Classic & Vintage - Hopefully, the last Mavic 631 Starfish spindle taper thread EVAR

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moki
10-21-07, 12:03 AM
I nabbed a pair of these tonight:

http://www.bikepro.com/products/cranks/crk_jpg/w_mavic_road.jpg

Of course, I don't have the silly Mavic bb to with the cranks.

I'm hoping to put these cranks on the Bottecchia frame (70mm Ital. threaded bb shell) I picked up this week. Can someone please tell me, in plain English, which BB will play nicely with these cranks? At the risk of muddying the waters, the Bikepro archives state that ANY square taper spindle will work, and that Mavic road BBs came in 114, 116, 119, and 123mm spindles.

PS extra points for a cheap, current production cartridge BB!

unworthy1
10-21-07, 12:16 AM
any ISO square-taper spindle BB will work, as long as it's Italian threaded and for a 70mm shell. I'd only be guessing at the correct spindle length, so let somebody who's done it answer that. Shimano still makes sealed cartridge BBs for Italian shells (but NOT sure if the spindle is ISO) but the lowest cost with decent quality seems to be the Miche (which can be found for around $25, and DOES come with Italian cups and an ISO taper). I like my Mavic Starfish crank very well, you'll probably like yours, too.
avenan
10-21-07, 09:18 AM
Popular opinion says 113mm when using an ISO taper. The original Mavic is 114mm in double, but the taper is different. The difference in tapers apparently seats the crank out just a tiny bit further on a standard bottom bracket.

Shimano made a UN-72 that is a decent quality bottom bracket in 113mm. I use a Phil Wood, which works great.

A millimeter or 2 won't cause the end of the world, so if you can easily find something within that range, I wouldn't sweat it.

moki
10-21-07, 04:44 PM
The Miche Primato BB comes in a 115mm spindle length, so I'll try to track one of those down. The Phil Wood-type system is a beautiful thing, so long as the bearings hold up. Miche BBs have a bad reputation, but I don't have enough miles on one (on my Mariposa, mated to Gipiemme cranks) to have an opinion.

Thanks for the help, gentlemen!