Sort your bottom bracket for good with Wheels Manufacturing

The bottom bracket is one of the most fundamental - if often overlooked - parts of a bike. For anyone who doesnt know, a bottom bracket is the bit that enables the cranks to turn aand features two sets of bearings (on on either side) with a hole through the middle for the axle. 

This hasn't always been the case. For years a bottom bracket was a sealed unit with two attachments on either side for the crank arms/chainrings. The great thing about those - called square taper bottom brackets - was that they were sealed units and would last for a really long time without any maintenance. And we dont have to tell you why not needing maintenace is great. 

But as time went on and bikes changed, so did the bottom bracket. Another of the most common types on bikes from a few decades ago was called 'threaded'. Simply, this was two units containing the bearings that threaded into the bottom bracket from either side - and could do so since the bottom bracket shell on the bike had been designed with either English or Italian thread. Again, this was a simpler mechanism as installing was pretty straight forward and maintence/replacement was easy too. 

Then came pressfit. With bikes getting ever lighter and riders demanding weight savings wherever they could get them, the pressfit bottom bracket saved some valuable grams by pressing the bearings directly into the frame. While a smart idea it relied on the tolerances of the frame and bearings being spot on, and the main takeaway from the pressfit bottom bracket is that they're noisy. Like squeaky. Like really, really annoyingly squeaky for a whole entire ride (or worse, if you're really unlucky). 

Anyway, the whole point of this brief and massively incomplete history of the bottom bracket is to say that at some point riders started to say no. No to noisy bottom brackets, no to needless complexity and no to any extra faff. That's where Wheels Manufacturing comes in. If you haven't heard of them, Wheels Manufacturing specialise in bottom bracket solutions and replacement derailleur hangers. And it's their BB solutions that have thankful bike riders all over the globe as they solve the problem of noisy bottom brackets by simply making pressfit BBs that sit in cups and press together inside the frame, removing the chance of extraneous movement and eliminating noise. Oh, and they're really nice and last for ages too. What's not to like?

If you do need a new BB (or a derailleur hanger, for that matter) the WheelsMFG website has information on pretty much everything you need to know to make sure you get the best one for you bike. And if you need a new hanger, well you can search by bike brand and model to find the right one.