Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Campy Cranks...do they work with most BB's?

I was wondering whether campy cranks had to be put on a campy bottom bracket. Do they work on only certain BB? I'm looking at buying parts to build up my own fixed gear track bike from the groud up.

Yes, Campy cranks need to be used with Campy BB. The tapers on the spindle are slightly different between Shimano and Campy, not so much that you can't install it, but enough that it will not work properly together.

I was wondering whether campy cranks had to be put on a campy bottom bracket. Do they work on only certain BB? I'm looking at buying parts to build up my own fixed gear track bike from the groud up.

Campy cranks CAN be used with virtually ANY square tapered BB. But you will need to experiment with different BB spindle lengths to get your chainline right on. I've used Campy cranks (track & road cranks) on cheap no name BB's with success. Shimano cranks, on the other hand, have trouble with Campy BB's.......they tend to bottom out.

Shimanos (and most others) use a slightly steeper taper (that is, Campy ones are nearer parallel) - Shimano uses the Japenese standard (JSO), Campy uses the ISO); the result is, Campy BBs should only be used with Campy cranks, but any other combination should work. But for the sake of doing things properly (and good taste :) ) you probably should use a Campy BB.

Campy cranks CAN be used with virtually ANY square tapered BB. But you will need to experiment with different BB spindle lengths to get your chainline right on. I've used Campy cranks (track & road cranks) on cheap no name BB's with success. Shimano cranks, on the other hand, have trouble with Campy BB's.......they tend to bottom out.

Have a local shop consult their Sutherland's Bicycle Manual which will give you specific information re:
what axle tapers and brand of B/B axle will fit your crank. Not doing so could result in a ruined crank..

Have a local shop consult their Sutherland's Bicycle Manual which will give you specific information re:
what axle tapers and brand of B/B axle will fit your crank. Not doing so could result in a ruined crank..

Add Barnett's in last post. Shops may use one or both to solve fit issues.

schwinn looseball old school spindles fit campy cranks just fine:-D good luck finding one short enuff tho. i got lucky and got a friends campy spindle.

Okay, here's the scoop: all tapered bottom bracket spindles use the same 2 degree taper. The difference is that the end of the spindle starts out as a different size for different manufacturers. Taper spindle end size tendencies (smallest to largest):

Ofmega
Zeus
ISO
Campagnolo
JIS

This is copied from the Sutherland's manual.

Two things you need to watch out for when fitting cranks onto your BB spindle:

Bottoming out against the end of the taper on the inside of the spindle. In other words, the crank goes on too far and goes past the tapered part, stretching the hole in the crankarm and maybe cracking it at the corners. You've just ruined your crankset if you do this. Just watch when you tighten up the bolt. The back of the crankarm should not go past the tapers.

The other thing to watch out for is the crankarm not going on far enough. If this happens, the cranks will be loose on the spindle and if you ride it, you'll round out the holes. To check for this, torque the bolt on, then take it out. The end of the spindle should be recessed at least a mm or two behind the shoulder of the crankarm hole.

Do not grease the tapers, and torque to 300-384 inch/pounds. Re-torque after 50 miles or so.

So if you wanted to use Shimano cranks on a Campy BB, you might have the first problem and run out of taper. If you wanted to use Campy cranks on a Shimano BB, they would stick out farther which might make it hard to match your chainline. Trial and error, just be careful not to f*** your cranks.

Good rule of thumb: Use the same brand cranks and BB, then you can blame them if anything goes wrong :)

Good rule of thumb: Use the same brand cranks and BB, then you can blame them if anything goes wrong :)
Just buy the campy bb, they low end one is like twenty bucks and working fine for me.

Just buy the campy bb, they low end one is like twenty bucks and working fine for me.

I agree. I bought a veloce bb for my Campy pista cranks, and they are really good. I have a friend who tried to install gold campy cranks on a shimano bb, and ruined the taper on the crank. Not a good idea.