[DirtMcGirk]

Damn I like shortening things to letters...

I put a Chris King BB on my Yeti 303 earlier in the year. The DH trails are finally starting to be visible, and this got me thinking that its a 68/73 BB, not the 83 that the 303 is.

Is this going to be an issue?

 

[giffels]

that depends on your cranks, the bb is the same for the 68/73 it is the spindle that is different lengths, so assuming the spindle is for an 83 you will be fine, the spacer inside the bb has to be a 83 tho, so that may cause a problem

 

[Huck Banzai]

its more of a dirt/gri,me guard than a spacer - maybe king has a 83mm version? or will it accept a shimano/rf one (I have an RF one on my shimanos, NP, slightly shorter, but np still..)

 

[BmxConvert]

83mm King BB's are not available, however they are easily converted.

A 68/73mm FSA MegaExo sleeve inside the King cups makes it an 83mm bottom bracket. We've been running 4 of these setups for about 4 or 5 months now and they have all been great.

You can run your bottom bracket without the sleeve in a King BB more so than with any other external bb. Because the King bearings are designed to have the bearing serviced regularly with the grease injector tool.
Kings stainless bearing are sealed really well, but being able to fully service the bearing and inject new grease as well is reassuring should you choose not to use the BB sleeve.

-Kevin

 

[juanbeegas]

Any reason for passing on the the Hope Ceramic BBs?
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=25571

They come in a 83mm, have really sweet colours available and have been getting some good reviews. I'm not able to afford them at the moment(they are cheaper than CKs), but I would like to give a go when I'm able to.
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/bottom-bracket/product/bottom-bracket-29249

 

[IH8Rice]

You can run your bottom bracket without the sleeve in a King BB more so than with any other external bb. Because the King bearings are designed to have the bearing serviced regularly with the grease injector tool.
Kings stainless bearing are sealed really well, but being able to fully service the bearing and inject new grease as well is reassuring should you choose not to use the BB sleeve.

-Kevin

just curious, but why would you want to run it without the sleeve? just for compatibility issues like in his case?

 

[slowitdown]

I don't get what you guys are saying here.

since the X-type BBs are really two separate thread-in cartridges, how is the 83mm different from the 68/73mm? isn't the only difference that the little connector tube that bridges the two cartridges is 10mm longer?

or are you guys saying the cartridges are different on an 83mm? if so, I'd like to see that. as far as I can tell, for example, RaceFace uses the same Diabolus cartridges for a 68/73mm shell as for an 83mm shell. I'd imagine Shimanos are likewise. has Chris King done another goofball thing and made something that is too unique?

 

[Uncle Cliffy]

Just get another sleeve from someones old BB if it's a big deal...

Mainly, I would hope the King BB has plenty of threads for the frame shell. The new Saint BB's have longer threads compared to normal.

 

[jonKranked]

just curious, but why would you want to run it without the sleeve? just for compatibility issues like in his case?

They're kinda similar to 3 piece BMX cranks. My understanding is that the sleeve is more to prevent the bearings from being overloaded when you install the cranks.

 

[slowitdown]

They're kinda similar to 3 piece BMX cranks. My understanding is that the sleeve is more to prevent the bearings from being overloaded when you install the cranks.

since the sleeve has several mm movement back-and-forth (side-to-side) and is a soft-handed press-fit I doubt that it could accomplish that goal.

more likely it's to weather-proof the crank spindle, to keep water off the spindle-bearing interface.

 

[BmxConvert]

just curious, but why would you want to run it without the sleeve? just for compatibility issues like in his case?

I wouldn't want to run it without the sleeve. But in his case he has a 68/73 meaning that the sleeve can't do its job of helping to keep the bottom bracket sealed. I was simply saying that if he wasn't able to find a 68/73mm FSA sleeve then he COULD run it with less issue than other external BB's. However, I can't imagine it would be hard to find one. They get thrown out all the time when the MegaExo bb's are replaced, just need to let the LBS guys know that you want them to save ya one.

-Kevin

 

[DirtMcGirk]

I called my LBS.
They got me hooked up.