Can anyone recommend a lightweight replacement
for an ultegra double (109.5) bottom bracket?

I have a fairly new set of FSA superlight cranks
that use the Shimano spline, so I'm not real keen
to switch to ISIS or square-taper. Am I pretty
much stuck using Shimano? If so, is the DA
BB really as big a pain as some say?


thanks in advance!!

Shimano has not licensed anyone else to produce BB's with the octalink design so you are stuck with Shimano.

I think most of the negative opinions about the DA BB are because it requires maintenance relatively frequently which is not something people expect or want from a BB these days.

Do you mean the 9speed DA BB?

Since the 10speed DA BB is partially integrated in the cranckset, he's probably talking about the 9speed...

The Ultegra was used by some pro teams instead of the DA... Although you can remove play out of the DA BB (which is a good thing), it needs a lot of care (which is a bad thing)

Yup. I meant the 9speed.

When you guys talk about a lot of care for the DA, what do you mean?
Adjustment? Complete overhauling? I almost never ride in the rain,
so I'm wondering if a little extra care isn't worth the 50-60 grams of
weight savings.

--jens

Does the new 10speed one require as much maintanence? Not like it's expensive to replace anyway!

From what I hear maintanence is a joke. The design is soo good you hardly have anything to mess with. Only if you ride in super muddy conditions and rain all the time, and then all you have to do is slide out the crank and pop the seals off the BB, clean and regrease, dont even need to remove it!

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MAMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT! HUH!

Didn't think you needed to do much to it. Can't wait for mine to be fitted!

the DA bbs from like 2 years ago were a moster pain in the ass to instal and maintain, and it was best left to mechanics, I know because I was one for a while and i had to be taught twice how to fit them. I'mpretty sure that shimano remidied the problem in the 03 bbs, but i'm not sure.

I live in Belgium where it rains every day (it's even raining right now!)

[/quote]

I live in Belgium where it rains every day (it's even raining right now!)[/quote]

It's sunny and 74F in Los Angeles right now. I should be on my bike...

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Ride lightly!