ENDURO MAXHIT BOTTOM BRACKET REVIEW – BIGGER BALL BEARINGS ARE BETTER

A smooth bottom bracket is a real luxury, and the best variety is the kind you don’t have to think about much. The bearings spin circles quietly and allow you to enjoy the machine you’re on, which, in terms of distance traveled per calories burned, is the most efficient form of locomotion on the planet. That marvelous machinery is made possible by bearings, and the ones that support the lion’s share of your weight are in the bottom bracket, a component that’s expected to perform silently smooth circles, perhaps tens of thousands of times on every ride.

Neglected and worn bottom brackets are the bane of every rider’s existence. The shrill sounds of worn bearings, gritty threads and dry press-fit cups are annoyances every experienced rider knows by heart. They will drown out the enjoyment of a ride with a symphony of unmelodious rasps, and turn an adventure into an exercise of stoic control not to chuck your creaky bike off a cliff. The knowledge that the bottom bracket is one of the most laborious parts to service on a bike is on our minds as we write this review, too. All of this to say, we are adamantly in favor of bottom bracket technology advancements that keep us on the trail and not thinking about bottom brackets.

Tech features:

The Maxhit is Enduro’s latest patent-pending innovation where the bearing is designed to thread or press directly into your bicycle’s bottom bracket shell, eliminating the need for the aluminum cups that are traditionally used to carry the bearings. This unique design allows Enduro to use bearings with larger balls, which increases their load capacity.

The Maxhit bearings are machined entirely from 440C stainless steel. They are claimed to be engineered with the largest balls possible, which ride in a micro-groove inside the bearing for ultimate protection against sweat and the elements. The Enduro Angular Contact (A/C) design ensures all balls are engaged to spread the force over a larger surface area and minimize wear. They use proprietary double-lip labyrinth seals and Enduro’s own extra-high-pressure grease to further extend that longevity. Bearings are filled to 90 percent with high-pressure waterproof grease, which is more than many bearing manufacturers spec.

Field test results:

We installed the Maxhit bottom bracket with relative ease, thanks to a perfectly round BB shell in our long-term test mule and with the help of some shop-level bearing-press tools. This bottom bracket is also available in the threaded variety, if that’s what your frame requires, but know that the finish quality on this part makes everything slide and press together nicely.

With the bottom bracket installed, the cranks spin freely, although we won’t say that necessarily made our bike feel faster. What we did notice was that free-spinning, smooth-feeling action remained with this bike for the duration of our test, which involved plenty of trail riding, some wet-season miles and even some laps of abuse at a bike park.

Our setup also stayed remarkably quiet and creak-free during the test. We’re sure that if surfaces were dirty or dry, the Maxhit would not be immune to noise issues entirely (see page 72). However, the racket likely won’t be coming from the bearings, thanks to the generous grease packing and large-diameter balls holding things together.

The Maxhit delivers on its promise of trouble-free riding. Since the install, we’ve had no issues and no sign of wear in the bearings, which remain smooth. If they finally give up the ghost, we’ll take Enduro Bearing up on their generous offer of a lifetime guarantee against corrosion, thank you very much! The Maxhit is a larger investment than a standard bottom bracket, but less than most ceramic-bearing bottom brackets. If durability is your gold standard, or if you simply hate working on your bottom bracket, the Maxhit is a viable solution that will go for the long haul.

HITS:

• No sign of bearing wear during our test
• Lifetime guarantee against corrosion

MISSES:

• Not flashy enough

STAR RATING:★★★★★

Price: $179
Contact: www.endurobearings.com