Originally Posted by
blamp28
I must be the odd man out here but I find Octalink to be a useless design. I for one am looking forward to the next in a series of early bb failures on my MTB so I can replace the entire crank and bb with an outboard bearing design. The design is superior putting larger bearings closer to the torque generating legs. My Octalink lasts two seasons on average and I only ride 1000 miles or so on that bike. I'm careful while cleaning etc. IMHO, the design was a good Idea for lightening the bb but did not come off as planned. The larger, hollow shaft made the bearings smaller in the same sized shell. This lightened the design and shortened the life. I have square tapered bbs in other bikes both on and off road with 8 - 10 times the miles that still hold up well. Bigger bearings - last longer. The new outboard bearing design accomplish the best of both worlds. Large - hollow shaft lightens the bb assembly and having the bearings outside the bb shell enables larger bearings. Complain all you want about the evil corporations forcing us to upgrade but there are technological reasons among the obviously objectionable built in obsolescence to do so.
Wow. Really? Out of all the reading I've done, this is a first to suggest Square Taper has lasted longer than Octalink. Even in my own experience with Square Taper, something just didn't feel right when mine failed. In comparison to how long it took the Square Taper to fail versus what the overwelming majority of Octalink riders have said, I'm definitely happier to have an Octalink this time around instead of a Square Taper.
But anyway, yeah... if all else fails, I'll go with a Hollowtech crankset. Like I said, I just wanted to know what kind of prices I was looking at and I'm glad to know I have a price range in the back of my head for the crank/bb set of a new style if need be. I just hope by then BB30 doesn't... somehow... take off hardcore leaving hollowtech II and octalink in the dust with only ebay still supplying used spare parts!