Octalink. Thoughts?
02-09-09, 12:05 PM
#51
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Square-Taper has been around decades longer than Octalink. I guess it's been thrown onto the scrap heap along with rim brakes, quill stems and friction shifters: a bad idea that never did work.
Shouldn't be a problem at all. You might want to take the bike to a shop and get the BB faced to insure the faces are parallel. You're bike is pretty new so it probably isn't an issue, but worth it to make sure. Those external bearings don't like being misaligned one little bit.
Yeah, I get it. I was just curious as to how applicable it would be for my bike (or any bike) in particular. Like I said, I just wasn't sure with size measurings how it lined up and whether or not my idea for a future crank/bb upgrade to be Hollowtech II was impossible or not.
Any obvious way to tell which size my bike may have between 68 and 73mm? Are they the two standard Hollowtech II sizes?
Any obvious way to tell which size my bike may have between 68 and 73mm? Are they the two standard Hollowtech II sizes?
02-09-09, 12:08 PM
#52
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Wow. Really? Out of all the reading I've done, this is a first to suggest Square Taper has lasted longer than Octalink. Even in my own experience with Square Taper, something just didn't feel right when mine failed. In comparison to how long it took the Square Taper to fail versus what the overwelming majority of Octalink riders have said, I'm definitely happier to have an Octalink this time around instead of a Square Taper.
But anyway, yeah... if all else fails, I'll go with a Hollowtech crankset. Like I said, I just wanted to know what kind of prices I was looking at and I'm glad to know I have a price range in the back of my head for the crank/bb set of a new style if need be. I just hope by then BB30 doesn't... somehow... take off hardcore leaving hollowtech II and octalink in the dust with only ebay still supplying used spare parts!
But anyway, yeah... if all else fails, I'll go with a Hollowtech crankset. Like I said, I just wanted to know what kind of prices I was looking at and I'm glad to know I have a price range in the back of my head for the crank/bb set of a new style if need be. I just hope by then BB30 doesn't... somehow... take off hardcore leaving hollowtech II and octalink in the dust with only ebay still supplying used spare parts!
Millions of square tapers have lasted decades. Like I said earlier, Phil Wood makes the best BBs and they're all square-taper.
Last edited by GV27; 02-09-09 at 03:20 PM.
02-09-09, 03:48 PM
#53
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A press? Really? I guess that makes sense. I was wondering how a "threadless" bottom bracket would stay in place...
I can only imagine what kind of tool would be required to replace a BB30 bottom bracket... Any images, anybody?
I can only imagine what kind of tool would be required to replace a BB30 bottom bracket... Any images, anybody?
02-09-09, 05:18 PM
#54
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02-09-09, 05:20 PM
#55
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Wow. Really? Out of all the reading I've done, this is a first to suggest Square Taper has lasted longer than Octalink. Even in my own experience with Square Taper, something just didn't feel right when mine failed. In comparison to how long it took the Square Taper to fail versus what the overwelming majority of Octalink riders have said, I'm definitely happier to have an Octalink this time around instead of a Square Taper.
But anyway, yeah... if all else fails, I'll go with a Hollowtech crankset. Like I said, I just wanted to know what kind of prices I was looking at and I'm glad to know I have a price range in the back of my head for the crank/bb set of a new style if need be. I just hope by then BB30 doesn't... somehow... take off hardcore leaving hollowtech II and octalink in the dust with only ebay still supplying used spare parts!
But anyway, yeah... if all else fails, I'll go with a Hollowtech crankset. Like I said, I just wanted to know what kind of prices I was looking at and I'm glad to know I have a price range in the back of my head for the crank/bb set of a new style if need be. I just hope by then BB30 doesn't... somehow... take off hardcore leaving hollowtech II and octalink in the dust with only ebay still supplying used spare parts!
Regarding a high failure rate for square taper bb units, I would suggest that it was unusual among quality units. The design has been around for a long time and as other posters have said, some of the best on the market are square taper Phil Wood lasting many years. Again, the Octalink also known as Hollowtech was designed to address weight and stiffness.
