Does Octalink=splined

A shy person asked:

Quoted message said:

Was Octalink a different design from "splined"? Or are they interchangeable terms?

"Octalink" is a Shimano trademark for a specific spline pattern, used on =

Dura-Ace, Ultegra, 105 and XTR bottom brackets/cranks.

I believe it was introduced in 1997 when the 9-speed Dura-Ace group was=20 introduced.

Sheldon "Not To Be Confused With 'Selecta'" Brown +----------------------------------------+
| I never did a day=92s work in my life; | it was all fun. --Thomas Edison |
+----------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone
617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗ sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Was Octalink a different design from "splined"? Or are they interchangeable terms?

Octalink is Shimano's (probably trademarked) name for their splined interface.

paul-lange.deTT 1 00.PDFOpen ↗

There are other splined interfaces, notably the ISIS spline which has 10 flutes to Shimano's 8 and
many BMX cranks, some of which have dozens of splines; splines which are finer than those in the
above two designs.

isisdrive.comisisdrive.comOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

WHat year did Octalink start?

I'm not sure that they referred to it as 'Octalink' initially, but I think the Shimano spline first
appeared in 1997 when the XTR Mountain Bike group was revamped and which would later be used with
the high end road groups. When the LX and XT cranks and BBs were changed to a splined design two or
three years later, longer flutes were used (see link) so the parts were not interchangeable with the
XTR and roadie stuff. For 2003, Shimano changed XTR and Dura-Ace again, and also worked at
preventing LX/XT Bottom Bracket/Crank interchangability.

--
Chris Bird