Shimano (UN26 Cartridge Bottom Bracket

If you read some of my reviews, you may notice a preference for older bicycle technology. The XT bottom bracket in this review is of newer technology that I am reservedly impressed with. Yes, I know these bearings have been around for more than a few years, but up until more recent bicycle purchases all of my bikes used square taper bottom brackets, which I thought were the end all of bottom bracket technology. Square taper bottom brackets are hefty chunks of steel and grease that can take a serious beating. Hollow tech bottom brackets like the XT are of a different design (that can be looked up online for a proper explanation). The big drawback to the square taper (for me, anyway) is the difficulty in finding the proper length axle. Direct replacement is easy, but a new install may require several purchases to get the crank and chainline properly fitted.Since I was transferring over a hollow tech crank to my new frame, the XT bottom bracket made for an easy install. Only difficult part is making sure you have the correct bottom bracket (socket wrench) adaptor for torqueing it into the frame, of which Shimano has different sizes, so be sure to verify you have the adaptor. In my case, I made the mistake of assuming the Dura-Ace adaptor I had would fit, which it did not, so I had to wait for that to ship.Once I had the tool in hand, installation was simple, with each side properly marked. A tip is to make sure the screw that secures the plastic cable guide (on the underside of the bottom bracket shell) is loosened or removed prior to install or removal. So,times not needed, but you will know rather quickly if you encounter resistance. The bottom bracket includes spacers, which can be useful for making sure your chainline is correct with the bottom bracket, something the road versions do not appear to include (Dura-Ace, at least). Note that I am using this in a touring frame, although with a Shimano 105 double crank.In the few months of use I have no complaints. If you need a new bottom bracket of this type, then it is highly recommended (and relatively inexpensive).

upgraded from a square taper to this on a 1998 Cannondale Super V mountain bike. My BB was 68mm wide so I used 2 of the included spacers on the drive side and one on the nondrive side for a perfect fit. The item includes a plastic adapter to use a Park tool 59.2 for tightening as the outside diameter is 39mm not 41mm however I also upgraded everything on my bike. The crank upgrade included the proper tool to tighten the BB. I installed a Shimano FC-M7100 SLX crank for 1x10 and it slid in perfectly with this BB.It will be nice to run this bike as a 1x10 as MTB trails have changed in 22 years and changing the front derailleur was difficult on the newer technical trails. Also installed a new rear wheel accepting disc brake and running tubeless, the front fork doesn’t have a disc mount so I’m keeping it clincher and a tube. I found a 27.1mm dropper post to install and carbon 25mm flat bar for the handlebar as well.

I bough this product based on a review that I seen here and thanks to that person's review it worked for my set up. My bike originaly came with a truvative/SRAM GXP bottom bracket and a 3x10 set up and my plan was to convert it into a 1x11 Shimano XT Hallow tech crankset and I was not sure what bottom braket I would need as I dont know a thing about bottom brakets, so I bought this bottom bracket based on the guy who put his review and thanks to him I end up buying the right one, so thank you guy for putting your thoughtful review!!!!!

I bought a 1X crankset kit and the BB was not good and it did not roll smooth as many members had commented. I decided to get Shimano OEM and I'm glad that I did. The BB comes pre-lubed so no questions on what is the right grease to use. The outer shell was smaller than the other no-name BB, so make sure you have a BB tool to fit. Mine came with an adapter, so it worked out fine. The install was a breeze and more importantly, the cranks spin freely.

It's a standard BB but I'm a little upset that Shimano decided to go with an even smaller design that requires a new tool to properly tighten and remove them. There was no adapter included so I had to figure it out. Does this mean the bearings are even smaller now for the BB, leading to more frequent replacements? IDK but I'm not crazy about this design and will look for the older design next time.

Can't speak for durability yet. Aesthically pleasing (matches crank color and is more low profile due to size) and very smooth so far. Only had it for less than a month. Installed fine with my FC-M785.Used the previous generation BB72 and it worked fine for a year and a half. I decided to replace it as a maintenance regimen.Tip:I have a 73mm BB shell and used one spacer on the drive side for proper Q-Factor (distance between both pedals horizontally). If you have a 68mm shell use two on the drive side and one on the non-drive side.Will update if any problems ensue.

Was not sure about the new shimano bb but they are pretty nice, they are solid metal and spin nice and smooth. They are supposed to be better then the old style since they have smaller bearings they last longer. They look good and are smaller and the tool that comes with the new bb works just fine to tighten the bb down. I am using them with a raceface cinch aefect crank no problems, make sure you put the right amount of spacers. Also spacers a metal as well which is nice compared.to the old plastic style. Glad I went with the new styleshimano bb.

I have over 800 miles so far on this bottom bracket that I installed on my hard tail build. No creaks or anything. Easy to install if you have the proper tools (don't cheap out on tools). This is made in Japan and not China which is great. Would recommend.