Hope has a new BB design that could double the lifecycle of its press fit bottom brackets. Called PF41 BB, the Barnoldswick brand has engineered an assembly with seals on the inside and the outside, as well as a new Swiss-made bearing, which it reckons will better resist mud and misalignment.

Not exactly the coolest of products to launch then, although there’s also a new carbon crank and alloy stem with a bronze finish to tempt us into upgrading. But it is undoubtedly the most useful product added to the range this year, because a busted BB costs you time, money and watts on the trail, compromising the efficiency of even the best mountain bike drivetrains and groupsets.

PF41 is built for a 30mm spindle, which Hope reckons makes for a stronger and stiffer axle

Hope need to know

• PF41 BB bottom bracket with double row of seals and Swiss bearing
• Carbon Crank with foam core for damping and replaceable contact points
• All-new TR Stem claim to be stronger and stiffer than the AM Stem – 123g in 32mm reach
• BB is £90, Carbon Crank is £550, TR Stem is £105

“We’ve never been able to get a tube between the cups before with our 30mm bottom brackets,” Alan Weatherill from Hope told us. Now with the custom designed, and Swiss manufactured bearing it’s sealed from the inside with a central tube, and from the outside with extra seals built into the bearings.

“Previously we had to use someone else’s double row bearing too,” Alan says. “That’s not ideal on a BB because if the bike’s BB shell is slightly out of line it can add wear to the bearings. The new bearings use a single row, which have the same load rating but aren’t as strained.”

Hope’s new Carbon Crank has a carbon weave finish, but the choice of colour extends to the chainring, end caps and pedal inserts

Hope Carbon Crank

Hope is big into building components that last years not months, and that are easy to service with available parts. This is no marketing gimmick, you can genuinely get parts for the Hope Evo crank, released years ago it’s still one of the best mountain bike cranks out there. We’re not surprised to see the new cranks come with replaceable pedal threads then, and you can swap out the axle or chainring.

Hope Carbon Crank need to know

• Tough 1k carbon shell and foam filled centre for damping
• “Tuned” stiffness for ride feel… stiff then, but with a slight flex?
• 155, 165 and 170mm lengths, for 30mm bottom bracket
• Weight starts at 422g for the cranks only in 155mm, or 487g with 32t chainring 
• 52 and 55mm chainlines, direct mount only, Q‐Factor 168mm Boost/176mm 55mm, spiderless chainring
• Costs £550, made in the UK 

Designed for trail or all-mountain use, Hope says the Carbon Crank is tuned in terms of stiffness for the “optimum ride feel” – presumably that means it’s not absolutely as stiff as a board. We’ll know more when we test the Carbon Crank later in the year. The outside is made from 1k carbon, which is extremely lightweight and actually very rare in the mountain bike world because it’s costly to make.

Adding foam to the internals of the crank arm, the idea to reduce trail buzz and improve comfort

Inside is a foam core to help absorb impacts and dampen the trail down. The carbon inside is T700, which refers to the tensile strength of the dark stuff, which in this instance is on the high side… just as you’d expect from a crank.

As well as replaceable pedal threads, the Carbon Crank uses the same self-extracting axle/arm interface from Hope’s trusty alloy EVO cranks. The crank itself comes in 155, 165 & 170mm lengths and of course the 7075 alloy spindle comes in at 30mm to work with the new PF41 bottom bracket.

The TR Stem looks gravity-built, but it’s light enough for trail riding

Hope TR Stem

What’s new about the TR Stem here is that it’s stiffer and lighter than the outgoing Hope AM Stem. How stiff? We’re not sure yet, but this can only be a good thing because the old AM Stem wasn’t quite as rock solid as the best mountain bike stems out there. 

The TR Stem is designed for trail bike or all-mountain use, meaning Hope’s gone after the weight of it too, taking it down to a superlight 121g in 35mm reach. 

Hope TR Stem need to know

• Comes in 32, 40 and 50mm lengths in Ø31.8 clamp
• Comes in 35, 40 and 50mm lengths in Ø35 clamp
• Two-piece front place with no-gap clamping
• CNC machined from solid billet of T6 aluminium
• Comes in black, silver, red, blue, purple, orange and new bronze  
• Costs £105