Bottom Bracket Compatibility
 

Hey so my LBS told me that I needed to replace my bottom bracket, a "M952" octalink...

I just cant seem to find the part online, what other bottom brackets can I buy that would be compatible/relatively cheap?

thanks!

There is no cheap replacement for the 112.5mm bottom bracket. You'll need to track one down, alternatively you can use a shimano 105 or ultegra octalink bottom bracket, but I only remember them coming in 109.5 and 118mm sizes, which may not work with your setup.

- Joel

Octalink is Shimano exclusively , there is no cheaper version . because of the Patent and its defense.

I got a Crankset that uses an Octalink BBs .. compatibility, but they paid a license for the Use.

You need another of the same .. try your bike shop, they access parts for repairs on non current bikes.

Unfornately as said Octilink BB's are priopriety and fairly specific to the crank so your pretty much stuck getting finding the correct BB. Or changing out the crank and BB in many cases a new crank with BB may be cheaper and easier to find there are some fairly decent cranksets with BB for sale online starting around $50-60.

Bob's new cross to bear:
"Support your LBS, y'all"
read the OP, Bob

the exalted bike shop
in their infinite wisdom
told OP: "go hang"

OP, buy a new crank. Octalink was a horrific turd; I'm glad that "standard" has finally been buried in the catbox.

Our local is better.. the personalities of the Management and personnel obviously differ..

There is no evidence of that
just your assumption.
back to your sandbox

Nice to see s'more haiku.

There's certainly evidence of that, but I concede that there's no concrete proof.

The fact that the shop told him what BB he needs, but they didn't order it for him, suggests that they aren't willing/able to deliver this prized m952 octalink BB. More than likely, the tiny hand full of distributors that they order thru does not have any available anymore. There are many possibilities, but it seems likely to me that the shop is trying to get him to upgrade/update to a whole new crank. (Good advice, but at the retail level, "the customer is always right".) Still, finding octalink v1 BBs anywhere but ebay is a chore; even when you do find em, they tend to be roadie 105 stuff, with 109 or 118mm spindles. (OP needs a 112.5mm.) So, even if the shop is telling him "we're sorry; we can't get you that BB. You might consider a new crankset", it's totally understandable.

My dig was more at F-Bob, who overlooked the fact that the OP started this ill-fated quest at his LBS, and who doesn't even know that the shop almost certainly cannot just get some cheesy relic BB from a wholesaler. The LBS can't/won't help the OP; I chose the "go hang" quote to keep my syllable count correct.

Yeah, the M952 was the only MTB bottom bracket with the V1 format that also fit most of Shimano's Octalink road cranks. And yes, the BB5500/BB6500 road bottom brackets only came in 109.5 and 118.5 l(double and triple) spindle lengths. Your best bet is E-bay and I found several listings for the correct M952.

BTW, surreal is incorrect. Octalink may be obsolete but it was a decent interface and the durability was good.

Nope. The interface was OK, but the bearing life was severely reduced due to the tiny l'il bearings. This is especially true for rougher use, such as one would expect to occur with an xtr-equipped moutain bike. You may disagree, but the interwebs is littered with threads about how/why octalink (and the camaro to octalink's mustang, ISIS) sucks so bad. Especially for MTBs, but even roadies would regular toast those lilliputian bearings.

My gripe with octalink goes beyond weak bearings, though. It was a poor design, and it was born at least in part of schemes to dominate the marketplace via planned obsolescence and petty compatibility wars. Shimano came up with it, refused to license it, and that's how the equally lousy ISIS came to be: most of the other manufacturers came up with their own splined interface, complete with tiny bearings destined to die before their time. The market spoke up pretty quick on this one, with many cyclists "downgrading" their new bikes to square taper.

In what was (hopefully) the last act of octalink evil, Shimano decided to introduce Octalink V2. While this was ostensibly for MTBs, it actually found its way onto lower-end road groups, and the "best" octalink mtb group was xtr with v1. Seems to me that the biggest "accomplishment" that shimano achieved with having v1 and v2 octalink was to reduce cross-compatibility even further. Way to go, shimano.

But, you don't have to take my word for it. Look around: where are the octalink/ISIS adherents? There aren't any. Square taper has been "obsolete" for ages, but you can still find ST BB's in a dizzying array of configurations. But most everyone has abandoned octalink; you can't buy new-production shimano V1s, and they only make truly craptastic v2 BBs currently. SKF is still making ISIS-interface BBs, but everyone else has quit 'em. (You can get a howitzer, but these have external oversized bearings.) The world has turned; they kept the good part (splined interface) but ditched the bad part (shriveled little bearings.) Personally, I'm grateful for that.

I'll agree w/ this post 100%...i'm still emotionally scarred from rebuilding countless D/A octalink bb's w/ their stupid tiny needle and ball bearings. The only thing those 'seals' kept out was sunlight.