[mack_turtle]

I am interested in buying a used street/park bmx bike that has a "euro" bottom bracket. these got a bad reputation early on and manufacturers abandoned them but were they lousy because bmx kids are lousy mechanics or is it just a terrible design for a bmx bike? is that a deal-breaker?

 

[cglasford]

I have a '07 eastern night train 26 inch dj with a euro bb... they are fine... and not really that expensive, probably have to replace it every few years if you ride in a lot of dust and what not.

they are still pretty common in MTB... I don't think its a deal breaker but it depends on the deal and yourself- personal preference

 

[cmc4130]

I am interested in buying a used street/park bmx bike that has a "euro" bottom bracket. these got a bad reputation early on and manufacturers abandoned them but were they lousy because bmx kids are lousy mechanics or is it just a terrible design for a bmx bike? is that a deal-breaker?

a lot of BMX race bikes still use Euro bottom brackets.

the street/park bikes abandoned them because people were bashing the bottom bracket on ledges, coping, etc. and once you dent the bb even slightly, the threads are screwed. that's the explanation i heard from a lot of people.

"Spanish" and "Mid" bottom brackets are just press-in, not thread-in. so, they became the preferred small bb alternative to American bb's.

 

[rogbie]

A plus for euro bb, you can use external bb cups, which opens up more crank options.

 

[mack_turtle]

As it turns out, I ended up with FSA Smackdaddy cranks, which weight a ton, have ridiculously thick arms, and a 22mm spindle. Does anyone make an external, 22mm BB? Apparently Fly (the Spanish freestyle bmx company, not the race company) made some but they are impossible to find.

If the teeny tiny bearings in the existing BB don't make it, I will probably replace the cranks with a 19mm model rather than waste time replacing those tiny bearings on some boat anchor cranks. Or get someone to machine out the BB tube to take 22mm Spanish bearings.