Ok people, want to get some middleburns but which is the best to get for longevity of the bottom brackets? I know the old shimano un72 where good but cant find them anywhere, what un54 likes? Are there any good isis bottom brackets out there?
Cheers

I went for Square Taper middleburns having sworn never to use ISIS again – although my experiences of ISIS were with the original style BBs 4 or 5 years ago. I gather some improvements have been made…

I have managed to acquire some UN72s from eBay and friends. UN54s Im sure are just as good.

I’m selling brand new Sq taper Black Middleburns if interested.

really interested in them snaps – ygm

un54S are pretty reasonable. i;ve got a superstar ISIS bb on another c/set which has also worked well. if i were to be buying another set of middleburns, i’d just get whatever ones i could find

isis or square taper?(

Isn’t that much like giving someone the choice of shooting you in the right or left foot?

Square taper, i’m using a TA Axix BB with a steel axle, been very pleased so far 200g and £30 old stock. You can get a new one for around £45.
StrongLight do some very nice tapered ones as well starting with a 250g one for about £17.
Parkers were doing a 1/2 price deal on Royce Ti Tapers so around £65.

If you go ISIS then go Crank brothers Colbolt, as they have a 5 year warrenty.

Its funny how in a matter of weeks Middleburns seem cheap:-)

Can recommend a SKF ISIS BB. Been using one on my SS with Middleburn Uno crankset for 18 months now without any sign of bearing play. Currently set up for commuting using a hefty 34 / 12 ratio for last 6 months and still no play. Top bearings those SKF jobbies.

AK ok chaps, i shall look into the square taper ones, so how comes middleburn arent doing there own external bearing type cranks? have any of you heard anything?

Square taper (and ISIS I suppose) offers much more for those looking for variable chainline, trials builds, tandems, etc that you cant do with the external bearing systems where axle length is generally fixed by the crank design.

Have Royce and Middleburn on three bikes, great quality from really helpful uk companies. I recommend both of them.

Royce and middleburn here. In fact I’ve got 3 sets of SQ middleburns, and I’d say I have a lot less BB issues than friends running other set ups.

Hope square taper Ti BB & Middleburn cranks – banished the dreaded ISIS creaking & BB problems for good!

I use a UN54 with my Middleburn cranks, so far I have got about 20 months out of it and it has covered loads of miles in that time, with a lot of them being wet… It has now developed a little bit of play, but it is still spinning smoothly.

SKF BXC600 stainless ISIS BB, roller bearings, middleburns, great, got 2 sets, no problems yet, ride all year..if your worried you can even get the DH version!

Phil

Square taper here with a UN54 and has been going strong for over a year now with no wobble (tempting fate by saying that but as they’re oonly a tenner to replace, ain’t that bothered). However, I do get paranoid when doing up the plastic cup on the non-drive side that I am going to break it.

What mt and hooter said. I too am running Royce and m.burn sq, tapers in both bikes.
Give them a tap with the chain off and they will spin 4 full revs!.

Good quality square taper. ISIS is the biggest crockocrap out there. Managed to destroy a fresh out the box isis with 4 bearings in 20 miles. The best shimano have to offer is a UN54 but there are alternatives such as Phil Wood. Whatever you go for, your Middleburns will creak like a bastard!

A really tiny bit of copperslip on the interfaces, plus a retorquing of the bolts cured my creaking square taper Middleburns. Fitted to a Royce BB. Two years old and running super smooth. Alps and wet wintery Wales have had seemingly no effect.

No, your MB’s should NOT creak.

Lightly GREASE the tapers (facilitates an easy riding up of the tapers, and stops corrosion) and anti-seize the crank bolts. Torque the crank bolts, re-check after the first ride and then periodically afterward.

I have two sets on two different bikes and they do not creak.

EBB’s are another thread entirely though

I’m interested in the middleburns too snaps

Bimbler – whats your email? I’ll send pics

Creaking middleburns?
3 pairs of cranks many years of riding all year and all weathers, never had a creak from my MB’s.
You must be doing something wrong!

bonesetter, I’ve always understood tapers shouldn’t be greased…But I’ve also never had a Middleburn crank creak, but then creaks that seem to come from specific locations can often be from somewhere completely different! IME

Industrial standard for interference fits is to lightly grease or oil. Or do nothing, which means lightly oiled, since all parts come that way.

Shimano BB’s out of the box have a small dab of grease on each taper surface, and a thin coat of oil all over for corrosion protection.

A lot of people do not grease, and it works fine. Keep in mind, to be truly grease or oil free, you would have to clean both surfaces with a solvent.

Square tapers get rounded & mangled for a lot of other reasons.

However

steel spindle + alloy arm = no grease
steel spindle + steel arm = grease
titanium spindle + any arm = anti-seize

The above seems to be another ‘skool’ of thought

Is there a specific anti seize?
I’ve found copper & nickle based versions.

Square taper… without doubt…

If it’s not broken, don’t fix it..