Originally Posted by
knobster
It spins and it's even. I've just never had one that was as stiff as this one. These are the outboard cup model so there is no adjustment. I'll put some miles on it and see how it goes. Worse case is I change them with the some known good one's that I have.
When I decided to put an XT crank with external BB on my touring bike, I ran into a 'stiff crank' situation. It turned out that I had not been able to tighten the drive side cup completely, and the non-drive side would make the setup 'stiff' when tightened. I chased the drive side threads, and now the drive side cup tightens completely, and all is well!
If you can fit a thin (.o12 or so) feeler gauge between your BB cup and BB shell, you MAY not have the cup completely tight. If a feeler gauge will NOT fit in between, then it is probably seal friction at work.