Tool Review
Enduro BBB-222 - Investment Grade Bearing Puller Tool
As our financial sensibilities get bludgeoned into a reality that includes $15k mountain bikes, it's not really even considered fetish-y indulgence anymore to buy expensive tools, is it? In the general scheme of things, expensive tools seem only slightly more indulgent than, say, pet rocks, compared to the kind of stuff we could really blow money on.
Good, glad we got that out of the way. Now check out this over-the-top bearing puller set from the fine folks at Enduro. Yes, it's expensive. No, you do not need it.
Expensive, but the fidget spinner appeal is through the roof. I dare you to not compulsively fondle these. Good luck.
How expensive? $399 USD expensive. That's a lot of money. You could find a much shittier bearing puller set at Harbor Freight for about 1/5 that outlay.
Meanwhile, I have been removing bearings for the past 45 or so years with a hammer and a long drift fashioned from something just a hair more sophisticated than a piece of rebar. You can buy a LOT of rebar for $399. A lot of hammers, too.
But that Harbor Freight stuff, it's Chinese-made pot metal garbage. And that hammer and long punch, it only works when you can get at the bearing from the back side and drive it out.
Then there's that whole need versus want deal. Nobody needs a super swank bearing puller set, same way that nobody needs a Rolls Royce Phantom. Those of us who do not work on bicycles for a living probably don't need to pull bearings often enough to warrant even the pot-metal garbage tool. But then again, some of us like things, and one of us has an old motorcycle habit. Trust me, THAT involves a whole lot of bearing pulling, boy howdy.
And some of us wish we had bought into a Snap-On franchise opportunity that one time, but we were afraid that would've been like asking the town drunk to tend bar.
So here we are. Or here I am: Nine sizes of collets, to fit bearing inner race diameters ranging from 8mm through 32mm, and a slide puller that has a thread-on mallet head with replaceable urethane or brass faces. The backside of the mallet has a recessed 25mm hex machined into it with a pair of little magnets inset so that you can slap a cassette lock ring tool in there and now also have an incredibly over the top lock ring wrench. All the collets are made from heat treated stainless steel, the mallet is non-heat treated stainless steel, and everything except maybe the roll-up pouch it all comes in is made just down the road from Enduro in Gilroy, California.
Each collet has an angled "catcher" that hooks the back side of the inner bearing race as it get pushed through from the outboard side. The collet then gets threaded together, causing a conical driver to expand the collet until it sits tight in the bearing. Thread the slide onto the end of the collet, let that big stainless weight go to work, and out pops the bearing. It's a lot easier than the hammer and punch method, and can be entirely performed from the front side of any accessible bearing. It's not really any more effective than the garbage tool from Harbor Freight, but damn, this stuff is so nice to use. From a tactile perspective, everything about this is just so... damn... nice.
Mallet head unthreads, has magnetic recessed hex cavity to fit a lock ring tool, and a replaceable urethane or brass striking face
Expanding collet threaded to fit slide handle
Mallet becomes slide hammer
Insert correct size collet through bearing, then thread collet halves together and expand the collet against the bearing. Yeah, I know, using a motorcycle wheel on a mountain bike website isn't exactly staying on point. But this is the bearing that needed pulling, so this is what got pulled.
Proceed with metal smashing noises
Is this the part in the ad where I ask for some Grey Poupon?
I was trying to come up with some professional sounding justification for why I need this puller set. There is none. But then again, this setup costs about the same as a real nice pair of road shoes, is less expensive than a Troy Lee D4, costs a whole lot less than that fancy new SRAM derailleur, and is likely to be around for the rest of your life.
An alternate, and I think totally valid, way of viewing the value proposition here would be to look at this from a dollar-per-pound perspective. The mallet/slide hammer alone weighs 4lb, 1oz (or 1845 grams for those of you who aren't mired in some weights and measures backwater). The combined weight of the nine collets is 3lb (1365 grams). That's seven pounds of stainless steel! I had a stainless steel framed 'cross bike once upon a time. The frame weighed about four and a half pounds, and cost a couple thousand dollars. By a similar measure, the Enduro BBB-222 is pretty close in both price and weight to three Maxx Grip Maxxis Assegais. Again, one of these things will last a whole lot longer than three of the other things.
We like shiny slide hammers.
I am not a sensible person, so it is easy for me to justify owning this using the shaky rationale already outlined upstream from here. Add to that the following justifications: It's locally made. It's beautifully designed and executed. It serves a function that makes a task much more enjoyable.
As for negatives? Well, it ain't cheap. But we've already talked that through. Functionally, the only thing that isn't one hundred percent awesome is that when using it as a mallet, it pays to remove the slide weight first otherwise the mallet tries to rotate on glancing blows. Easy enough; remove the slide weight. Except then, the bare tubular handle doesn't feel anywhere near as nice as a wood mallet handle. For hammer nerds, this might be a deal breaker. I prefer to think of the mallet part of this in the same way that I think of the cassette lock ring recess - as a nice addition to what is otherwise a sweet bearing puller set.
