Campy BB bearing care...seals popped off.

[Tommasini53]

After a couple hours of riding in a rainstorm (on gravel and dirt) the bb was rough and stiff. I opened up my crankset/bb and found that the seals had popped off of the bearings. I smeared the open bearings with high quality grease and re-assembled. It is all smooth.

Do I need to reinstall those seals???

It is a Chorus Ultra Torque about 6 months old. Any other service hints for these cartridge bearings?

[oldpotatoe]

After a couple hours of riding in a rainstorm (on gravel and dirt) the bb was rough and stiff. I opened up my crankset/bb and found that the seals had popped off of the bearings. I smeared the open bearings with high quality grease and re-assembled. It is all smooth.

Do I need to reinstall those seals???

It is a Chorus Ultra Torque about 6 months old. Any other service hints for these cartridge bearings?

Very strange, to have seals 'pop off, not really sure which seals you mean..




...but you can probably 'pop' them back on but as you found, grease is a great 'seal''..lotsa in the cups, around bearings..

[Tommasini53]

its the white seals that are a pliable plastic-like material.

Curious, what is the life expectancy on Campy cartridges? I've just treated bearing sets as "they are good until they aren't smooth." I don't mind opening the BB up occasionally to grease and clean unless the absence of seals really causes issues, so i'm tempted to just leave them off and keep a spare set on the work bench.

[oldpotatoe]

its the white seals that are a pliable plastic-like material.

Curious, what is the life expectancy on Campy cartridges? I've just treated bearing sets as "they are good until they aren't smooth." I don't mind opening the BB up occasionally to grease and clean unless the absence of seals really causes issues, so i'm tempted to just leave them off and keep a spare set on the work bench.

Actually little bearing ball 'keepers' or cages..not really seals. Kinda like the same things that are used in their hubs. If you keep the BB packed with grasso, they can last a long time..a note, they are 6805'N', meaning 6mm, not the more standard 6805..which is 7mm in width..I'm a big fan of things Campagnolo(really??), but the BBs are the most 'sealed' things out there.

[Tommasini53]

Actually little bearing ball 'keepers' or cages..not really seals. Kinda like the same things that are used in their hubs. If you keep the BB packed with grasso, they can last a long time..a note, they are 6805'N', meaning 6mm, not the more standard 6805..which is 7mm in width..I'm a big fan of things Campagnolo(really??), but the BBs are the most 'sealed' things out there.

thank you for the reassurance. It is my gravel bike so I'll make a habit of opening the bb up to regrease and check. -ag