Originally Posted by
jaltone
If I understand the question correctly, and please correct me if I misunderstood it, I will bravely venture with an answer. With all due respect, and I am in no way an expert in anything at all but simply a student reading and learning along the way, I believe someone already said in this thread (and in some other threads in BF), that the primary reason why relatively recent BB designs with wider inner diameters and/or wider shell widths came to be is to improve stiffness of carbon fiber frames around the all important BB area. There was generally no problem at all with the existing BB designs per se before then.
Ah, O-K. That would make sense- except perhaps for one thing: If my understanding is correct, I believe that Gary Klein was the first to implement a press-fit BB30-ish BB....on his aluminum bikes. (Although your point could still be valid- as Klein bikes are noted for their stiffness- so maybe he was indeed trying to stiffen the BB area that way?).
Ironically...I just bought a Klein....but one made after Gary had abandoned the press-fit BB and returned to 68mm English threaded..... [The current state of old Kleins which do have the press-fits are likely to be a harbinger of what will be the fate of today's bikes, years from now, which have BB30.... everyone avoids them like the plague!]