Campy UT crank bearings not watertight?

[amator]

Removed my UT crank on a road bike to find the grease all black and grimy for the second time in a year.

Was advised that if i were to use a UT crank in wet and muddy conditions in a Cross bike, it would be even worse- the unsealed bearings would not be suitable. Any experience?
So I should go back to the square taper sealed Bb or change to something like the ceramic speed sealed bearings?

[David Kirk]

The RED crank/BB is the poop IMO.

I know it's not Campy but the bearing are actually sealed and the cranks stay tight without having to check them all the time or loctite them.

Dave

[totally_fixxate]

Campy UT come stock with one seal (1RS)

get some 37X25X6 2RS bearings.

[97CSI]

None of these guys actually make their own bearings, with the possible exception of some of the ceramic stuff, but still quite unlikely. Like transistors and most all electronic parts, they are generic and vary only in what 'quality' you want. If the bearing does not have number stamped onto the edge of the race or housing, then measure the ID, OD and width. Visit your local bearing supply house. You will find them made by Timken, SKF and several others at various price levels, depending on the level of quality you want. And you will find that the $60 or $80 set of Campy or SRAM or Shimano bearings has magically dropped to $20. One problem is your local supply house may be commercial sales only. As always today, the internet is your friend when shopping for such items. Visit the Timken and other bearing manufacturers websites to find what you want before calling. You can likely purchase on-line for less $$, as well.

[palincss]

The RED crank/BB is the poop IMO.


"Poop" as in information or feces ?

[Dave]

Grease inside bearings normally turn black after a significant amount of use. If you take the seals off the bearings in a cartridge type BB, you'd find the same thing.

The Campy bearings have seals on both sides. Only very early models had no seals on the inside. All new BB cups come with the inner seal and a new wave washer, except the SR cups. The CULT bearings use no inner seals and no grease, only oil for lubricant.

As already noted, you can buy aftermarket bearings, usually ceramic hybrids, relatively cheap and they will have the same seals as any other cartridge bearing.

As for the cups coming loose, that's most often a case of misinstallation on the part of the user. There is no reason for Campy cups to have any more problems than those from Shimano or SRAM. Campy screwed up by suggesting that use of loctite 222 in lieu of properly faced BB shell faces.

The cups come with factory applied thread locking material. All you need to do is grease the BB shell threads and torque the cups to 35-40Nm. If you fail to heed the instructions and don't have properly faced BB shell faces, then problems can occur, just at they would with any brand. The BB shell width must also be in the 67.2-68.8mm range.

http://www.enduroforkseals.com/id229.html

[majl]

"Poop" as in information or feces ?
As in the best. The renowned Mr. Kirk is using the word poop in place of the more commonly used 4-letter s-word for this expression. I'm sure he will correct me if I have misunderstood. One could also have used "the shizzle."

FWIW, I'm running Campy UT Veloce cranks on my cross bike and I haven't noticed any issues. And I do race in the mud.

[Velosmith]

In the Northwest, our rain bikes have all been converted back to internal cartridge bearings because of this issue. I have had the outboard Campy bearing completely rust up and lock down in a little over a month of rain riding up here.

They are great for dry weather and we use them on the summer bikes. But, for winter/wet rides they are poop. Of course it's pretty wet up here.
:rolleyes:

[rockdude]

I have noticed that my UT's feel a little gritty after some wet Cross-cycle riding. Is it hard to take them out, clean them and repack them?

[amator]

My set is purchased in 2007 but could be 2006 Chorus.. not sure about the seals.
Ive heard good things about VCRC from users... as well as the perceived
smoother and 'faster", they seem to hold out well.
Not sure whther the seals are better or worse than the newer campy UT seals though.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-VCRC-Ceramic-Bearings-Campy-Ultra-Torque-Fulcrum_W0QQitemZ200310311513QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCy cling_Parts_Accessories?hash=item200310311513&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C 240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

[Dave]

I have noticed that my UT's feel a little gritty after some wet Cross-cycle riding. Is it hard to take them out, clean them and repack them?

You can take the crankarms off, exposing the bearings, so they can be cleaned and regreased, but the bearings are lightly press fit onto the spindles and not really intended to be removed for service. If the bearing are pulled, they should be replaced with new ones.

[rockdude]

You can take the crankarms off, exposing the bearings, so they can be cleaned and regreased, but the bearings are lightly press fit onto the spindles and not really intended to be removed for service. If the bearing are pulled, they should be replaced with new ones.


Thanks Dave. I will remove the crankarms, clean and repack the bearings the best I can with out removing them.

[bigbill]

I installed campy 11 on my road bike on saturday. I removed the alloy Centaur UT crankset and cups to install the Record 11 UT and new cups. The alloy Centaur has been installed for a little over two years and the bearings still felt smooth and I would go as far to say they felt as smooth as the USBs on the new Record crankset. The Centaur crankset has seen some epic weather in Hawaii, war damaged roads in Montenegro, and thousands of miles in Italy. I plan on using it on a future build.