BB30 - UltraTorque or OverTorque?

BenderRodriguez

Hi,

So my new Time frame is on its way. I bought this as it 'ticked all the boxes'. Except one, it has a BB30 bottom bracket... I can see the advantages of this in terms of the much larger area available for bonding over-sized tubes and stays to, along with the potential for a low 'Q' factor and good heel clearance, but many people do seem to have had 'issues' with BB30 set ups. It seems that these are down to issues such as:

1) Over-sized bottom bracket shells so that the bearings move around in the frame, perhaps compounded by under-sized bearings. Often it seems that the use of a medium strength Loctite bearing fitting adhesive can sort this.

2) Excessive clearances in the crank, especially where the axle fits to the inner bearing race, or laterally so that the crank and / or bearings can move from side to side under cyclic loading. (This seems to be a particular issue for Cannondale owners, which doesn't really surprise me as the proprietary 'Coda' parts that came on my Cannondale mountain bike were junk!)

I want to get a Campag chainset, and my options would seem to be: a) Buy a Praxis UltraTorque adapter and UltraTorque cranks, or Buy Campag's BB30 specific OverTorque chainset.

Despite the potential issues, it does seem to me that a properly machined BB30 set up should work very well, and looks much better 'on paper' than, say, an UltraTorque crank fitted to a BB30 BB by means of Campagnolo's own 'cup' adapters, a design which would seem prone to 'walking' given their shallow insertion depth into the frame and the fact that the 'outboard' bearings would pace a lot of lateral load on the cup- frame interface.

I am assuming that a Look frame and Campagnolo chainset would be machined within specification. The OverTorque system also has the minimal number of interfaces where clearances could accumulate, uses larger and industry standard sized bearings, is lighter and stiffer than an UltraTorque set up using a Praxis adaper (not a big deal I admit) and has a very elegant way to deal with lateral clearance, using a rotating ring much as is used in Campagnolo's hubs. This looks like a much better solution than the belleville washer used in the UltraTorque system. Price-wise there isn't much in it with the cost of an OverTorque system, including the proprietary fitting tools, being about the same as an UltraTorque system with a Praxis adapter. I also can't help seeing the Praxis adapter as being a bit of a 'bodge', no matter how well it works.

So, the OverTorque system would seem to be the obvious choice, not least because it is specifically designed for BB30. However, I have been able to find very little feedback from people who have bought this system. Has anyone on here bought an OverTorque chainset for use with a BB30 bottom bracket? If so how did you get on with it?

Thanks!

g00se

Sorry - can't help other than hearsay, but the Over-torque is supposed to be a very well engineered solution.

Maybe ask Graeme from Velotech Cycling - he posts on here. and they're a Campag service centre.

CptKernow

I heard that Campag's own BB30 cups worked OK with UT chainsets. Obviously if you're buying a new chainset over-torque would seem a better solution.

rolf_f

BenderRodriguez wrote:

Hi,

So my new Time frame is on its way. I bought this as it 'ticked all the boxes'. Except one, it has a BB30 bottom bracket... I can see the advantages of this in terms of the much larger area available for bonding over-sized tubes and stays to, along with the potential for a low 'Q' factor and good heel clearance, but many people do seem to have had 'issues' with BB30 set ups. It seems that these are down to issues such as:

1) Over-sized bottom bracket shells so that the bearings move around in the frame, perhaps compounded by under-sized bearings. Often it seems that the use of a medium strength Loctite bearing fitting adhesive can sort this.

2) Excessive clearances in the crank, especially where the axle fits to the inner bearing race, or laterally so that the crank and / or bearings can move from side to side under cyclic loading. (This seems to be a particular issue for Cannondale owners, which doesn't really surprise me as the proprietary 'Coda' parts that came on my Cannondale mountain bike were junk!)

I want to get a Campag chainset, and my options would seem to be: a) Buy a Praxis UltraTorque adapter and UltraTorque cranks, or Buy Campag's BB30 specific OverTorque chainset.

Despite the potential issues, it does seem to me that a properly machined BB30 set up should work very well, and looks much better 'on paper' than, say, an UltraTorque crank fitted to a BB30 BB by means of Campagnolo's own 'cup' adapters, a design which would seem prone to 'walking' given their shallow insertion depth into the frame and the fact that the 'outboard' bearings would pace a lot of lateral load on the cup- frame interface.

I am assuming that a Look frame and Campagnolo chainset would be machined within specification. The OverTorque system also has the minimal number of interfaces where clearances could accumulate, uses larger and industry standard sized bearings, is lighter and stiffer than an UltraTorque set up using a Praxis adaper (not a big deal I admit) and has a very elegant way to deal with lateral clearance, using a rotating ring much as is used in Campagnolo's hubs. This looks like a much better solution than the belleville washer used in the UltraTorque system. Price-wise there isn't much in it with the cost of an OverTorque system, including the proprietary fitting tools, being about the same as an UltraTorque system with a Praxis adapter. I also can't help seeing the Praxis adapter as being a bit of a 'bodge', no matter how well it works.

So, the OverTorque system would seem to be the obvious choice, not least because it is specifically designed for BB30. However, I have been able to find very little feedback from people who have bought this system. Has anyone on here bought an OverTorque chainset for use with a BB30 bottom bracket? If so how did you get on with it?

Thanks!

Let me translate - "Anyone know if OverTorque is any good?"

BenderRodriguez

Rolf F wrote:

Let me translate - "Anyone know if OverTorque is any good?"

Just trying to cover some of the reasons why issues might arise with a BB30 system and so fend off posts that just say 'BB30 is rubbish, avoid at all costs' without considering just why problems sometimes arise, and so how they might be addressed.

By the way, here is the official page for the BB30 standard.

http://www.bb30standard.com/

BenderRodriguez

g00se wrote:

Maybe ask Graeme from Velotech Cycling - he posts on here. and they're a Campag service centre.

Do you know his user name so I could send him a PM and ask him to comment?

fleshtuxedo

Phone him, he's very helpful (google velotech)