skagitteam

All--

I'm having a custom titanium road frame made and can have my choice of bottom bracket setups. I understand the installation and technical differences between the various models. However, given the tremendous variety in the market right now, I'm struggling to figure out which setup is least likely to come back to haunt me five years down the line because I picked a variety that did not survive in the marketplace.

What do you think is the safest choice right now? I'm inclined to go with a standard external, english threaded setup, but thought I would ask the experts here--what do you think? Any ideas would be very helpful.

If it matters, I run SRAM drivetrains and do almost all of my own mechanical work. Thanks!

jimc101

Forget looking at the BB standard, rather look at the crank you want to run, as this will determine the BB type required; for SRAM, you have the choice of BB30 or GXP (external BSA threaded).

Of the two, BB30 gives you more options, as you can run adapters to convert back to a BSA threaded, where a GXP could then be used in the same shell or 24mm Shimano if you chose that route in the future, you can't use a BSA threaded shell with BB30.

shelbyfv

I think your inclination is correct unless you have a specific crank in mind that needs a different bb.

surreal

If you go with a standard BSA threaded BB shell, you're covered even if the BB86 garbage takes off, b/c as of right now, Shimano cranks can be run in either a bb86 or with hollowtech2 external BBs. If bb30 dominates, you might not do as well... but I think BB30's biggest drawback is that it isn't something that can be fit into the vast majority of the frames on earth... BB86-compat cranks will be compatible with every BSA-shelled bike, so long as they keep making the HT2-style threaded BBs.

HillRider

+1 on a standard English threaded bottom bracket shell. English threaded bottom brackets will be around for decades in a bewildering variety of formats from cup-and-cone through external bearing cups by Shimano, SRAM, Campy and who ever else is out there. There are so many bikes with this configuration already out there and they are still being made by the 10's of thousands.

pdlamb

For longevity, the SKF BB has the best (10 year) warranty I've seen; for example, see https://www.compasscycle.com/bb_SKFBAS_jis.html. As mentioned above, make sure you get a crank that's compatible with your BB, or vice versa.

fietsbob

Square taper old style .... Phil Wood offers a Titanium spindle and Magnesium bearing sleeve ..

given:

More titanium the merrier ..

surreal

I believe the OP is asking which "standard" for the BB shell of frames will endure the longest, as far as its viability in the high-end road group market. A lot of ppl are suggesting variosreliable BB set-ups that fit a BSA-threaded shell. Square taper, unfortunately, has fallen from grace quite some time ago. The upside is, if/when the OP tires of chasing bunnies, a BSA threaded BB shell will allow use of both JIS and ISO square taper (sealed or loose-ball), ISIS, octalinks 1 and 2, GXP, hollowtech2 and all the other current OBB setups, and should be retro-fittable with future bb86 cranks, so long as ht2 bbs are available. So, more options, and probably the interface most likely to remain accessible the longest.

Sixty Fiver

BSA, because of the nearly universal compatibility.

Sixty Fiver

All my bikes are still rolling on square taper bottom brackets of varying quality... they have never caused me a moment of grief.

RubeRad

I have a friend who complains sq-taper is "too flexible". I can't even imagine what that might feel like. Would it be bending so the crankarms deviate from vertical? Or rotational so the crankarms deviate from being in line with each other?

3alarmer

.........unlike my ex wives.

RubeRad

Octalink 1 and Octalink 2??

pdxtex

his cranks are probably flexy. not the bottom bracket. i like square taper. also am currently running first gen. octalink and outboard shimano cups on another bike. ill report back when those go bad. sq. taper lasts forever though and there are still plenty of relevant options to choose from crankwise. and its cheap!

Garthr

BSA all the way, as mentioned. There will always be BB's for these ! Sugino is making some of the nicest square taper cranks ever made and continue making new models. Lots of choices from the XD/RD to the high end XCD and Might Comp/Tour .

oldbobcat

Have you seen how many crank manufacturers are offering 10- and 11-speed cranksets this year that use square taper? Have you seen how many 9-speed options are available from the usual suspects, Campagnolo, Shimano, SRAM, and FSA?

Square taper is fine if you're planning to equip this bike with NOS and used stuff purchased on eBay.

OK, there is Sugino, if you look really hard for it. Sorry, if I don't see it in QBP, J&B, BTI, or Velo-Orange, it doesn't exist. And if it's only in Velo-Orange, it's pretty fringe.

fietsbob

11 speed is marketing driven , not need driven .. unless you race at a high level ..

Good luck with your pro career. OK Ferrari survives on something other than the F1 races.


I got off that band wagon when I got a Rohloff hub .. but Im a plodding international tourist ..

thought you loved titanium ,, there's a place where theres More area 51 stuff..

surreal

The race-ready high-end vs practicality debate will likely rage on forever, but it's moot to the OP's actual question. The OP is looking for advice on his frame's shell, not the specific BB/crank interface. As of right now, even the most goofy/convoluted racing groups still support BSA threaded shells, and being that a massive % of the quality road frames available, both new & used, the BSA compatibility seems likely to last for quite some time.

If it doesn't, well, then we're all $crewed anyway, right?

But, as far as the square taper thing goes, you can buy 10/11 speed compat square taper cranks from Sugino (as already mentioned), and you can buy 10/11spd rings to mount on square taper arms, too. I am probably an anomaly insofar as I'm a retrogrouche who actually kinda likes HollowtechII/GXP, but I think the industry's move away from square taper has largely been a mistake. Many ppl apparently agree, and you'll see many high-buck new-parts bike builds with square-taper cranks if you look around the internet. (To be honest, I don't see too many in-person, but c'est la vie.)

PS- it doesn't seem likely that 10/11/million-speed set-ups will kill square taper cranks; even travesties like BB30 might not succeed in killing them off, either. I'm more worried that stupid proprietary BCDs and utter turds (eg, "Yaw" front derailers) will become more prevalent and render SqT obsolete. Anyone who really thinks these things are improvements, rather than sneaky and expen$ive ways to squelch the competition, is in denial. If you couldn't get nice front shifting before Yaw front derailers, then you've got more pressing problems anyway...

FastJake

68mm English threaded

RubeRad

What's a 9/10/11-speed crankset? I included a Shimano 600 52/39 sq/taper (even lacking shifts and ramps) in my 9-speed build, and it works great!

surreal

10+speed chains will likely "skate" on some 600 chainrings.

RubeRad

OK, but that's about the chainring-to-chain interface, not the BB-to-crank interface. Chainrings are wear items, assuming a common enough BCD.

surreal

Absolutely true. Read my posts above; totally addressed this already.
Originally posted by Me:

Garthr

Ben's Cycle sells Sugino and have for a long time. You can get them from Japan too, $20 shipping.
Euro Asia(been around since 1973) does also. They distriubute to any bike shop.
https://www.euroasiaimports.com/produ...gino-c1570.htm
https://www.benscycle.net/index.php?m...th=188_193_655
https://www.alexscycle.com/cranks/road-1-2-3-4-5-6/
https://www.alexscycle.com/cranks/mtb-1-2-3-4-5/

I have no problem buying overseas .... niether do any QBP, etc. etc. ! Why should I ?

No need to apoligize


Ebay is great for getting NOS parts. It's great because you don't have to play the game of planned obsoleteness of drivetrain parts. Shimano and Campy do it so you have to keep buying new parts . that's fine if you like that, but for many, there is no desire to.

Regardless of the type of crank, a 68 BSA BB is going to exist, whether one chooses OBB or Square Taper.

joejack951

What has Shimano obsoleted?