do we trust Octalink?

[FluffyChicken]

I think you need to check your eras though...
They are not early 90s
But 1999+

 

[mattr]

Funny innit, i had no end of problems with square taper, starting with Shimano 600, campag chorus, C d'A, Record, then back to D-A and Ultegra, XT and Hope on the MTB........... only the Hope lasted more than a season (actually sold that one on!) some only lasted months (a run of 4 or 5 chorus bottom brackets, eventually upgraded to Record, that did a season). Didn't matter who fitted them, me, bike shop, tech bod from importer.... How they were looked after, dry weather only, all weather use. No end of issues.

Still got my first XTR octalink bottom bracket, could still use it if i wanted, except the axle is a bit long (have a shorter one fitted to the bike now), and my first D-A octalink is still in use. It's been in almost continuous use since i bought it. My race bike, then moved to the wifes race bike, then onto my cross bike, where it still sits and spins, many years later........

 

[Jamiedyer]

I had many many trouble free miles on my 2000 model TCR that was fitted with a mix of Ultegra and 105 Octolink. That bike was ridden in all weathers at least 5 to 6 days a week and survived the same treatment when I moved from Oz to the west coast of Scotland. That bottom bracket and chainset were bulletproof. So much so that when I got my Merckx corsa from the factory I built it with the same setup of 105 and Ultegra as I needed it to be reliable and last. I agree the bottom bracket can get a bit squeeky but I just regrease, reinstall and torque everything down and away it goes. It seems to be the crank arms not the BB that gets the squeek with mine. After a few years now and a good few miles its still going strong.
I know this is retrobike and all but to call Octalink and Isis obsolete is a bit of a stretch.

Jamie

 

[hamster]

It's obsolete in the sense that nobody makes it any more, in particular not the people who created it: Shimano.

I think people get a bit hysterical about the life issue - it is capable of decent service, has statistically a shorter life. But lots of people 't find them trouble-free. If you were speccing kit for an expedition into remote areas it wouldn't be the best choice, but for normal riding and touring in Europe its absolutely fine.

 

[Jonny69]

The bearings are substantially smaller than square taper, my experience is that they don't last. I typically get 5,000+ miles from a UN72.

See, I've got through quite a few sealed cartridge square taper bb's now and I get closer to about 2k miles. Throw in a winter of crap weather and it pretty much kills the bearings because you can't service them. The bearings get a bit of water and grit in them despite being sealed and they just run round and round with rusty gritty grease inside them. The small balls in Octalink probably make this show up a lot quicker though, admittedly.

 

[jon w]

I have an octalink. No issues with wear.

 

[bm0p700f]

Octalink BB's are very much in production and the supply from madison is good. If a small shop like mine can stock every length of the ES25 and ES51 and the some of the v1's as well then really most places will have them. Just beware for 105 you need the 5500 V1 octalink. the V2 ES25 and ES51's will not fit your chainset and will cause damage.

 

[pigman]

On the basis of several first hand satisfactory experiences of octalink, I'll happily backtrack and say discount my reservations. But ...

. Just beware for 105 you need the 5500 V1 octalink. the V2 ES25 and ES51's will not fit your chainset and will cause damage.

It would seem octalink ain't necessarily octalink ... argggh

 

[t_p87]

problem with octalink and Isis were a main bearing used small races, so you get premature wear. This was done in the interests of getting a fatter (hence stiffer) BB axle into the same BB shell. Also, these days bottom brackets are getting harder to source.

I have seen no end of problems with ISIS b/b due to the small bearing problem with a large axle but with Octalink I have never seen the same issue! Although in theory it should do it seems to work fine and when I had one it was flawless.

 

[FluffyChicken]

problem with octalink and Isis were a main bearing used small races, so you get premature wear. This was done in the interests of getting a fatter (hence stiffer) BB axle into the same BB shell. Also, these days bottom brackets are getting harder to source.

I have seen no end of problems with ISIS b/b due to the small bearing problem with a large axle but with Octalink I have never seen the same issue! Although in theory it should do it seems to work fine and when I had one it was flawless.

Not necessarily, octalink, like UN square series bb's are a complete cartridge and so don't have the flaw that comes with using cartridge bearing. I.e you can use the axle itself as a bearing and the casing allowing larger bearing as you don't loose space to the separate cartridge method.