Hi,
A cylindrical roller bearing cannot handle any side load. Side load must be accomodated in a hub.
Which is why it is sitting in a hub in the first place.
Provided the BB is designed as it should be the cylindrical bearing with its wider contact surface should allow to build a BB that should not develop much play over time.
What do you mean when you talk of "immeasurably low torsional losses" in a cylindrical bearing?
See above.
The classical setup using ball bearings usually do end up developing play with use. Hence torsional stiffness is compromised due to wear and tear in the long run.
Ball bearings exhibit a line pattern of contact whereas cylindrical types are of the wide contact area type.
Cylindrical bearings usually have higher friction to overcome compared to ball bearing types, in a BB however this shouldn't be of much concern.
Using the SKF setup this problem is greatly reduced, hence my "dreaming" comment about immeasurably low torsional losses.
Granted, there's bound to be some loss at any given time but it should be noteably less compared to other types of bearings.
Ciao,
Being a snob is an expensive hobby.