Yeah that's basically what I'm saying, Knolly seems like the type of company to challenge the groupthink on the subject of hardtail frame materials so it seems like a missed opportunity in a way. I mean it's their company so more power to em - they didn't have a hardtail in their lineup and now they do, so mission accomplished.
Chromag use PF92 on their 29ers, threaded on 650B for the same reason knolly use 157, ironically enough, to improve tire clearance.
PF92 literally uses a 92mm wide BB shell, so that's 19mm wider than a BSA73,
That extra width gives them more options in terms of the design of the chainstay yoke to improve tire clearance.
As super short chainstays go out of fashion both approaches actually start to become irrelevant, but it is what it is. Pick your poison I guess.
I had a rootdown for a while, it's the only PF frame I've owned. I used a thread-together wheels manufacturing bottom bracket, because I was paranoid about it, and it was solid as hell. Especially in a steel frame it's really a non-issue IMO. At the end of the day, it's a press fit interface in either case because the bearings themselves are press fit. I can see the argument that a threaded interface could have a longer lifespan, but I think especially if you use a thread together BB and/or leave the cups in the frame and just change the bearings on subsequent refreshes, the difference is pretty academic. I think good machining tolerances are the most important for either platform and I don't think knolly nor chromag tend to have any issues on that front.
Sept. 21, 2021, 9 a.m. - Kenny
Yeah that's basically what I'm saying, Knolly seems like the type of company to challenge the groupthink on the subject of hardtail frame materials so it seems like a missed opportunity in a way. I mean it's their company so more power to em - they didn't have a hardtail in their lineup and now they do, so mission accomplished. Chromag use PF92 on their 29ers, threaded on 650B for the same reason knolly use 157, ironically enough, to improve tire clearance. PF92 literally uses a 92mm wide BB shell, so that's 19mm wider than a BSA73, That extra width gives them more options in terms of the design of the chainstay yoke to improve tire clearance. As super short chainstays go out of fashion both approaches actually start to become irrelevant, but it is what it is. Pick your poison I guess. I had a rootdown for a while, it's the only PF frame I've owned. I used a thread-together wheels manufacturing bottom bracket, because I was paranoid about it, and it was solid as hell. Especially in a steel frame it's really a non-issue IMO. At the end of the day, it's a press fit interface in either case because the bearings themselves are press fit. I can see the argument that a threaded interface could have a longer lifespan, but I think especially if you use a thread together BB and/or leave the cups in the frame and just change the bearings on subsequent refreshes, the difference is pretty academic. I think good machining tolerances are the most important for either platform and I don't think knolly nor chromag tend to have any issues on that front.