Bottom Bracket? is there any reason to upgrade?

Question

I currently have a tricked out Gary Fisher Piranha now the only thing I haven't upgraded is the cranks and bottom bracket. Can I upgrade the bottom bracket first because its cheaper? I have a Shimano ES25 Octalink bottom bracket and Shimano FC-M442 44/32/22 Octalink crank set. It seems that I would need to upgrade both because of the"Octaling", but do I? It seems as though bottom brackets and their compatibility with cranks is the one thing I don't really know about bikes. literally.
Thanks

Answer 1

Actually, octalink and isis refer ONLY to the crank/spindle interface and doesnt relate to the bottom bracket really at all. The problem that you're really up against is that the bottom bracket you currently use is of an antiquated design and contains the spindle within the bottom bracket. Nearly all decent modern cranksets will have the spindle permanently mounted to one crankarm or the other and an "open" bottom bracket through which that spindle slides before being secured to the other crank arm. Shimano attachs theirs spindle to the drive side crank while race face attachs theirs to the non-drive side but they're both largely the same. This is commonly refered to as an "external bearing" type bottom bracket or even "shimano compatible external bearing" as Shimano pioneered the design.... which brings me to my next question... why would you want something other than Shimano for cranks? Race Face makes some nice cranks but they arent any 'nicer' than Shimano's at all and nearly every serious cyclist I know would prefer Shimano's to any other vendor. It should be noted as well that the set you currently have is all the way at the bottom-end of Shimano's product spectrum so you arent getting a decent idea of what they offer. Were you to switch to something like a Shimano SLX or XT, you would almost definatley be impressed...



Edit- Truvativ make really good products but they're on the heavy side... The new Hammerschmidt is flat out revolutionary though so they certainly know what they're doing. Personally, I'm a huge fan of Shimano cranks... even though I run SRAM drivetrains. Aside from Shimano, I'd say RaceFace would be my next recommendation... followed by Truvativ. You definatley wont be disappointed with any of the three.

Answer 2

Upgrade Bottom Bracket

Answer 3

Just save your money & do both at the same time. Upgrading only the BB or cranks will probably only give a marginal improvement. Besides, there are some really good integrated BBs to look at.



Anyway, it doesn't sound like you're having any problems so there shouldn't be a rush to upgrade. Why upgrade just to upgrade?

Answer 4

The only time to change out the BB is when it becomes pitted and worn from insufficient grease and/or maladjustments. You cannot really tell the difference between an expensive BB and a cheaper one if you close your eyes. Save your money for betert tires.

Answer 5

If the bearings are fine and spin freely then no there is no reason to upgrade. Also if there is no cracking sound coming from it it is fine

Answer 6

no need, only get a new bottom bracket if your current one's bearings blow. there is no need to get a new one.