The real negative for me? Now that I have a fancy puller set, my old bench vise and block of wood bearing press needs to be upgraded. Say what? Enduro has a tool for that too? Shocker!
Comments
bishopsmike
1 year, 1 month ago
If I owed this, there would no longer be any bearings in anything within a 2 block radius.
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Blofeld
1 year, 1 month ago
I think the best way to feel better about an expensive tool is to cross-shop it with an even fancier tool.
SKF TMIC 7-28
Unfortunately, like a Volvo, this one may also have had to travel over an ocean. I am not sure about ‘pot metal’ (is this the same as stoner rock?), but I assume anything Swedish that costs $666 would be thoroughly tested to be moose resistant.
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Velocipedestrian
1 year, 1 month ago
Props for the music comparison.
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mrbrett
1 year, 1 month ago
Ummm if it’s “pot metal” and $666 it’s clearly a music genre devised by Satan himself.
Add to cart.
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Perry Schebel
1 year, 1 month ago
as someone who's never used anything but a bfh and whatever scrap of steel kicking around that would nominally get the job done (bolt / punch / socket, etc), i don't want to know how well a proper tool like this would work. they pretty.
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Mike Ferrentino
1 year, 1 month ago
I hear ya. It feels like a gross overindulgence in some ways. I mean, I don't even hesitate to use a hammer and a 2x4 to install Chris King headsets in carbon fiber frames - bearing installation and removal can be done safely with some really basic stuff, and there is a pride that comes with knowing how to turn scrap metal into functional tools. But by that same token, using this thing is just soooooooo satisfying.
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mrbrett
1 year, 1 month ago
My favourite part of "pressing" an expensive headset into an expensive frame using a block of wood and variable impact swing press, is experiencing said action through an onlooker's facial expressions.
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trumpstinyhands
1 year, 1 month ago
We've got this tool at work. I've also extensively used the 'generic one' from the likes of Princess Auto and seems to be in a lot of shops. I own (but haven't yet used) a 'shitty' $60 one from Amazon.
Honestly, I wish the current store had purchased the shitty $60 one, and spent the remaining money on some nice modular bearing extractors / presses from the likes of RWC or RRP. Sure, the puller feels nice and works, but it's the wrong tool for the job most of the time. But if you have the money for a lot of nice tools, sure buy this AND the modular tools!
On the plus side, I like the fact that the handle is shaped so you can't catch your hand in-between the handle and the part of the puller that it smashes against.... I've done that more than once. And given the pain that doing it once caused, I am officially a complete moron for doing this more than once....
I like the fact that the back of the puller that the weight smashes against doesn't unscrew. The Princess Auto one does, and when it does, the weight deforms and binds against the shaft. You have to open it back up with a round file.
I don't yet yet on the shitty Amazon one, but it actually gets good reviews. The tolerances are so poor compared to the Enduro one, that it can be bent and deformed as much as you like and will still work the same! But as you should always use a heat gun in conjunction with a blind puller unless you like to either sweat or leave bits of bearings stuck in the frame etc, I'm sure with enough heat it'll work OK.
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Landonarkens
1 year, 1 month ago
I’ve had good success with the expanding type pullers from bearingprotools.com, fyi.
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Flagrant_Mechanic
1 year, 1 month ago
Thanks for that. Was looking for this company amid a forest of Orions and "8-Mile-Lakes". BPT don't seem to do a real "blind" puller for where you can't get at the back; one advantage to the Enduro set. Still, that's fortunately not too common and one could probably ghetto something up starting with one of their expanding collets.
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MTB_THETOWN
1 year, 1 month ago
They work okay but their bearing presses are terrible.
I upgraded to wheels manufacturing presses and a set of removal presses from BSC tools that don't require forcing out the bearings
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MarcusBrody
1 year, 1 month ago
They aren't the best, but honestly most of the cast metal tools I have from Harbor Freight (wrenches, pliers, sockets, screw drivers, t handle drivers, some clamps, etc.) have held up well. I have only ever broken one HF tool working on my bike, and that was a 1.5 mm t-handle hex wrench which I broke last night when I accidentally stepped on it.
I don't trust HF tools with plastic parts, am somewhat suspicious of anything you plug in (but to be honest, some of their newer high end stuff is pretty nice) and had a marking gauge and folding saw that were among the most worthless tools I've ever bought. But really, I've been pretty darn pleased with most of my Harbor Freight tools. It's not that I can't tell the difference between the HF stuff and nicer tools, it's just that for how often I use them as a hobbyist and home owner, it's unlikely I'll ever be held back by the tools.
Note: This logic in no way applies to my bike and I definitely, totally need a carbon frame, Fox Factory suspension, and at least XT if I want to make it down even the easiest of greens.
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Velocipedestrian
1 year, 1 month ago
Delicious. This seems a good candidate for a short video, the slide and sound could be the sizzle that sells the steak.
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babyzhendo
1 year, 1 month ago
Enduro's other tools are drool-worthy as well, but this one might take the cake
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Mike Ferrentino
1 year, 1 month ago
I might have to wait a year before reviewing the press tool...
