BB solution for XTR M950 crank set

General Help
1

so im looking at scoring a m950 crank set off the bay for my lady’s mtb tourer im in the middle of wasting all my time obsessing over,

but it dosn’t come with a bb

now they use the octalink v1 bb’s, yes?

ive seen a few floating about on ebay but was wondering will they work with the more modern v2, that happen to be cheaper? and more accessable?

will it work with any octalink bb? road or mtb only? other than the v1 or v2 is there anything else i should be worried about with sorting a bb out for it?

chur in advance
gene

2

nope, V1 and V2 are different:

and are not compatible

I would either keep an eye for a square taper crank set, there are occassionally 110/74 bcd triples on ebay from 90’s MTB’s or just buy new hollowtech deore cranks.

that is my 2 cents.

3

new octalink V1 BB’s are still avail, but only in 68mm shell widths, and only in two spindle lengths which probably won;t be of use to you…
Shimano 5500 105 Octalink Bottom Bracket | Buy Online | ChainReactionCycles.com

4

if the chain line is just a bit out thats cool, i just dont wan any bash on the chain stays

5

I am 99% they would work in terms of crank/bb spline interface, but only coming in two spindle lengths, means you might wanna do some careful measuring of your frame to see if you’ll get chain stay / crank clearance…

for the hassle and cost I’d just go new (or square taper 2nd hand) to be honest

e.g. a brand new set of deore cranks can be as cheap as $70 (incl BB), I know its ext BB and that might not be great for looks/q-factor but it does come in silver.

6

according to mombat.org the xtr m950 and m952 bb’s came in 112.5 and 116mm spindles, so surley the 118mm spindle would fit if not give me a touch more room, and i doubt very much courts will ever be putting it in the big ring for very long

yes?

7

Sounds like you have it sorted.

but is the BB shell of the frame your getting 68mm?

8

It’d be pretty weird to find a tourer with a 73 or 70.5mm shell I would have thought. 99% of tourers in AU would have a 68mm shell, right?

And no I’m not including any Herse or Singer bikes in this statement. Herse with XTR would be very very weird.

9

but this “tourer” is an MTB conversion.

10

yes.

11

A downhill bike conversion? How many XC frames would have had a 73mm bb shell?

12

dude they also have 68mm bb there, you know for english bb shells

13

Did some sleuthing and read that early model MTBs often had 73mm BB shells. Sorry I thought it was a Downhill/freeride STD. My bad. FWIW 73mm and 68mm have the same BB diameter (both are English).

14

DICE: Plenty of MTBs have 73mm shells.

Gene: Road / MTB shells with English threading can be 68 or 73mm wide. (Measure your shell before you buy anything)

15

arggghhh my bad i thought that was the shell size, si its the width hey???

i’ll have to do some measuring when the frame lands,
its a vintage fully ridged mtb, got all the mounts and such i need to make it in to a versatile little winter bike/tourer for my lady