Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Square taper doesn't equal K.I.S.S. To work on the crank you need: something to remove the dust cap, a 14mm socket or allen wrench (could be 6, 7, or 8 mm), a crank puller, and a bottom bracket extractor to match the flavor of bottom bracket you have. If you are using the old cup and cone system, you'll need a lock ring spanner, a pin spanner and a fixed cup tool. That's up to 7 different tools.
For an external bottom bracket crank, you'll need a bottom bracket tool and and allen wrench. Two tools. Much simpler. Like I said earlier, external bottom bracket does for cranks what threadless does from headsets.
Not to mention, with a square taper comes the risk of not torquing down the crank bolt, going for a ride, and rounding the formerly square taper. Or, you can be two beers in, decide to try half step gearing, and forget to remove the crank bolt washer, and tear the threads out of a crank, making removal a real chore.
All of my bikes have square taper, but that's just what's cheaply available, it has some issues.