OK, I'm old-school and all of my bikes have square taper BB/cranks. In contemplating my current build I find little available for square taper options, and now a moshpit of ISIS, Octalink, etc. is available. Is there a consensus about which system is best? (IMHO square taper works just fine.)

popcorn is ready

+1

Oysterboy, They all work and work for a long time. Everybody has their preferred this, that or the other so go with what you're comfortable with. Stores like Velo Orange still offer square taper parts. The C&V forum can give you more info if you wish to stay somewhat original... or hints when using newer styles.

Brad

Anything other than square taper is a half-arsed abomination.

...I reserve the right to change my wishy-washy mind later on, though.

There are many square taper cranksets being made to day ,, Unless you are succumbing to the
'you need an overly comlplex 11x3 drivetrain ' I dont see what the problem is ..

I have 1 Octalink, the AC company copied another Shimano moving target standard, in a spline fitted spider /lockring on the arm scheme. and which had a 56 110 crank combo.. to build a 22, 36, 48 combination
there was just 1 square taper arm set left and it was a 2nd with a pitt or 2 in the surface so I went with the Octalink

and an XTR BB... all has passed from latest innovation to another dead end.

My preferences are:

-External Bearing BB (Hollowtech II, Campy Ultratorque, etc.)
-Square taper

External bearings allow a larger, stiffer spindle with acceptably robust bearings.
Square taper have a slightly less stiff spindle (although probably not a really noticeable difference) and acceptably robust bearings. Obviously an excellent proven design. Shimano cartridge bottom brackets are just about the best value in the cycling industry.

If the 'BB30' or other frame specific 'standards' were in any way standardized then they might be OK too.

I digress to what an old boss of mine said: "If there was one single best way to do something, everyone would do it that way". I have a square taper BB that is fine, will look for a suitable crankset.

Step 1: Decide which crank to use.

Step 2: Pick the BB type that works with your chosen crank.

Just be aware that the length of the spindle varies with which crank you are buying.
so you may need to buy as a set the right length for your frame . crank . chainline . triple or double ?

Marketing new stuff every year is a disease...

Yeah, I do understand that the spindle length of theBB I have in my spare parts box (113 I believe) may not be right for this bike. But shimano square taper BB gotta be the best value (low price, indestructable) out there so if I gotta buy another I'm cool with that.

Most systems are now of the outboard bearing design and the rest (ISIS, ocatalins and square taper) are dying off quickly. It's not wise to invest in a crank that requires a BB that is nearly impossible to find.

A lot of the outboard designs had problems in the early years, but most brands have finally got the bugs worked out. There are some outboards cranks to avoid, due to known problems, like FSA models of just a few years ago.

My Phil Wood BB with DaVinci cranks really does the job well. I particularly liked being able to set the BB laterally to get a perfect chainline. bk

i would say isis is dying off but i see octalink coming on new bikes still. mostly oem non series stuff from shimano. sq taper will be here for a long time. i wish they would settle on one integrated bb system(bb90, bb30, etc.)

Square taper has been around a very long time, and was still being used by Campy for 10speed, so it is hardly obsolete. I put a Chorus 10sp crank onto an early '80s Zeus BB. It works perfectly.

there are still square taper cranks/BB's out there, if you look...

Dis guy knows where of he speaks.
I am a square taper kind of guy myself.

It will be a long time before square taper BB's are obsolete. They still come oem on a wide variety of not even that cheap new bicycles. Trek uses BB-UN26 also on pricier models. Nothing wrong with that BB.

Square tapers are obsolete as far as some brands are concerned. Campy has not made any square taper cranks for several years now. Current offerings from most brands are limited to the low price range.

the problem is not with the parts but the obsolescence driven business model of the corporations that make ,

promote and sell the parts..

Consensus is , there can be no consensus , with out in the end a complete agreement ,
[definition of the term]
other than that it is just a vote with one or the other, having more votes in support of a favorite . scheme.

Mostly true for many manufacturers of multi-ring cranks (but not completely).
However, just about any high-end single-ring crank (including the Campy Pista) still use square taper.
Excellent quality square taper BB's are readily available - Phil Wood, Sugino, Tange, and SKF come to mind.