Remember when Shimano came out with outboard bearing bottom brackets and the 24mm crank axle? Buy the crank and it included the B.B. AND the tool to install and remove it. That would help SRAM sell cranks aftermarket and they could stop making old standard cranks. I have to admit that at first blush a new crank axle standard made my eyes roll. But after thinking about it a bit this is not a big deal. I personally don’t see how a 29mm axle allows better sealing. But time will tell if their new DUB bbs actually last longer. If I decide to retire my four year old Next SL I’d probably go XTR and get their bb too. I know they work well for me and many aftermarket bbs exist too.
Jan. 17, 2018, 6:31 p.m. - Andy Eunson
Remember when Shimano came out with outboard bearing bottom brackets and the 24mm crank axle? Buy the crank and it included the B.B. AND the tool to install and remove it. That would help SRAM sell cranks aftermarket and they could stop making old standard cranks. I have to admit that at first blush a new crank axle standard made my eyes roll. But after thinking about it a bit this is not a big deal. I personally don’t see how a 29mm axle allows better sealing. But time will tell if their new DUB bbs actually last longer. If I decide to retire my four year old Next SL I’d probably go XTR and get their bb too. I know they work well for me and many aftermarket bbs exist too.