We read the following post recently at a message board:
FSA installs the bearing cartridge the wrong way in one of the two the plastic cups for all their ceramic PF30 bottom brackets.
background:
The FSA ceramic PF30 bearing come with pretty thin grease that doesn't last too long. Of course it is easy to re-grease them with thicker grease, but that has to be done with them in the bike since you can't remove PF30 without destroying the plastic cup or bearing.
After removing the bearing seals, I was able to re-grease one side without difficulty, but I found that the bearings were not exposed on the other side. Instead, the plastic ring that holds the bearing was facing out, which made getting grease into the bearings next to impossible.
When I called FSA about this, they said that is the way they make them because it would cost them $100K to retool the machine to insert the cartridge the correct way. When I asked how to re-grease the bearing, he didn't have an answer.
What's frustrating, beyond the fact these cost $150, is that FSA includes a srynge with grease and instructions on re-greasing, but you can only do that on one side.
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FSA builds there bearing by machine and is so disconnected, they install the bearings backwards making greasing hard, if not impossible.
Too bad the customer didn't purchase our PF BB30 BB with bearings that we build by hand and press into the cups with a simple bearing press. We make sure our bearings face the right way so you can grease them when needed.
