If I was going to run a traditional shimano crank set up and had the option to buy a BB30 or non BB30 bottom bracket frame which frame would be the best option? Would it be best to just get the non BB30 frame with shimano cranks or BB30 frame and then an adapter for the shimano cranks?

Thanks,

Depends......if you ever think you may want to use a BB30 crank then get the BB30 with the adapter. If not, the standard BB model will give you less headaches.

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2012 Fuji Altamira SE - 6.42kg

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I would go BB30 and use the praxis adapter if I was in the same situation.

BB30 with adapter..... A lot of the pro tour teams use that set up.

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"black on black, is a crime"

if you intend to stay with Shimano, why complicate things with adapters? might be a tad lighter with delrin adapters, but it is still a work-around and I'd choose to keep it simple. Of course there are a few types of BB30 approaches, and that just makes things even more complicated. Screw in some bearings and call it good.

Like a few others stated, depends. If you plan to ever go BB30 on your crankset, then it makes sense to get the BB30 and run adapters.

If you are a Shimano guy and will never ride another type of crank, then just stick with that setup.

BB30 doesn't guarantee stiffness. Some will say the spindle being 30mm instead of 24 (6mm difference), will make a crank stiffer. That is all well and good, but if your bottom bracket is not stiff, the crank isn't going to make it any better.

A good example is the Scott Foil. It uses FP86 24mm bearings. Really wide BB and rated as one of the stiffest available. You can run GXP Sram, Shimano etc...no need for BB30.

I personally have run both. Depends really on the frameset and your personal component preference. I run Sram Red and a Scott Foil currently. But have also run CDale Supersix BB30 Sram Red. Both stiff setups either way.

Good luck!

Thanks for the replies! I guess I was wondering if there was an advantage having a BB30 frame but using an adapter with Shimano cranks. With Zigmeister reply it sounds like the stiffness of the frame around the bottom bracket is more important then if it is BB30 or not?

Either frame should be ok, fsa make the megaEVO bb cups which have a 30mm diameter hole in them - just the fit size for any bb30 crank, and they fit in any English threaded bb shell.
So then if you get the standard bb frame, you can run ordinary cranks (22mm or 24mm) on it.
Or of course if you get the bb30 frame, adapters to English/Italian threads are available everywhere.

Also shimano cranks run a 24mm spindle, so use their hollow tech bb on either a standard eng threaded frame or a bb30 one with megaevo adapters, the bob's you uncle.