Originally Posted by
jimc101
Tried to read the above a few times, but still not sure what the main question is.
In general terms, external BB's never run as smoothly as internal/cartridge BB's if move by hand, when pedalling, this isn't noticeable.
With FSA MegaExo BB's, if in doubt, just replace with a Shimano HT2, they are compatible, and Shimano should be easier to find. The compatibility issue that you seem to be having is with the crank, not the BB, have you checked the techdocs to ensure you are assembling in the correct order?
FSA Technical Information - FSA
Yeah it sounds a bit confusing even when I read it so maybe this will help.
Bike 1 has a Standard Gossamer crankset with pinch bolts and cap. Bike 2 has a Compact Omega crankset. I bought a new compact Gossamer crankset to go on Bike 1 so I could take that Standard crankset and put it on Bike 2. The crankset I bought didnt come with a bottom bracket but I had one in my parts bin so I wasnt worried about not having one since the price was right. The crankset I bought uses the FSA Self extracting bolt and wave washer. When I took the crankset off and when to swap the new one in I it didnt seem to mount up with the spline a hair not all the way showing. My guess was because the BB has a lip around the spline holes.
Even tho they take the same 6000 BB it seems like there is 2 different versions. You could see looking at the external cups that they are not the same even tho they both are for a 24mm spindle.