What kind of BB?

[SportingGoods]

Hi Press-Fit Guru (Carbonazza and cmh), can you explain what tools you use to install PF BB? I see 3 options:
- A proper tools (pretty expensive)
- A DIY tool
- Gently hammer the bearings into the frame protected with a flat piece of soft wood

[karstenhorn]

Hi Press-Fit Guru (Carbonazza and cmh), can you explain what tools you use to install PF BB? I see 3 options:
- A proper tools (pretty expensive)
- A DIY tool
- Gently hammer the bearings into the frame protected with a flat piece of soft wood

I would say that it's quite easy to create your own tool in order to install a press fit BB. I just did it myself with a long 8 mm bolt and 2 large washers and it went in without any hassle at all.

Where I see a need for proper tools, is when you have to get it out again.

Karsten

[SportingGoods]

Thanks, I'll probably do that as well. I see people being successful with a hammer but I probably don't want to take that risk, specifically with a carbon frame.
I remember a video where the guy, using a real tool, explained that he prefers to press one cup at a time. It helps to get a better alignment.
I'm open to any trick to insert (and even to remove) the PF.

[carbonazza]

Here is my all in one tool to press and remove the 30mm bearings.
That costs even less than a recently mentioned BSA tool



It is a 12mm threaded bar.
The big washers make the press.
I press one bearing at a time as well.

The smaller washer is the extractor(hand cut to be able to enter it inside the BB).


To extract.
I put the small washer then a nut on one end of the threaded bar.
Enter that end in the BB, and stick it against the inner face of the bearing.
The nut press the washer agains the bearing.
Then hit gently the threaded bar(or the head of the bolt) to pop the bearing.


It served me well for 2+ years. But I recently bought at an auction the workshop content of an LBS that was closing.
So now I have a fair amount of tools. Some I don't even know what they are for.
Amongst them some nice presses and bearing extractors.

[gohloum]

This thread seems to be quite helpful.  However, if I can get a quick confirmation from someone regarding shimano,  If I choose BSA, I should be able to run SRAM or Shimano?  Right now my fallback is the XT groupset, but I'm really interested in SRAM and will more than likely go that route for drivetrain with XT brakes. 

I also do all my own work, but these GXP BBs were not around when I left the industry.  So I just need the tool.

[karstenhorn]

This thread seems to be quite helpful.  However, if I can get a quick confirmation from someone regarding shimano,  If I choose BSA, I should be able to run SRAM or Shimano?  Right now my fallback is the XT groupset, but I'm really interested in SRAM and will more than likely go that route for drivetrain with XT brakes. 

I also do all my own work, but these GXP BBs were not around when I left the industry.  So I just need the tool.

Sram or Shimano is perfectly ok with BSA. The BB's are not compatible but it takes about 10 min to change a Shimano BSA BB to a Sram GXP BB.

Karsten

[bxcc]

This thread seems to be quite helpful.  However, if I can get a quick confirmation from someone regarding shimano,  If I choose BSA, I should be able to run SRAM or Shimano?  Right now my fallback is the XT groupset, but I'm really interested in SRAM and will more than likely go that route for drivetrain with XT brakes. 

I also do all my own work, but these GXP BBs were not around when I left the industry.  So I just need the tool.

Each brand has its own bottom bracket but the tool should be the same. I only have one Shimano XT level BB from 5 years ago and it uses the same tool as the GXP bottom brackets. It's also the same tool used on Shimano center-lock rotors if you go that route.

[cmh]

Here is my all in one tool to press and remove the 30mm bearings.
That costs even less than a recently mentioned BSA tool

Okay, that's brilliant. Love the extractor.

Since I was mentioned in the question - I use a Park headset press to press in PF bearings. It's good because I spent a s*load of money on it when I was working in the bike shop and earning very, very little, and now almost all of my bikes have cartridge bearings that drop in and render my nice fancy headset press very useless.

I would avoid hammering anything as a form of installation, especially when carbonazza's solution is so perfect.