which ISIS bottom bracket?

dieselgeezer wrote:

Hi,
I'm looking to change to an Isis compact chainset. I've used Hollowtech outboard bearings & am fed up with clickings & creaks. I have used Octalink with a 'normal' 53/39 chainset & had no probs. As there are no Octalink compacts I need to go with Isis. Can anyone suggest a reliable one fopr a road bike?

I think Ritchey still makes an Octalink compact crank. If not I would assume that most
Isis BB's are OK unless you buy a bargain basement one.

ISIS bb are mostly rubbish, there are a few good ones, the now discontinued SKF if you can find one somewhere, the crank brothers one is very nice, the superstar one is supposed to be relatively nice...

SKF is the only one with a good rep. The rest are either patchy or downright terrible. The FSA Platinum is cheap though.

Sounds like the problem is the HT2 fitting though. It shouldn't creak and click.

dieselgeezer wrote:

Hi,
I'm looking to change to an Isis compact chainset. I've used Hollowtech outboard bearings & am fed up with clickings & creaks. I have used Octalink with a 'normal' 53/39 chainset & had no probs. As there are no Octalink compacts I need to go with Isis. Can anyone suggest a reliable one fopr a road bike?

Thanks for asking the question DG I was only just thinking the same thing myself yesterday. I feel that I will go for the FSA in the end, though I am thinking that if I spend more will I get a better product ? There seems to be no shortage of 'top line' isis BB

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Sear ... om+bracket

Of these personally I quite fancy the Control Tech versions - though I would be buying these with my heart and not my head. If there is a reliability issue what exactly is it? If i were to go for the cheaper and more popular FSA version I would be inclined to take it down to my local bearing stockists and get a ceramic set or whatever for it, though if I can get 2K out of it I will be more than happy.

broachboy wrote:

The square taper Chorus I have on my racelight is like silk, awesome piece of kit. If I had the chance I would buy sq taper everytime, though that is not the case now

Luckily there still seems to be a lot of old stock square taper around, certainly from Campagnolo; I got a NOS Record chainset for very little from an ebay shop. Also, the other manufacturers – Stronglight, and so on – will probably be making them for a while yet.

EDIT: Here it is. I paid less last year, but this still seems like a real bargain.

Hope i'm not too late to add my 2p worth, I very recently exploded my FSA platinum ISIS bottom bracket which will hopefully be covered by 2 yr warranty but meanwhile I gone and bought myself a beautiful Crank Brothers Cyan (5 yr warranty) what a work of art almost seems a shame to hide it inside the frame, anyway I fitted it yesterday and already noticed the marked difference in weight and performance.

Personally I like the ISIS design like you say no noise such as you get from most newer designed bottom brackets and less likely to loose a crank arm as can and has happened with square taper.

itboffin wrote:

...bought myself a beautiful Crank Brothers Cyan (5 yr warranty) what a work of art almost seems a shame to hide it inside the frame, anyway I fitted it yesterday and already noticed the marked difference in weight and performance.

itboffin I like the sound of the warranty, any chance you could pass on some info where you brought it from, links or pics etc :?:

chriskempton wrote:

I got a stronglight twister SL this year and it's been perfect so far. Also very light if that's important to you. There is a cheaper steel spindled version as well.

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... b2s110p144

I like the look of the twister ^ stronglight seem to have a good rep with bearings, though I think I would be swayed with a warranty :roll: :?:

It is an international standard, and FSA were one of the main companies behind introducing it as a rival to Shimano Octalink years ago - weird that Crank Bros. say they're not compatible.

I've just bought a FSA Platinum Pro (that's taken over 2 weeks to arrive...grumble...) - once it arrives and I get it fitted I'll post on here somewhere with an update.