The Outboard bearing designs bay various manufacturers were designed to be lighter and stiffer without using the smaller ball bearings thereby answering the longevity issue. Shimano calls theirs Hollowtech II
You can find low, medium and higher quality parts for any application. The lower end parts will tend to be best suited for very casual use while the mid and higher end components will usually weigh less and outlast their less expensive brethren. I abuse my hardware racing off road and find the best overall value usually lies in the high/mid-range stuff. I get decent longevity without springing for the all out race hardware.
FWIW YMMV
02-09-09, 10:05 PM
#56
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It'll look something like this
02-09-09, 10:21 PM
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Geez. I'm more shocked by the price than the tools themselves. 140 bucks? Are you absolutely kidding? 40, maybe. MAYBE. 140? Joke and a half.
So basically it's like a two piece... thing... an anchor and a threaded bolt to "pull" with the anchor to extract the BB. Sounds like a half decent idea. I just still don't get how this is beneficial from threads.
But again, 140?! GAHH!
So basically it's like a two piece... thing... an anchor and a threaded bolt to "pull" with the anchor to extract the BB. Sounds like a half decent idea. I just still don't get how this is beneficial from threads.
But again, 140?! GAHH!
02-09-09, 11:38 PM
#58
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On mountain bikes the bottom bracket shell can be either 68mm wide or 73mm wide, and you have to get a BB that matches.
Hollowtech II is the external type.
Hollowtech II is the external type.
02-10-09, 01:26 AM
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Hollowtech II is integrated and external! Integrated refers to the axle which is attached/integrated with the driveside crank. External refers to the position of the bearings set which sit outside the BB shell on a bike frame!
02-10-09, 01:29 AM
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https://road.fullspeedahead.com/fly.a...duct&taxid=279
02-10-09, 02:31 AM
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Then, don't buy Sonny's tools! Buy the cheaper FSA stuff.
https://road.fullspeedahead.com/fly.a...duct&taxid=279
https://road.fullspeedahead.com/fly.a...duct&taxid=279
Seriously, I've had excellent results with FSA. Looks like the way to go for these oddball BB's. Thank you!
02-10-09, 07:31 AM
#62
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Then, don't buy Sonny's tools! Buy the cheaper FSA stuff.
https://road.fullspeedahead.com/fly.a...duct&taxid=279
https://road.fullspeedahead.com/fly.a...duct&taxid=279
"What's the retail on one of those?"
02-10-09, 08:19 AM
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I doubt that the FSA is going to be much cheaper, however. You'd need to buy 6 different tools to do the same job as the tool set I linked to. I wasn't endorsing anything by the way. That was just the first BB30 tool I came across with Google.
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02-10-09, 08:27 AM
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Hollowtech is not like Octalink at all - or ISIS for that matter. Octalink has an 8-veined axle-bolt that meshes with another 8-veined center-hole in the cranks. They will be sold as 'Octalink' so people know what kind of BB they are for use with. Octalink's mechanism is a metal pipe that runs through the BB-shell that is a sealed mechanism.
The Hollowtech design has 2 sealed-bearings that rotate outside the BB-shell, and a hollow tube that fits through the BB-shell. The cranks are 2-peice cranks that have the axle already attached. This makes Hollowtech lighter in weight, easy to install, and very stiff.
The Hollowtech design has 2 sealed-bearings that rotate outside the BB-shell, and a hollow tube that fits through the BB-shell. The cranks are 2-peice cranks that have the axle already attached. This makes Hollowtech lighter in weight, easy to install, and very stiff.
) was, and is, a system utilizing an Octalink bottom bracket. Two very different systems with similar names.
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
02-10-09, 12:44 PM
#65
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My turn to clarify:
I dislike Shimano. By the time they have forced all of us to switch to Hollowtech II - aside from radical hold-outs living in caves with their 'cups & cones' BB's - they will spring another innovation with a plethora of advertising. And bike mechanics will have to shell out some ridiculous sum for a ridiculous tool to install the bugger. Such as the current TL-FC16*.