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JT
1 year, 1 month ago
It looks to be the same as one those found on found on the big A but a different color and $200 more. The laser etched font and locations are identical. Just search bicycle bearing press on that site. The press itself works a treat, especially once you add in the Wheels Mfg over axle drift kit. Makes swapping bearings out mighty enjoyable.
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Mike Ferrentino
1 year, 1 month ago
Font and locations may be identical, but I'd hazard a guess that the country of origin is a bit removed. I'm not trying to bag on the inexpensive Amazon offerings, or even the Wheels presses. But there's a reason Enduro tools cost a pile of coin and it has everything to do with where they are made. In terms of tool functionality, that doesn't mean a thing. But as someone who has consumed more than my share of "things" that arrived on this continent via shipping container, I am trying (here and there, with questionable consistency) to downsize my footprint in that regard.
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Flagrant_Mechanic
1 year, 1 month ago
I bet a surprising number of the early sales for this tool were to users accustomed to sending people things in shipping containers. I've done some business with those folks over the years and have observed they are often even better at duplicating "laser etched fonts" than they are at aping metallurgy. To be fair, we consumers with our appetites for caviar at spam prices have probably been sending some pretty mixed messages.
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OnATransMisson
1 year, 1 month ago
As someone with access to the BBB 222 and most of the Enduro bearing tool suite, I can attest to the quality and enjoyable qualities of their tools described in this review.
Best of all, the folks at Enduro have always been quick to send replacement parts when needed, at a reasonable price. Snap-on level support and quality, but without the shiny tax.
My favorite tool set of theirs are the bearing punches. In a shop setting, they have been more useful than I thought they'd be. The pivot bearing extractor set has also been invaluable for some frame bearing replacement jobs.
Yes, expensive, but also very worth the money.
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LWK
1 year, 1 month ago
I had a quick look at Enduro's website. looks like there is a BBT100 bearing puller set for "only" $210. as best I can tell, its only missing the mallet bit and one puller. So almost $200 just for the screw on mallet ??...
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JT
1 year, 1 month ago
Also found on Amazon for WAY less. What appears to be the exact same unit.
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Mike Ferrentino
1 year, 1 month ago
Different collets, fewer of them and not heat treated stainless steel. Slide hammer looks to be a different design as well.
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JT
1 year, 1 month ago
LWK was referring to the BBT100, which indeed looks awfully similar to those found elsewhere. Not fully trying to be a DonnieDowner, just there was a company formerly in CO now in ID that made a big deal about how great their goods (and eventually their bikes) were when it was pretty much all repackaged Ali sourced chotchkes. If all of Enduro's tools are made stateside, I'll eat my hat and throw down a sock as well.
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Mike Ferrentino
1 year, 1 month ago
Understood on the reference to the BBT100, which I replied to.
I will be the first to admit that some of those Amazon press tools sure do look a whole lot like the Enduro stuff. Full disclosure on my part: I was doing some brand work with/for Enduro a year and a half ago, and consider Matt Harvey, Enduro's co-founder, to be a friend. We used to work at the same bike shop way back at the dawn of time.
Anyway, he was super stoked in his quiet and unassuming way about their tools, and was super proud that they were all being made in California by an outfit down in Gilroy were going by the name of Sonny's. There is a Sonnys Bike Tools listed in Hollister, according to the googles... But I can ask, just to get full disclosure. As far as this review goes, I am almost dead certain that this puller set is made by Sonny's.
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Flagrant_Mechanic
1 year, 1 month ago
The collets in the BBT100 set don't look to be the same as the ones in the reviewed set. For one thing, by the look of it they aren't stainless steel, or if they are, they're painted black, which doesn't make sense for SS. Enduro also sells the BBT100 collets separately at $30 apiece. At that price, they MUST at least be properly hardened steel-- it'd be crazy (and super-unlikely) if they were just the same as the ones spread around Amaze-on.
Actually think that's sort of the problem here-- it's hard to tell just by looking at pictures whether a collet is quality or just metal-of-convenience, and because there's so much low quality stuff on the big A for $50, we're unwilling to pay more for unknown quality. I mean you can get what looks from the photos to be the "same" set for either $50 or $800+, and there are quite a few similar-looking sets in the $100-$200 range.
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cyclotoine
1 year, 1 month ago
My cheap as puller set actually failed on me the last time I used it. One of the four parts of the collet were bend and it just kept popping through the bearing. Readying above I see I’m supposed to use heat which I wasn’t but I’m pretty sure this set would have been successful without heat. I have the wheels manufacturing press set and it is so nice not to be searching for just the right random thing to press a bearing in. I may have to spring for this set.
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Squint
1 year, 1 month ago
This type of tool would be great in a group "tool library", if such a thing existed. Or available for rental.
Usually I can justify the cost of a proper tool by considering how much it would be for a shop to do the same work, but not sure this one would amortize well.
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Velocipedestrian
1 year, 1 month ago
I've bought tools shared with friends before. We don't live in the same town anymore, so it helps to choose smaller ones don't get used often.
Most successful has been a BB bearing extractor / press for external cups from Enduro.
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Andrew McKee
1 year, 1 month ago
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