Originally Posted by Point

Lighter? A Shimano 600 crank from 20 years ago weighs about 600 grams - add in 300 grams for a square taper BB and the weight isn't that far off a modern crank - a new Ultegra double and BB combo weighs 960 grams. As for stiffer, the small amount of torsional bending in the spindle isn't worth mentioning, and the external cups don't do a thing for lateral deflection anyway.