I don’t know about you but the recent* continual re-invention of the humble bottom bracket seemed a redundant process to me, causing more problems than it solved. There they were, two bearings held reasonably far apart and aligned in a solid structure – especially if it was a machined BB shell such as on Turners. Stiffness was never an issue for me, only the occassional wearing out of bearings and damaged tapers.

In an effort to address the latter I tried ISIS and octalink bottom brackets which offered a taper solution at the expense of reduced bearing life by increasing axle diameter to address a stiffness problem I never knew I had.

Then to address the bearing life issue, of their own making of course, ISIS/Octalink spawned the external or outboard bottom bracket. This allows for larger diameter bearings, and increases the spacing which reduces leverage on them, so should see a lifetime increase. However the separate cups that aren’t so well supported by the bottom bracket shell, now need meticulous alignment which undoes the good.

A quick forum trawl will reveal that the supposed lifetime benefits we are sold are not materialising.

It was only a matter of time before someone realised that with at least three different headtube standards on the market (and that was before we got tapered and internal) that if the market will supprt fatter headtubes and a myriad of standards then surely you can do the same with our BB shell and put the bearings back inside a solid structure.

Until these standards become more widespread how do you prolong the life of your OBB?

I’d wager that this little beauty from Phil Wood will last longer than most:

Phil Wood OBB Set

Get’em from Tim

In the meantime my trusty singlespeed is sticking with square taper. I’ll let you know if I have any stiffness issues.

* If it’s in the last ten years, then to me that’s recent.