Enduro has been making top quality bike bearings for suspension, headsets and more for years now, but the Maxhit series takes things to the next level. I’ve been testing both the bottom bracket and the headset for nearly two years and I’ve been seriously impressed. This is a product for people who want their stuff to last then, who want to get the most out of the best best mountain bike drivetrains and groupsets. And for those who don’t want to do much spanner time.

Design and specifications

Unlike other bearings, Maxhit doesn’t use a cartridge bearing inside a separate holder that fits into the frame. Instead the outer of the bearing is what fits into your frame, meaning there’s no need for the traditional aluminium cups.

From the outside the Maxhit looks pretty normal, but with more space inside and larger bearings too, life expectancy is much higher

That means Enduro can use much larger bearings than normal (4.76 mm compared to 2-3.2mm). That basically gives them the same smooth rolling advantage as 29er wheels compared to 26in, but on a microscopic metal surface and grease contamination scale. The larger bearings are also tougher – Enduro say twice as strong – when it comes to getting cracked or crushed under high loads.

In the case of the Maxhit, the angular contact bearings and cups it runs in are 440C stainless steel for epic corrosion proofing. The cups are then 90% packed with premium extra high pressure grease. And, much like like Hope’s mud-busting PF41 BB bottom bracket, they’re topped off with double labyrinth seals.

Hope’s newest PF41 BB has Swiss made oversized bearings, and a double row of seals

While I tested conventional 30mm and DUB screw-in versions, Enduro also make Maxhit in a wide range of T47 formats, and its patented TorqTite system for BB86/92 press fit bikes. All Maxhit bottom brackets come with a lifetime manufacturing warranty too.

Performance

While the bigger bearings allow for more frame misalignment without excess drag, the cups themselves were a super clean fit in my BB shell. They’re clearly laser marked for threading direction and torque settings too. Being steel rather than alloy means less stress about rounding them out if you slip too. The crank axles glide in on silky tight tolerances and you get a bunch of spacers included. This all combines to make sure the whole install is a luxuriously investment-affirming process.

Both driveside and non-driveside, the Maxhit slides in beautifully thanks to its tight tolerances

Don’t be shocked if the cranks don’t spin forever when new though. The tight seals and maximal grease fill take a while to relax and smooth out, while initially free spinning bearings from other brands will be getting baggier and wearing from the start.

Enduro has some excellent peer reviewed drag stats on a wide range of competing systems on its site, if you like charts and data. However I’m going off what I know from nearly two years using Maxhit bottom brackets on a hardcore hardtail and my high mileage trail bike. Plus feedback from a couple of sets being used by mega mileage enduro and marathon racers I know. The results are unanimously excellent, with no stiffness, wobble, squeak or drag issues in any of the sets and a smoother spin than when they were installed. That’s without any regular maintenance either although spare seals are included for servicing.

The Maxhit has outlasted the likes of SRAM Dub, Race Face Cinch and TRP BBs

In this time they’ve outlasted several SRAM DUB BBs, a Race Face Cinch that died very quickly and a TRP unit that I don’t know the original maker of. Unfortunately I’ve not put enough time into Shimano BBs to give an accurate comparison and Enduro didn’t include them in its testing either. But as Shimano crank axles are much slimmer they also use larger bearings too, so lifespans are generally excellent.

It’s also worth noting that the lifetime bearing warranty officially depends on a ‘professional’ service every year. However having spoken to distributors ExtraUK they’ll always have your back regardless of an FSH in the rare event of a bearing issue.