Octalink ES25 replacement?

On Mon, 14 Aug 2017 08:29:39 -0700 (PDT), jbeattie
wrote:

On Monday, August 14, 2017 at 7:04:10 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-08-13 17:38, John B. wrote:
On Sun, 13 Aug 2017 09:31:09 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2017-08-13 01:07, John B. wrote:
On Sat, 12 Aug 2017 07:03:54 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2017-08-11 19:59, John B. wrote:
On Fri, 11 Aug 2017 16:59:50 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

On 2017-08-11 16:52, John B. wrote:
On Fri, 11 Aug 2017 11:00:32 -0700, Joerg
wrote:

The BB on my MTB makes a ticking sound when warmed up, sounds similar to
a hot car engine after it is turned off. It has also develoved an ever
so slight play, just a few mils. It is an Shimano ES25 Octalink.

How long do you guys let that go before replacing?

Can anyone recommend a better quality BB for this that lasts longer than
5k miles and doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

I see Octalink bottom brackets for sale for four British pounds :-)
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/c...t/rp-prod34653
About $5.00.


I saw that as well. It's a clearance item in an odd diameter. $6.99 when
clicking the link in the US. I guess in new-speak that's called "target
group pricing" or something similar :-)


I believe in the grocery store marketing it is called a "loss Leader".


I meant different prices for different regions or people. One big player
recently got into trouble for that which netted them a not-so-honorary
mention in the Wall Street Journal.

Why ever not different prices for different people. My bike shop
certainly does it. If you come in they will charge you one price. If I
come in they charge me 15% less. My guess is that it is not uncommon.


Quantity discounts or loyal-customer rebates at a local store are ok.
Often people get 10% of at the LBS if they bought their bike there.
However, if an online retailer changes pricing on people depending on
what their zip code is or a bank sets loan rates based on the color of
one's skin that is a slippery slope.

Why? It is almost a normal practice and to my personal experience is
done just about everywhere I've been. In Maine the "summer folks" are
charged more then a "native", in fact this was so common that the term
"summer rate" was commonly used when I lived there. In every Asian
country I've lived in a "white skinned" foreigner was either charged a
higher price or not given as large a discount as a native. It is
probably not politically correct (in the U.S.) to say "white skinned"
although that is a commonly heard description in most Asian countries
:-(


You have probably been away from the US too long. Discrimination based
on race, gender, ethnicity and so on is a punishable offense here.


In Phuket, Thailand the Bar Girls even have a "High Season" rate and a
"Low Season" rate. High Season is of course, when the tourists flock
in.


Setting prices higher or lower is fine as long as that isn't done based
on the looks of who is coming in.


In fact, if we go to an open market, where bargaining is the norm, my
wife will always be quoted a cheaper price then I would. (foreigners
are all rich!)


That is normal. We even had that where I lived in the Netherlands. If
you spoke the language with a local accent (I did) you have an easier
time negotiating a good deal for food items at the open air market.

[...]


I also see an ES300 for $16.68 and there are also Shimano Dura-Ace
Octalink BB's and although I don't know whether they fit, Dura-Ace is
usually considered as very high quality.


It may be time to write to Shimano, hoping they'll answer. To me this
flurry of model numbers is confusing and not all are 100% compatible.
The cranks have to fit and the chain line should remain roughly the same.

Take it to a good bike shop :-) I have a shop in Bangkok and another
in Phuket where they seem to know what they're doing.... as long as I
know enough to ask the right questions, that is.


I was hoping that someone had the same issue with paltry ES25 lifetime
and could tell me "Here, buy that one, lasts a lot longer" (and where it
fits well).

[...]

I wonder how popular the Octalink pedals were? I can't remember ever
seeing one on the road, or maybe I didn't look :-) Perhaps they
weren't that common that people talk about them.


AFAICT they were on all the bikes I looked at in early 2014. What do
bikes in the $1k range have in Thailand? Square taper is a good system
but I have only seen that on older bikes here like on my 1982 road bike.
I don't know why they went to Octalink. Maybe it saves half a few
hundred milligrams.

To be honest I don't pay as close attention to new bikes as I might.
Partly, I suppose, because I have three road bikes and a "knock
around" bike, all of which, well with the exception of one road bike
that I built myself, are more then ten years old, one of the road
bikes may be from the 1970's, and I don't lust after something just
because it is new.

But honestly, I can't ever remember seeing either a bike with an
octalink crank or for that matter any octalink parts in shops. Which
of course may only mean that I didn't have my eyes open that day :-)


You can't see it unless you have the clerk pull the spec sheet or take a
crank off.


But as for why they were made, I suspect that like many of the New!
Innovative! Wonderful! things that appear on the market they were
built simply to be New! Innovative! and Wonderful!

Are the modern press in BB bearings an actual improvement?


Most definitely not.


... Or are they
just "same old" but in a new style "that we can announce as an
improvement and charge more money for"?


They are cheap alright but, as unfortunately usual for bike parts, have
a very paltry service life. For the same money my MTB buddy bought a
massive front wheel bearing assembly for his Chevy Express van and they
last hundreds of thousands of miles. Not just 5000.

Because you buy **** and expect it to last forever. Octalink was abandoned a decade ago and sucked when it was current production -- as did ISIS and the small bearing BBs with OS spindles.

Quit whining and buy a 105 compact crank with a $16 external bearing BB. Your bike has no historical value and maintaining a bad standard will just bring you back in one or two years with the same complaints -- and the endless comparisons to the longevity of 25lb car parts.

-- Jay Beattie

AND! There are a number of you tube films showing how to replace the
actual bearings in those $16 external bearings for a dollar or so.
--
Cheers,

John B.