southerndownhill.com - Forum

right this is becoming a bit of a problem, and may be a stupid question to most  :D. my bottom bracket has had play in it for 6 months or more now, only a tiny little bit, the BB is tight, so i figure the bearings have started to go. but kept on riding it for the time being, will it do any harm to the bike at all to keep riding the bike with a BB that's bearings have been gone for over 6 months? i don't imagine so but i thought id check and makesure  ;D.  they are standard isis ones, race face evolve DH, with fsa BB.
thanks in advance for any help

Are you 100% sure that its bearings? More often than not, play in ISIS cranks is caused by a problem with the splines on either the cranks or the BB. This usually results in the splines 'flaring', meaning that the crank won't tighten onto the BB. This means new cranks and bb time if it does happen.

Although, that is worse case, so if it is the bearings, it should'nt cause any other problems, but I personally wouldn't want to ride a bike with a wobbly crank, especially if your doing jumps.

Don't be a cheapskate, buy a new BB if it is the bearings  :)

aye i have checked the arms and stuff they go on nice and solid and no play its definatly the BB bearings, was just checking it would be ok for just one or 2 rides more after them being wobbly for this long  ;D as i have been riding it like that for at least 6 months if not more.
thanks for the reply.

With all worn bearing issues, it's only going to get worse. However, if you say all the splines on the axle and the ones on the arms are fine, I can't see why you couldn't milk two more rides out of it.

So it's obviously not advisable, but it should hold up.

Get it replaced when you can for peace of mind and a more enjoyable ride.

JJ

yeah i was just checking that the looseness wouldnt damage my actuall shell where the BB goes in or anything or the BB threads etc sort of round that area on the frame.
thanks