Compatible bottom bracket for FSA Gossamer crankset?

vedrafjord

I have a 2012 Scattante R570 road bike with an FSA Gossamer triple crankset with FSA MegaExo bottom bracket (the spec doesn't give a specific model number). The bottom bracket is starting to fall apart and I'm looking for a replacement. I've read contradictory advice on various sites (there's a thread on BikeForums and one on BikeRadar), from people saying you have to replace the bottom bracket with the exact same model, to people saying anything will work better than the FSA.

I don't know the exact bottom bracket I currently have - it's gold coloured and says: FSA MegaExo 40-50Nm (the suggested tension) BC1.37x24T (British thread) BB-8000/6000.

Chain Reaction have two bottom brackets on their site that look similar but one (BB-8681 SLK Light) is €45 and I've read elsewhere that it's only for carbon frame bikes, and the other (Gossamer Mega Exo) is €54. Both have uniformly terrible reviews.

The Ultegra bottom bracket is only €17.50 on the same site and the Tiagra is only €10.50. I read somewhere that the aluminium, but not carbon FSA and Shimano cranksets and BBs are compatible. Can I get a non-FSA BB, or do I have to replace my current rubbish one with an expensive equally rubbish one?

smacl

Replace an FSA bottom bracket over the Christmas, and getting the right one was a bit of a chore. Even among FSA, there are a number of incompatible standards, e.g. mine was is an ISIS tapered crank and BB adaptor. This BikeRadar article, this compatibility chart and good old Sheldon all helped. I very nearly screwed up and bought the wrong one, so its worth either reading through the articles or taking it down to your LBS. (Getting the old BB off was also fun and games).

vedrafjord

Thanks. I'm leaning towards thinking the Shimano should be fine. Have found the following from an FSA tech:

However our popular alloy cranksets, the Gossamer Rd. and the Energy Rd. is compatible with the Chris King bottom bracket (made to Shimano compatible dimensions). These cranks use BB6000, this BB’s dimensions are compatible with Shimano.
Dae Oh
Full Speed Ahead</QUOTE]

and misc forum users:

For example everything I've seen seems to point to me being able to use a Gossamer Mega-Exo with a 105 or Ultegra Hollowtech II BB.

Yes. The Gossamer is compatible with a Shimano BB. I have replaced that Mega-Expo bracket with a Shimano a few times.

I'll give it a go and report back. People may also want to know that there seem to be a lot of unhappy owners of broken FSA bottom brackets out there...

vedrafjord

Belated followup: I went for the Shimano, I did about 150km on it already and it's working great. If your FSA bottom bracket is falling apart, I recommend getting a cheaper, better replacement instead of trying to do a like-for-like swap.