Angular contact bearings handle pedaling loads differently than standard radial bearings. The race geometry positions the balls to accept both the radial forces from your body weight and the axial thrust generated when you're pushing hard on one pedal while pulling up on the other. Standard radial bearings let the balls slide slightly under thrust, which accelerates wear. Wheels Manufacturing builds the EVO386 AC Bottom Bracket with angular contact Enduro bearings on both drive and non-drive sides, putting this load-handling advantage where it matters most in the drivetrain.

The thread-together design addresses the fundamental weakness of press-fit bottom brackets. Instead of relying on interference fit to hold the cups in place, two machined aluminum cups thread against each other through the BB shell, clamping the frame between them. The assembly stays tight regardless of temperature changes, humidity shifts, or material relaxation over time—all factors that loosen standard press-fit cups and introduce creaking. When you need to service the bearings, you unthread the cups rather than pressing them out, which means no risk of enlarging the shell bore with repeated installations. The bearings themselves are standard Enduro cartridges that can be replaced individually without proprietary parts or special extraction tools.

This version fits 386EVO and 392EVO frames—any shell with 46mm inner diameter and width between 86mm and 92mm. The larger 46mm bore diameter distinguishes these frames from BB86/92 shells, which use 41mm. Crank compatibility covers 24mm spindle diameters, which includes Shimano road and mountain cranks along with RaceFace, Rotor, and other manufacturers using the same dimension. One note on FSA: their 24mm cranks can have compatibility issues with this bottom bracket due to spindle diameter tolerances, so check the Wheels Manufacturing compatibility page before ordering if you're running FSA.... Read More