Bridge Bike Works has a new bottom bracket design on show at the Sea Otter Classic in California – with the threads moulded into the carbon frame.
The Integrally Threaded Carbon Bottom Bracket, as it’s named by Bridge, features on the Toronto-based brand’s new all-road bike, the Surveyor.
The Surveyor uses the T47 bottom bracket standard but, rather than bonding the bearing sleeve into the frame, the threads are moulded directly into the carbon fibre bottom bracket shell.
As we’ve seen across the industry, bike brands are now moving back to threaded bottom brackets on road and gravel bikes, after a two-decade flirtation with press-fit systems.
Bridge co-founder Michael Yakubowicz told BikeRadar he is a firm believer in threaded bottom brackets, but the brand’s new design is lighter, simpler and reduces the chances of misalignment in the bottom bracket shell.
Let’s start with weight. Yakubowicz says combining the threads and the frame cuts the majority of the material out of a traditional threaded bottom bracket, saving in the region of 100g. Whether that matters to you or not is a different question.
As for alignment, Yakubowicz says that, with the threads moulded to shape, the “BB is perfectly aligned out of the tool”. This avoids, the brand says, the possibility of the bearing cups being misaligned, or poor quality control of the bottom bracket area leading to non-concentricity. We’ve only seen this for the first time at Sea Otter so can’t comment on performance or longevity.
The threads have a Cerakote coating to create a "robust barrier" between the frame and bearing cups, according to Bridge. Bridge also claims it protects them from galvanic corrosion.
Bridge has opted to use the standard T47-86 bottom bracket standard for the Surveyor, meaning it is compatible with 86mm-wide shells. However, the brand says the moulded technology can be applied to “any threads on the bike, including other standard bottom brackets”.
As for the Surveyor, this is Bridge’s first bike, and it’s made in Toronto. It’s pitched as an all-road bike, with clearance for 28-40mm tyres.
The claimed frame weight is approximately 900g for a size 55cm and the geometry is described as “all-road race”.
It’s a blend of new and old, with internal cable routing and that generous tyre clearance, combined with clean lines, a round seatpost and, of course, the threaded bottom bracket.
The frameset, with Bridge’s new All-Road Integrated Fork (available to buy aftermarket), costs $5,499.99. Bridge also offers a range of all-road and gravel builds.
