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Tbh, last week was a nightmare because of one specific part
We had three separate bikes come in with the same cheap, off-brand bottom bracket failing after less than 6 months. The cups were literally welded to the frame shells from corrosion. Anyone else seeing a run on these lately, or did we just get unlucky?
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simon_chen3mo ago
dylan124 that "welded to the frame" bit really stuck with me too, because there's something nobody's talking about yet. I think the real issue is that these cheap bottom brackets are made with steel cups that have a slightly different thread pitch than what the frame was machined for. So when you crank them in, they're not seated right and that leaves a tiny gap that traps moisture and road salt like a little pocket. Combine that with zero grease from the factory and you get that galvanic corrosion that fuses everything together. It's not just a bad part, it's a bad part that was designed to fail in a way that ruins the frame, which is a whole different level of sketchy.
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charlie_stone725mo ago
That's not just bad luck, that's a design flaw. Those cheap bottom brackets use steel cups in an aluminum frame. Without proper grease or a corrosion barrier, they basically cold weld themselves together. I've seen it happen a dozen times in the last year. It's always the same no-name parts from online marketplaces.
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