cranks

[Fixed]

bro why does my 95 campy chorus crank and b.b. spin with less friction than a new style ultegra crank and b.b. ? any ideas ?
when I spin them backwards the old one moves so easy like there is no chain on it ...what gives?
cheers

[jerk]

bro why does my 95 campy chorus crank and b.b. spin with less friction than a new style ultegra crank and b.b. ? any ideas ?
when I spin them backwards the old one moves so easy like there is no chain on it ...what gives?
cheers


because they're better.

jerk

[David Kirk]

because they're better.

jerk

That made milk come out my nose.

And I haven't had any milk.

Dave

[gone]

bro why does my 95 campy chorus crank and b.b. spin with less friction than a new style ultegra crank and b.b. ? any ideas ?
when I spin them backwards the old one moves so easy like there is no chain on it ...what gives?
cheers
I'm not sure about campy (don't wanna start a campy vs shimano war though it's been at least a day or so since the last one :) ) but I know that as far as DA is concerned the shimano answer is: blame the pros, or at least their mechanics. When the DA 7700 was first introduced, the cranks spun forever but the mechanics for the pro teams using power washers to clean the bikes sprayed directly on the BB seals which couldn't take the high pressure so the teams were going through BB's at a fabulous rate. Shimano redesigned the BB for a tighter seal. See

http://www.velonews.com/tech/report/articles/9555.0.html

for a brief discussion (under "Pressure wash"). I believe the Ultegra BB was redesigned at the same time but am not certain.

[coylifut]

bro why does my 95 campy chorus crank and b.b. spin with less friction than a new style ultegra crank and b.b. ? any ideas ?
when I spin them backwards the old one moves so easy like there is no chain on it ...what gives?
cheers

loose ball bbs spin way better, but I can't seem to destroy the 2 ultegra bbs I have. One has been on my rain bike for 3 winters and the other one is on my cross bike for the same. considering you can get em for $36 they may be one of the better bike buys.

[531Aussie]

I still kinda feel this way about hubs -- I reckon cone and balls spin faster, even if they're not as smooth, but I guess sealed hubs aren't slowing down all the pros :)

[chrisroph]

museew reportedly used an old DA crank with cone and ball bb set up on his otherwise campy machine for a while because of the lower bb friction, just like I'm running on my winter bike.

[stevep]

theres more back tension on the rear derailleur. thats also why the shimano shifts so much better.
make the chain one link longer and you will reduce this tension.
you can also reduce a little by backing off the top adjustment screw on the der lessens this contact.

[Too Tall]

With the chain on...what Steve said...dang check the big brain on Steve :)
If you are talking about just the external bearing itself eg. how just the bearing "feels" when you turn it...DA / Ultegra jobs wellllll it is entirely solvable using a diff. spec. bearing. Personally, I've got a peg board full of 180 and 175 square taper cranks I AIN'T parting with for love or $$.

[cydewaze]

I have an old DA square taper on one bike and a 7700 octalink on another. The old one spins forever, but the new one stops after a few turns. Probably the same deal.

[OldDog]

I've got campy record an chrous bb of recent vintage that don't turn, due to the sealed bearings. I'd rather deal with the older cups and cones.

[Too Tall]

Olddawg - If you've got the money honey Phil's got your back. Spec. bearings and they match your cranks bub. Mag Ti BBs wooo woooooo. Sealed bearings ain't the issue. Really nice cartridge bearings can run great.

[CalfeeFly]

I can answer this from first hand experience and company provided information.

The new outboard bearing bottom brackets are very different in this respect. I had an FSA K Force for about 100 or 200 miles. I did not like the outboard bearing feeling on the road. It is very different.

If you take the chain off an outboard bearing crank/bottom bracket and "hit" the crank arm you get about one revolution. The person I spoke to at FSA said this is just the way it is with that design. If you do the same to any internal bottom bracket in good condition it will seem to spin "forever." This is also true with Octalink since when making a decision what to do I spun my commuter bike bottom bracket to compare it.

A lot of people ride the new design and seem to like it. I don't though. I think it could be effected by how strong a rider you are and how close to smooth circles your pedaling is. I think the better you are the less you notice the difference since any "freewheeling sensation" of the bottom bracket doesn't come into play. You are powering through the complete circle.

When it starts to rain for 40 days and 40 nights starting tomorrow I plan to start a thread related to this. I not only sold my K Force but I also switched that bike to Campy since I wanted a conventional internal bottom bracket. I also wanted a square taper for the larger smoother bearings. I feel that give it a few years and Shimano will not be supporting Octalink well. Their current track record trying to run 9 speed into obsolescence is not encouraging. If you look at Isis now there are only a couple of people making them. It is pretty much FSA which has had problems; Race Face; and Truvativ. I believe that the bottom bracket is a much underappreciated link in the performance of your bike than it is given credit for.

So for the same reason I’ve bought Shimano in the past that being they had what I wanted at the time (it seemed whenever I was building up a bike Campy was all set to change everything in 6 months and they were in transition) I now went with Campy. It is a very different world, much more so than I imagined. I am amazed at the differences. I have no intention of starting to capitalize the n in Shimano since I always thought that was silly. I also plan to keep my 9 speed D/A on my other Calfee. But I will definitely love the Campy to death.

Please, please, please no Shimano bashing. They both work and they both have their points. I just learned first hand as many have said that Campy is a different world/league. The last time I rode Campy was 1996 when Ergo was still catching up...what a change! Then my left hand was large enough to shift the front rings. Now it is a marvel of precision and a work of art to behold.