Hollow Tech BB break in?

I'm not that familiar with installing new Hollow Tech external threaded BB's. I installed a Chris King version with the appropriate adapter kit for my Ultegra 6800 on my new Swiss Cross Canti frame. I followed the installation guide from Chris King. The installation went easy; but I noticed that the bearings feel a bit stiff -- no specific tight spots; but the crank doesn't spin as easily as I expected. Is this common for this style BB? Will it loosen up with some use? A friend of mine, who is a Trek dealer suggested that the sealed bearings used may be pre-loaded or packed with grease, and that they would smooth out after a few miles of riding. Any comments would be appreciated.

Post script: Took the bike to a good local mechanic - a retired pro mountain bike racer. He checked out my install. His comment " nothing wrong - that's just the way they are when new". He told me that after a few miles it would loosen up; but never be quite as good as some of the older threaded bb's I'm more familiar with.

They're probably packed with a really thick industrial grease. You could replace this with a silicon grease BUT tbh the grease that comes with bearings is the highest quality for keeping muck out. Silicon will run easier but your bearings will corrode that much quicker if you do a lot of wet riding.

piggybladder wrote:They're probably packed with a really thick industrial grease. You could replace this with a silicon grease BUT tbh the grease that comes with bearings is the highest quality for keeping muck out. Silicon will run easier but your bearings will corrode that much quicker if you do a lot of wet riding.

Thanks for the comment. One of the nice things about Chris King components is that in my experience they are long lived and and bullet proof. I'm hoping that I never have to overhaul or replace this bb.

The King BB's are made so you can easily replace the grease.  I would do this every so often, twice a year maybe.  Should be fairly painless and will ensure that BB last a long, long time.

dgaddis1 wrote:The King BB's are made so you can easily replace the grease.  I would do this every so often, twice a year maybe.  Should be fairly painless and will ensure that BB last a long, long time.

Dustin - thanks for the advice. The Chris King injector is a bit pricey at around $60; but I guess it is worth it to protect a $150 bb.
Bob

bobknh wrote:
Dustin - thanks for the advice. The Chris King injector is a bit pricey at around $60; but I guess it is worth it to protect a $150 bb.
Bob

Yep, the whole point of the King BB (IMO) is the ability to easily (and routinely) replace the grease to keep it running smooth so it does last a long time, that's the only way to justify the price.

I'm hard on BB and rarely get more than a year out of them (I fit creek crossings into every ride possible haha) and I every time I buy a new one I consider a King but just haven't pulled the trigger on one just yet...

dgaddis1 wrote:

Yep, the whole point of the King BB (IMO) is the ability to easily (and routinely) replace the grease to keep it running smooth so it does last a long time, that's the only way to justify the price.

I'm hard on BB and rarely get more than a year out of them (I fit creek crossings into every ride possible haha) and I every time I buy a new one I consider a King but just haven't pulled the trigger on one just yet...

If you don't have one, you will also have to purchase a compatible grease gun and adapter to fit the CK injector tool. Don't know about you -- but "Zerks" is in a foreign language to me. I Did watch a Youtube on how it works. Couldn't be easier -- pull the cranks, insert injector, attach grease gun, pump fresh grease, out comes the old dirty grease, keep pumping until you see clean fresh grease. Have lots of shop towels on hand to clean off the old grease. Apparently you can get all the stuff you need at your friendly auto parts store.

bobknh wrote:

If you don't have one, you will also have to purchase a compatible grease gun and adapter to fit the CK injector tool. Don't know about you -- but "Zerks" is in a foreign language to me. I Did watch a Youtube on how it works. Couldn't be easier -- pull the cranks, insert injector, attach grease gun, pump fresh grease, out comes the old dirty grease, keep pumping until you see clean fresh grease. Have lots of shop towels on hand to clean off the old grease. Apparently you can get all the stuff you need at your friendly auto parts store.

\nZerks is the common automotive grease fitting that has been around for more than 100 years.

shiggy wrote: Zerks is the common automotive grease fitting that has been around for more than 100 years.

Gee - Zerks has been around longer than me! I confess to almost total ignorance of such thinks. Ok - so if I want to use the nifty C K grease injector tool, what simple, inexpensive, grease gun, and adapter should I also buy? Up until now, I've been using a tube of Phil Woods Waterproof grease and a small brush or my index finger for most bike maintenance tasks involving grease.