I'll use the Hollowtech II - but I'll have a slow-boil about it.
Rant over. Pardon me!
* though cheap - ridiculously so - it's the thought that counts.
I dislike Shimano. By the time they have forced all of us to switch to Hollowtech II - aside from radical hold-outs living in caves with their 'cups & cones' BB's - they will spring another innovation with a plethora of advertising. And bike mechanics will have to shell out some ridiculous sum for a ridiculous tool to install the bugger. Such as the current TL-FC16*.
I'll use the Hollowtech II - but I'll have a slow-boil about it.
Rant over. Pardon me!
* though cheap - ridiculously so - it's the thought that counts.
02-24-09, 03:11 AM
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Help, I have an FSA gossamer triple crank, I bought it on ebay. Does anyone know if fsa octalink stuff takes v1 (short spline) or v2 long spline. I can't find info on the net anywhere!
02-24-09, 06:25 AM
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Help, I have an FSA gossamer triple crank, I bought it on ebay.
Does anyone know if fsa octalink stuff takes v1 (short spline) or v2 long spline.
Does anyone know if fsa octalink stuff takes v1 (short spline) or v2 long spline.
FSA octalink triple road cranks take 118mm V1 BB.
02-24-09, 07:08 AM
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02-24-09, 02:05 PM
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I've used the octolink BB for years now - I've got both the 571 and 752 version which was the LX and XT offerings. The Shimano Cranks of the mid 2000s were very good - the LX was almost Identical to the XT version. I have used them on 3 or 4 different frames and put 1000s of miles on them with no trouble at all.
I would love to try the Hollow-tech LX or XT cranks just so I could use a new Chris King BB but these Octolink BB keep running strong so I don't need to spend the money just for the sake of upgraditis.
I would love to try the Hollow-tech LX or XT cranks just so I could use a new Chris King BB but these Octolink BB keep running strong so I don't need to spend the money just for the sake of upgraditis.
03-11-09, 03:14 AM
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Ok, please help me. I've received various mixed messages re. v1 or v2 octalink for FSA gossamer. FSA themselves say v2, longer spline version. So now I've bought on of both to try and find which fits... but neither seems to! Please can you guys answer two questions?
1) If you have a crank not on a bike, is it v1 or v2, and how long are the grooves on it?
2) When you fit the crank on the bike, how far along the splines does the crank fit before you need to pull it on with the bolt? Is it just a tiny bit, or a great deal?
Thanks very much. Please help me sort this!
1) If you have a crank not on a bike, is it v1 or v2, and how long are the grooves on it?
2) When you fit the crank on the bike, how far along the splines does the crank fit before you need to pull it on with the bolt? Is it just a tiny bit, or a great deal?
Thanks very much. Please help me sort this!
03-11-09, 05:21 AM
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I think the Octalink is doomed, unfortunate for such a tough usable system. It was always better than ISIS.
I purchased an Ultegra Hollowtech 11 with BB for under $200.00 and the BB's are around $30.00, the last Ultegra Octalink BB I bought was over $100.00. Dura Ace octalink Track gear is still stratospheric as it hasn't been replaced yet.
The new systems are cheaper to manufacture and perform fantastic. The market will determine Octalinks fate which bums me because I'm stuck with a few sets.
Square Tapers live forever.
I purchased an Ultegra Hollowtech 11 with BB for under $200.00 and the BB's are around $30.00, the last Ultegra Octalink BB I bought was over $100.00. Dura Ace octalink Track gear is still stratospheric as it hasn't been replaced yet.
The new systems are cheaper to manufacture and perform fantastic. The market will determine Octalinks fate which bums me because I'm stuck with a few sets.
Square Tapers live forever.
03-11-09, 06:00 AM
#75
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Some people may say that a special size BB will cause the frame to become obscelete one the standard is abandoned. The is already the case with current bike frames. Once the particular internal or integrated headset of your bike become unavailable (in 10-15 years), your frame is scrap metal. You may as well have a better bit of scrap metal for its riding lifespan.
