Gomez ran across a bit about a new 100mm, square taper BB and got our curiosity peaked. A few emails batted back and forth with Charlie the Bike Monger and we got this bit straight from the man himself. We give you Charlie’s take on this addition to the fat-bike component market and, in our opinion, a welcome one at that! Note that the person known as “Cliff” mentioned below is none other than Cliff Polton owner of Royce UK, the top-flight cycling drivetrain manufacturer that Charlie worked with to make this titanium dream come true.
Background
Fed up with the tyranny of Isis: I am of the view that Isis was a solution to a problem that never existed, it was meant to be a better interface, more durable. But there was nothing wrong with quality square taper set ups in XC situations. Isis has a lot of axle leaving less room for bearings. So, Isis bearings are nowhere near as durable as Royce etc. My current Isis BB is 400 miles old and already lumpy, hey it still works fine now. But that ain’t good enough for a £90 BB… I want to be able to trust my BB. Isis is now being phased out, so we have very few crank options, and almost no 180mm options (180 is popular with single speeders and big beastly men like me). The bottom line is these BBs will allow me to run the kit I want to run.
We are grubby boffins:
- It’s not just a wider BB, that would be OK. But what we have done here is extra sweet, we have extended the cups beyond the shell to bring the bearing nearer the cranks. This reduced flex and load on the axle.
- These are optimized for White Industries single ring cranks, a Surly SS hub, with a White Industries freewheel… giving you a spot on chainline. We did this by actually taking a three Surly bikes apart and actually doing it, not poncing around in CAD. Yeah sure they will be fine on geared set ups too.
- The bearings have labyrinth seals, these are big dog-like sea mammals who hide in the bearing and scares dirt and water away.
- Fully re-buildable
- Made in Great Britain buy blokes with big mugs of tea.
Cliff Polton checking out a Surly Pugsley
What Bikes?
These will work with many fat bikes, but we have three BBs optimized for:
- Surly Krampus. (available now)
- Surly Pugsley.
- Surly Moonlander.
How Much?
- Around £200 gbp.
- Krampus is around £170 gbp (available now)
- Titanium end caps £39 gbp
Weight?
- A smidge over 200g, or about the same as a dozen chocolate Hobnob biscuits.
It is pedal car Grand Prix season!
When and how?
They won’t be ready til September as it’s (and I am not joking here) pedal car Grand Prix racing season. Cliff is a pedal car legend.
But taking pre-orders now: http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/royce-bottom-bracket-axle-talent-titanium-bearings-spacer-cups-3838-p.asp
With the Krampus BB available now.
Available exclusively from Charlie The Bikemonger.com purveyor of damned fine bike shit.
If you need a 100mph chainring, now you know where to get one!
What is the spindle length on the 100mm bottom bracket designed for the Pugsley? Thanks!