Help - in the BB jungle

[The Sentinel]

Since I've been out of the game since 97' or so, Im totally confused.

Started to look for new cranks and bottom bracket, but ended up totally perplexed
Hollowtech/Hollowtech-2 ? Octalink? BSA-thread? MegaExo BB7000 bottom bracket for 68/73 mm case? Eh, what the.....??? :shock:

I only remember using a square Shimano. :roll:

Can anyone tell me what this all is, or rather what can be used on a 97' bike, and what to look for?
It's supposed to fit a 97/98 GT STS DH, that for some unknown reason got STX-RC cranks for now.

Thanx! :facepalm:

 

[jimo746]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottom_bracket

The internet has moved on a lot since '97 too, now if you search you can find the answers to almost any question

 

[The Sentinel]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottom_bracket

The internet has moved on a lot since '97 too, now if you search you can find the answers to almost any question

Well, yes I know since I've spent most of my time on the internet since 97 - workning, instead of biking
I did search but didn't find anything reliable, and wasn't really counting on wikipedia for reliable stuff in this matter :facepalm:
But hey, thanx! looks like a lot of good stuff to read :!:

 

[jonnyboy666]

bottom brackets can be a minefield these days.

if you have an STX-RC chainset then you'll still need square taper, the 68 or 73 refers to the bottom bracket shell width on the frame, so that's the first thing you'll need to check, then for an STX-RC chainset i think it will be 110mm if it's a 68mm shell or 113 if it's a 73mm shell.

but if you want to modernise (which is heresy here!) i would suggest you stick with shimano hollowtech 2, it's a different (better?) design where the bottom bracket axle is attached to the drive side crank, the bearings screw into the frame but sit outside the bottom bracket shell, slide the chainset axle through, slide the non drive crank on then tighten it in the same manner as tightening an aheadset by preloading the bearing and then nipping up the crank arm bolts.

other than shimano, i would only recommend raceface as being comparable as it's almost the same design.

avoid shimnao octalink and isis designs as all these run large axles but with tiny bearings which don't last very well, gxp is sram/truvativ's version of hollowtech 2, ok but still not as reliable as shimano or raceface.

so basically, stick with square taper or jump to hollowtech 2.

hope that helps.

 

[The Sentinel]

Thanks jonnyboy666, that's pretty much what I needed to hear

I to believe it's heresy in a way, to update. But if been caught with STX-RC cranks on a XT/XTR worthy bike like the STS DH back in 97, would probably not been ok either
Due to the somewhat fragile frame it will not see any hard downhill riding for sure, so
an expensive crank update won't happen. Just after the looks.

Still wondering why it's got STX-RC cranks, are they light or maybe DH sturdy?
I guess the original AC-cranks broke like most of them.