threaded press-fit bottom brackets aren’t new, unless I’m missing something here. Hope and Enduro have been making them for at least a couple years.

AbelF
AbelF
8 years ago

I think I have seen somewhat of a comeback for the threaded bb for mtb applications. Ibis, sta cruz, niner, etc are using threaded. I remember seeing other brands that had switched back but I dont remember who those were. Am I just imagining things?

AC
AC
8 years ago

Tim, Ibis just went back to threaded BBs.

Skkld
Skkld
8 years ago

Could someone help me understand why the same cannot be done for BB90 bottom brackets? Is it because BB90’s don’t use cups?

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