Is there really my prformance difference between square taper and splined? With the advent of the external BB cranks e.g Dura ace 10 how long will each method servive. I am guessing the high end Octolink stuff will be the the hardest to get hold of in the next few years. How long will Isis and square taper stuff be available for?
Is there really my prformance difference between square taper and splined? With the advent of the external BB cranks e.g Dura ace 10 how long will each method servive. I am guessing the high end Octolink stuff will be the the hardest to get hold of in the next few years. How long will Isis and square taper stuff be available for?
The is probably a hardly discernable difference between the types I suspect. TS will probably be around forever, at least until Campy decides to do something different. Octalink will likely disappear in 5 years because it is prorietary and Shimano’s way of selling something “better” to everyone. ISIS will probably be around for the forseeable future because it was developed to be a non-propritary standard and it is working out that way as many manufacturers have adopted it.
I will always bite on this one, and the internal headset threads. The square taper has been around for almost 100 years. Then ShimaNo comes up with a much better design the Octalink that solves all the “problems” of the square taper and is “stiffer”. Then low and behold abandons their great discovery five years later for technology stolen from Sweetwings.
Their new and improved Sweetwings style bearings that are out in the rain and elements seems to have some contamination problems. Hmmmm ,Nice design, lets put the stuff that needs to stay clean in the dirty part of the bike. Well I wonder how many years this set up will last? So instead of a nice sealed unit inside the BB shell we are out in the rain and snow. Well planned.
As far as the stiffness goes, I guess the track riders that put out huge watts, indoors or at least not in the rain aren’t needing the extra stiffness because ShimaNo doesn’t offer a track crank in the Sweetwings style.
I think most triathletes that rarely stand up or even less often sprint really need the stiffest BB they can find. For my money buy a Phil Wood BB, Campy crank and forget about needing to service it for about 10-15 years or so. Oh and World Cup sprinters are still on the 100 year old square style BB. End of Rant
I steal good ideas all the time. look at micro soft. if they didn’t steal they would be gone by now . how about sti? stinking campy stole that. how aboyt round tubes on bikes ? the list goes on and on. steal it or by by .
I have square taper. I am about 100 yeqars old 
Thom just having fun !
Come on G-Man…we all know a Phil Wood will last longer than 10-15 years…
I do have a hub vintage 1974ish that is still in the rotation.
Well since all the campy square taper guys a bending their flimsy bb axles all the time, it’s just a matter of time. To me it seems odd to mount your bearings out from the center. The outer leverage will flex you frame far easier than a tradition taper axle will bend, as if you could. It makes me laugh to think someone could sift through the sole of their shoe, that an axle, as opposed to crank arms, bottom brakets and rear stays are the things actually flexing.
Funny thing is that I have a 1991 Shimano UN71 BB on my MTB that has been through 16 seasons including several winters of riding through rain, snow and salt. this old Shimano BB as we all know is taper square…
Last year was the first time I got a bike with a perpetually creaking ISIS BB and this year, my bike has a “non creaking” Shimano Octalink BB