I’ve had my drive train cleaned and ‘tuned up’ a few times but curious how often the bottom bracket requires attention/maintenance. Ride time is split evenly on the trainer and the road (in fair weather).
TIA
I don’t do any particular maintenance on the BB anymore, that stopped when cartridge bearing entered the scene many years ago. Nowadays I replace them when they are worn out. I currently run Rotor BB30 Ceramic that has over 20kkm on them. The previous BB was a non ceramic Rotor BB30 that was replaced at 10kkm just in case. Usually BB’s last a long time and I don’t think it’s worth it to do any maintenance; the risk of messing up the seals are just not worth it.
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I would suggest paying attention to wear on the BB and performing service as needed. If you do your own wrenching, pull the crank every once and a while and feel the bearings. If they feel rough, they need replacing. Its also a good opportunity to grease all the crank bolts. I find that sometimes “BB” creaking can be eliminated by regreasing the crank bolt(s) and axle splines. Road riding on the trainer and fair weather road-riding shouldn’t be hard on the BB, so they should be fine for years.
Mountain biking, CX riding, or gravel riding in mud is a different story. Depending on the BB, they might not last a season. And just be careful if you wash your bike frequently. The seals can handle the occasional direct blast from a hose, but if you make a habit of it you will eventually flush out the grease from the bearings.
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Thank you both for the insight.
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