Replacing integrated bottom bracket and re-facing the shell?

Corran · 01-20-2008, 01:02 AM

I want to replace my integrated bottom bracket and I'd like to know if the assumption I'm working under is valid. My bike currently has a Giga X Pipe on it and I want to replace it with the same. I've had the bike for about 2 years and abused it quite a bit (while still taking care of it, of course). My instinct is telling me that I do not need to re-face the shell because it has already been faced to match the parallelism of the bearing cups. Can I get away with just buying another Giga Pipe BB and installing it straight away? The only reason I can see to re-face the shell is if both the shell and cups have deformed simultaneously during these past 2 years, much like how gear teeth will shark fin to match a worn chain.