I ran the original outboard bearing cranks for about 10 years - Sweet Wings. Talk about high maintenance. The current crop are exactly the same design. Play eventually developed between the inner bearing race and the spindle due to wear on the spindle. The whole thing had to be disassembled frequently for cleaning to prevent seizing and to renew the Loctite that prevented everything working its way apart and causing early ends to my rides. Additional stiffness? No way. The whole frame flexes quite easily in the BB area on virtually every bike. Extra stiffness in the BB itself in unnoticed. My $.02