Whats the difference between a Spanish BB and a Mid BB********** this is annoying me...which one is better and do they have advantages over American BB's and Euro BB's???
-taylor

i have a mid bb and it seems to be better than everyone elses spanish bb's. ive had no problems so far.

no i ment like are they different sizes or the same size...cause they look like the same size but some of the frams with Spanish BB come with bearings and i was wondering why....they are so hard to get and whats the difference and are there any advantages...

Spanish BBs use small, custom sized bearings that cost about three or four times as much as a normal bearing; you can use a 19mm (3/4") or 22mm spindle with them.

Mid BBs use regular American Profile bearings (w/a 19mm internal diameter), which are much stronger (I've already seen a few people blow apart the Spanish bearings) and cheaper; the companies that use this BB (S&M/Fit, FBM) are currently looking into a way to use a 22mm spindle with them.

hmmm ok

but would both bbs work on the same frame or is 1 bb made for a specific type of frame??? cause i hav a spanish 19mm bb and wanna run my dmr cranks on my leader trk v1.5. willl it work?

They're different sizes, and the bb's on the frames are made to accept only the one size bearing.

And kinetik, with a euro bb being smaller, they're mostly used more on the track or on fixies/road bikes. American is just a mid in a cup.

Spanish uses bearings with a smaller outer diameter, than mid uses. One will not work in a frame made for the other. You'll need a bottom bracket to fit whatever type your frame uses. BBs for 19mm spindles are pretty easy to find, for any frame type.

my fly spanish bb always gave me problems more frequently then any other bb i had. probably didnt help that it was in a ISIS frame...

Wrong! Both mid and spanish bottom brackets cost the same. At least at our shop anyway. Check out the Kink or the Shadow ones at Dan's Comp if you don't believe me. Also you can choose either 19mm or 22mm in both of them too. I have never had a problem with either one of them and we sell lots of both. Many of the bikes we sell have switched to spanish this year.

You guys are always trying to get the lightest parts, well guess which is lighter, you got it, the smaller spanish one.

Quoted for the truth. Both are respectable and last a long time depending how they are installed and maintained. Some very respectable companies use spanish bb

So if I bought a Merritt 22mm mid for a frame that previously had a spanish, am I screwed?

Yes, you have to have the correct one for the frame, and also for the spindle size.

Did you notice how old this thread is?