Real Word Cycling (RWC) BB Replacement Bearings

In January of this year, I felt my Shimano BB bearings going to shit - again. I can tell when they're headed for the garbage - doing some weird ticking thing with every pedal stroke. After all, on a cyclocross bike, most of us are using road bike BB's not really designed to be descending bumpy fireroads at break-neck speed.

A few fellow Quadzillians referred me to Real World Cycling BB bearings. RWC offers a variety of things dealing with moving parts: bearings, derailleur pulleys, suspension parts, headsets, etc. The lowest cost BB bearings they offer state:

One of the most important features of a bearing relating to smoothness and longevity is the ball size and the quantity of them. Below are 3 scale drawings of our Enduro Bottom Bracket bearing, a competitors? standard Bottom Bracket bearing and a really sub-standard design of Bottom Bracket Bearing we purchased from another website.

While the static capacity of our bearing is 726 lbs. and the sub-standard bearing is only 229 lbs., if this is not enough to convince you of ours, consider the fact that the larger balls of the Enduro bearing will roll easier and with less energy loss than the smaller balls in the other bearings.

The Enduro balls will spin about 1/2 as many times for 1 crank rotation, and, because of the deeper ball groove they sit in, will stay in alignment of the ball path and with less friction during the high torque forces exherted by a typical crankset.

A deeper ball groove also lends to the lateral strength of a bearing. The groove or ball paths in our bearings are the deepest possible, cupping the bearing to the maximum height and support; see the Side Profile Illustrations: