Originally Posted by
shea2812
Hollowtech II is integrated and external! Integrated refers to the axle which is attached/integrated with the driveside crank. External refers to the position of the bearings set which sit outside the BB shell on a bike frame!
Guys! I know what the difference between Hollowtech and Hollowtech II is. However, Hollowtech cranks were...and are...available for use with Octalink bottom brackets. I was clarifying Panther007's post about Hollowtech
Hollowtech is not like Octalink at all - or ISIS for that matter. Octalink has an 8-veined axle-bolt that meshes with another 8-veined center-hole in the cranks. They will be sold as 'Octalink' so people know what kind of BB they are for use with. Octalink's mechanism is a metal pipe that runs through the BB-shell that is a sealed mechanism.
The Hollowtech design has 2 sealed-bearings that rotate outside the BB-shell, and a hollow tube that fits through the BB-shell. The cranks are 2-peice cranks that have the axle already attached. This makes Hollowtech lighter in weight, easy to install, and very stiff.
Hollowtech
II is indeed a 2 piece crankset with a crankshaft swaged to one arm and a pinch bolt on the other and it utilizes an external bearing.
Hollowtech (notice the lack of the Roman numeral
) was, and is, a system utilizing an Octalink bottom bracket. Two very different systems with similar names.