External bearing bottom brackets

Tom Anderson said:

Can i put one in a frame which currently has a square tapered BB
(after taking that out!)?

Yes. They are designed for ordinary frames.

I don't know enough about them to properly answer your other questions. I
haven't been interested personally because I don't know of any road triple
ones.

~PB

"Tom Anderson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

Hi,

Shimano's HollowTech II, RaceFace's X-Type, FSA's MegaExo: are they
mutually compatible?

Can i put one in a frame which currently has a square tapered BB (after
taking that out!)?

You might need new crankarms!;-(
I don't think any of the above do square taper.

Quoted message said:

Are there any downsides compared to a square tapered BB?

Fitting can be tricky: you need the right tools.

Quoted message said:

Am i right in thinking that the BBs themselves can be had for about 15-30
quid?

You might have to go above your top figure...
Chain Reaction show the HollowTech II @ about £34
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=27239

Quoted message said:

Are the cranksets ludicrously expensive?

Are there road or touring cranksets?

Any and all answers gratefully received!

Here's a bottom bracket FAQ:
http://www.cyclepowermeters.com/faq-34-c.asp

--
Another Tom.

Tom Anderson said:

Hi,

Shimano's HollowTech II, RaceFace's X-Type, FSA's MegaExo: are they
mutually compatible?

Yes, I run an LX crankset in a raceface diablous bb.

Quoted message said:

Can i put one in a frame which currently has a square tapered BB (after
taking that out!)?

Yep, just use the right shims (supplied with the BB) depending on what
width your frame is.

Quoted message said:

Are there any downsides compared to a square tapered BB?

There are pluses and minuses.. Some claim the bearings are more prone
having the grease washed out. You can service them with care (my old LX
one came apart without too much drama)

Quoted message said:

Am i right in thinking that the BBs themselves can be had for about
15-30 quid?

Yes
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=145

Quoted message said:

Are the cranksets ludicrously expensive?

No, and many come with the bottom bracket as part of the package.

Quoted message said:

Are there road or touring cranksets?

Yes.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=577

Quoted message said:

Any and all answers gratefully received!

J

Jeff said:

Tom Anderson said:

Shimano's HollowTech II, RaceFace's X-Type, FSA's MegaExo: are they
mutually compatible?

Yes, I run an LX crankset in a raceface diablous bb.

Quoted message said:

Can i put one in a frame which currently has a square tapered BB (after
taking that out!)?

Yep, just use the right shims (supplied with the BB) depending on what width
your frame is.

All good news!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Are there any downsides compared to a square tapered BB?

There are pluses and minuses.. Some claim the bearings are more prone having
the grease washed out. You can service them with care (my old LX one came
apart without too much drama)

Hadn't thought of that. Not too keen on having to re-grease them myself,
and knowing my luck, and propensity for riding in the rain, i would.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Are there road or touring cranksets?

Yes.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=577

I do like this:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=21876

Although the rings are probably slightly too big.

Random rant: i do wish websites selling bike components would organise
their data properly, and then let you search it. If i'm only interested in
triple cranksets to fit a JIS square bottom bracket, i have zero interest
in wading through millions of splined doubles or whatever. I'm sure the
sites would make more sales if they could actually show people products
they want.

tom

--
I had no idea it was going to end in such tragedy

On 04/06/2008 17:10, Tom Anderson said,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There are pluses and minuses.. Some claim the bearings are more prone
having the grease washed out. You can service them with care (my old
LX one came apart without too much drama)

Hadn't thought of that. Not too keen on having to re-grease them myself,
and knowing my luck, and propensity for riding in the rain, i would.

If you do go to an external bearing BB, you ought to consider getting
the BB shell faced so that the bearings sit absolutely square. It'll
all work perfectly well without facing, but you *might* shorten the
lifespan of the bearings.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Paul Boyd said:

On 04/06/2008 17:10, Tom Anderson said,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There are pluses and minuses.. Some claim the bearings are more prone
having the grease washed out. You can service them with care (my old LX
one came apart without too much drama)

Hadn't thought of that. Not too keen on having to re-grease them myself,
and knowing my luck, and propensity for riding in the rain, i would.

If you do go to an external bearing BB, you ought to consider getting
the BB shell faced so that the bearings sit absolutely square. It'll
all work perfectly well without facing, but you *might* shorten the
lifespan of the bearings.

Okay.

Er, what's 'facing'?

tom

--
only positivistic reason and the forms of philosophy based on it are
universally valid -- Pope Benedict XVI

Tom Anderson said:

On Wed, 4 Jun 2008, Paul Boyd wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If you do go to an external bearing BB, you ought to consider getting
the BB shell faced so that the bearings sit absolutely square. It'll
all work perfectly well without facing, but you *might* shorten the
lifespan of the bearings.

Okay.

Er, what's 'facing'?

The outside edges of the frame's bottom bracket shell are resurfaced by
removing some material. The shell should be properly faced to start with by
the frame maker, but sometimes it was never done or not done properly, so
refacing makes sure it is.

It leaves the faces even and square, and can help with some conventional BBs
as well as outboard jobs.

~PB