by graeme_f_k on Thu Feb 20, 2014 5:00 pm
Campagnolo UK SC here ...
Actually, yes, my reply when the retailer called me *was* "WTF are they on" as he revealed the name of the frame supplier to me. The supplier should know better.
The frame is actually supplied from an Italian factory making white label product for others, as is often the case. In this particular instance, the frame is made-to-spec for the dealer concerned.
The dealer concerned is very familiar indeed with Campagnolo - they should have checked this with the builder if they intended it to be compatible with UT or PT. If it's made for native BB30 solutions only, they should say so.
BB30 is a lousy BB system anyway, problems are legion and they all settle around a tendency for either the bearings or bearing adapters to walk out of the frame - it can't really be otherwise if one looks at the mechanics of what is going on. Even native BB30 solutions have problems with movement and creaking, and long term, the installation method is flawed as well - by the time the bearings have been replaced a few times, the alloy of the bb shell is eroded and the fit will be very poor.
As a result, shortening the cups is a monumentally bad idea. If there is a tendency for them to walk anyway, shortening them & as pointed out earlier in the thread, reducing their contact area in the frame will have two effects - first, less friction means more tendency to walk. Second, walking / fretting and the consequent ovalising of the bore of the BB *may* damage the native BB 30 seats so if the user ever wants to go to a native BB30 solution in the future, that *may* be more problematic.
I won't even bother mentioning what hacking a mm or 2 off the end of a BB cup might do to the BB / chainset warranty - I'd love to see Campag's reaction to receiving those cups back ... or a damaged BB axle. I suspect similar to my reaction to the suggestion made in the 1st place but in Italian.
So, to add to all of that, the essential problems facing this user are:
BBshell is not through-bored to the correct diameter.
This prevents use of any Praxis-type solution (added to which Praxis UT solution isn't out yet, and we've yet to see any mention of a PT version). For any non-initiates here, PT and UT are not compatible technologies.
Available bore in the BB shell is inadequate for any Campagnolo-warranteed solutions for PT / UT to apply.
Choices:
1. Overtorque will work fine with Athena and deliver the only true benefit of BB 30 - a bigger diameter & thereby stiffer BB axle and crank-to-axle junction. The rest is just froth.
N.B. - To correct some misconception here - OT is a non-ranged component, so Comp One uses similar materials / technology to Record in the carbon work, and a specific self-aligning bearing, steel balls, steel surfaces. Comp Ultra uses the same carbon tech as SR and a "Campagnolo USB" ceramic ball / steel surface hybrid self-aligning bearing. They are not direct equivalents of anything else in the Campag range.
The BB shell-width tolerance recovery mechanism in OT is rigid so the bearings will tend to shift a good deal less in a BB30 shell than anything involving a pre-load washer as do many "native" BB30 solutions.
OverTorque preserves warranty all around if correctly fitted.
2. Return the frame - The retailer, whilst they may not have misled you in any other sense other than by omission, should sort this out.
3. Find out if the retailer will countenance a bore-out of the BB30 shell to allow the fitting of the Campag adapters. They are framebuilders - they should be able to advise / facilitate.
Sorry I can't be more positive ...
HTH
Graeme
A Tech-Reps work is never done ...
Head Tech, Campagnolo main UK ASC
Pls contact via velotechcycling"at"aim"dot"com, not PM, for a quicker answer. Thanks!