check on the difference between "not a lot" and "none." You might be surpriseddinoadventures said:Not a lot of good square cranks? What about Middleburn or White Industries? Toss one of those on a Phil Wood bottom bracket and you're set!
what problems did the outboard bearings produce? are you talking about the q factor? i never noticed the difference.FBinNY said:I think splined spindles are progress backwards. The older square taper BB's are less expensive, last longer, and seem less prone to developing loose cranks. To address some of the problems of the larger spindles mfrs went to outboard bearings, pushing the cranks farther outboard and creating a host of new problems.
Watching the developements in BB's with their new problems, and solutions reminds me of the old lady who swallowed a fly. Like in that case I don't know why.
Just because folks are retro grouches doesn't mean that the new stuff isn't lousy.
I LOL'edJoules said:check on the difference between "not a lot" and "none." You might be surprised
Because square taper cranks are prone to loosening and gaulling. Once it happens, the cranks are done for. Some people disagree, but not everyone is large enough or strong enough to make this happen consistently. I will NEVER choose a square taper BB over a spline or external.FBinNY said:I think splined spindles are progress backwards. The older square taper BB's are less expensive, last longer, and seem less prone to developing loose cranks. To address some of the problems of the larger spindles mfrs went to outboard bearings, pushing the cranks farther outboard and creating a host of new problems.
Watching the developements in BB's with their new problems, and solutions reminds me of the old lady who swallowed a fly. Like in that case I don't know why.
Just because folks are retro grouches doesn't mean that the new stuff isn't lousy.
Sorry for the slow answer, been away. The Q-factor is only a minor factor, though it's interesting to note that only a few years ago low Q-factors were discussed as being of critical importance.brake jack said:what problems did the outboard bearings produce?
Do you make sure your lug nuts are tight every time before driving your car? Nothing wrong with checking, I'm just worrying if our standards are too low for reliability.frdfandc said:I run a square taper on my hardtail and an external bearing setup on my full squish. Zero problems with either.
But I make sure that everything is checked and tight before my rides.
Neither design is immune to failure, but take it from someone whose been around bikes for longer than I'm willing to admit - on the numbers, the problem rate of the square tapers are far fewer than those of the current splined systems. Not being a retro grouch here, but the tapered square spindle has been a phenomaly reliable system that didn't need "improvement"willtsmith_nwi said:Because square taper cranks are prone to loosening and gaulling. Once it happens, the cranks are done for. Some people disagree, but not everyone is large enough or strong enough to make this happen consistently. I will NEVER choose a square taper BB over a spline or external.
BTW the Octalink (Shimano spline) stuff I had never failed. This is for a 280# guy.
