Ultegra 6700 BB with fsa energy (gossamer) cranks

[hockeybike]

Anyone know if I need the bb spacers that came with the FSA BB? I assume yes, because I figure they exist to take up the difference between an italian and an english BB shell, but I could be totally off. Anyone know the answer?

Thanks!

[vqdriver]

Anyone know if I need the bb spacers that came with the FSA BB? I assume yes, because I figure they exist to take up the difference between an italian and an english BB shell, but I could be totally off. Anyone know the answer?

Thanks!


huh?
are you trying to use a shimano crank with fsa BB?

and which spacers are you referring to? do they slip in between the bearing cups and the bb? if so, i've never used those on a road bike, only on mtb. i know nothing about fsa gear so perhaps they use the same bb on their mtb and road cranks. that would account for why they're included....

[oliver1850]

I measured FSA and Shimano British BBs with the cups pressed fully onto the inner sleeve. Both were just slightly under 90mm. I would say you don't need any spacers, but have never tried it myself.

On Shimano BBs, the Italian cups are thinner than the British ones. This allows the same crank to be used with either. Not sure how FSA compensates, but I'm guessing the same way. If spacers are required with one threading but not the other, it seems logical they would be needed with the narrower British BB shell. The bike from which I removed the Gossamer/MegaExo that I measured didn't have any spacers.

Here's some notes from the MegaExo BB description that might shed some light on the spacers:

* Some styles of FSA cranksets may require a spring washer and a spacer for proper fit

* Due to varying dimensional tolerances between manufacturers, FSA MegaExo bottom brackets are not compatible with any other brand of crankset

* Different models of MegaExo bottom brackets are designed to be specific to each model of FSA crankset

[vqdriver]

Italian and English are threaded differently as well as being (slightly) different sizes. You can't address that with spacers.

[hockeybike]

I measured FSA and Shimano British BBs with the cups pressed fully onto the inner sleeve. Both were just slightly under 90mm. I would say you don't need any spacers, but have never tried it myself.

On Shimano BBs, the Italian cups are thinner than the British ones. This allows the same crank to be used with either. Not sure how FSA compensates, but I'm guessing the same way. If spacers are required with one threading but not the other, it seems logical they would be needed with the narrower British BB shell. The bike from which I removed the Gossamer/MegaExo that I measured didn't have any spacers.

Here's some notes from the MegaExo BB description that might shed some light on the spacers:

* Some styles of FSA cranksets may require a spring washer and a spacer for proper fit

* Due to varying dimensional tolerances between manufacturers, FSA MegaExo bottom brackets are not compatible with any other brand of crankset

* Different models of MegaExo bottom brackets are designed to be specific to each model of FSA crankset

Oliver, thanks for doing all that--From what I can tell, you're right, I don't need any spacers, and yes the shimano bb works with the fsa cranks.

[oldpotatoe]

Anyone know if I need the bb spacers that came with the FSA BB? I assume yes, because I figure they exist to take up the difference between an italian and an english BB shell, but I could be totally off. Anyone know the answer?

Thanks!

No spacers and yes, you can use a shimano outboard BB with THOSE cranks, just those, none of the carbon FSA cranks..pretty sure.