Those of you who may be in the know: should I stock up on Ultegra BBs to protect my investment in the Dura Ace cranks?
That is a pretty good question considering that except for Campy, the trend seems to be for the component manufacturers to migrate towards the external bearing (ala 10 speed Dura Ace) cups/bottom bracket/spindle design! The saving grace is that I think many of the manufacturers products that incorporate the new technology are still between 4-6-12 months away from shelf space at your local bike shop/online retailer.
Michael
i doubt it. I can still find a square taper shimano bb… If Octalink does go away, it will be a while…
Over time, you’ll probably find that Octalink is available in the lower end groups, but not Dura Ace or Ultegra, just like you can’t buy square taper XTR or Dura Ace anymore. (Unless someone has some old stock sitting around.)
10 Spd Ultegra is due out for the 2005 season, so that is the first step in that direction assuming that the crank/BB design is similar to Dura Ace.