Originally Posted by
cudak888
Many Dutch city bicycles have cartridge-style bottom brackets fit into the frame with a pair of press-fit cups, long before someone made a high-zoot, expensive, and trendy one for modern road bikes. It's nothing new, just difficult to find information about in English as BB's are called trapassen or trapas over there.
Face it, there have been non-standard approaches long before now, we just accepted them when we learned about them for the first time. I have nothing against the new stuff - unless the manufacturer refuses to publish the documents necessary to repair it or sell the tools to service it. Only then does a brand earn a middle finger salute. Double middle finger salute if they offer some sort of self-service but make it exceedingly difficult and tedious in a direct effort to discourage self-service (yes, this is a jab at Apple).
For the record, most mechanics usually knock out these press-fit jobs with something to protect the end of the spindle and a sledge. Bearing raceways? We don't care abound no stinking bearing raceways!
-Kurt
I do know pressfit bb:s have technically been around for a long time. And I know and admit we have had many bb threaded standards over a longer period, ITA, French, Swiss, English to mention examples. French have made up their own standards on everything seemingly just for the sake of it. But nationalities are no longer a part of this picture. Big global companies are protecting their own interests with patents and their marketing departments with the only incentive being money. My point is; we could have settled on a international standard or two. Is that not how development should occur that in the end we find the ultimate universal solution? But instead we have developed dozens of new standards and made everything worse for the end consumer and people who buy used bikes and there is just no end in sight. I think, or rather I hope this is not what we the consumers wanted.. Itīs the companies that have invented the needs. They are replacing old problems with different ones. I really think the industry is moving towards the Apple way like you described, in fact why would they not.