Is a Royce BB a good match for a Middleburn RS7/8 crank?
Am thinking of finally ditching my 03 Race Face isis cranks as another BB has died.

Royce BB is a wonderful thing. Nice combo

An E-type front derraileur will require an English fixed cup I assume?

The bearing cups come with lock rings so you can adjust chainline, etc.

Have a look here http://www.genisysconsulting.co.uk/royce-uk/bba.htm

d@mmit! I posted but the forum lost it…
I was looking at this combo, as my UN73 has died and my rather old Turbine cranks are getting a bit waggly on the axle :(. Thing is, while the RS7s can be had for £100 or so, the BB will set you back at least another £110. 🙁

I certainly hope they’re a good match, I have a Royce Ti & RS7s on the way. Will let you know 🙂

You’ll be leaving a Royce BB to your kids in your will. I don’t think anyone else can even get near to Royce quality. They make King stuff look look like overpiced tat
🙂

I’ve got Royce Ti and RS8’s on one of my SS’s, I spoke to Cliff at Royce with regard to fitting them (its worth taking some time and using a torque wrench) and they’ve been faultess for thousands of miles.

As Dibbs says Royce and RS7 works great, torque correctly and check torque after several short rides till fully wound on then no problems

My norbar slo wrench only goes to 20Nm. Royce BB needs 50nm doesn’t it?

Worth taking to your LBS to ask them to do it for you?
Unfortunately my square taper cranks tend to wear at the tapers, so if I got a Royce and RS7s, then definitely worth getting it right!!

yeah, letting the lbs do it is probably a good idea. Although, on my guesswork torque scale, I suppose 50Nm is probably somewhere in the region of “swinging on it”.

oh nice spanner work by the sound of it!

Its 27Nm and keep checking them during first ride till fully bedded in.Just fitted a Duo and Royce on the De-kerf.Lovely combo and Cliff’s a great guy!
Thanx Max

ah super, thanks, that sounds a bit more do-able.

Many years ago, when I was single and had disposable income, I had an Orange E2 with a Royce Ti BB and Middleburn cranks (would they have been RS2s?). They worked like a dream at first but at some point started creaking: I never worked out if this was because the cranks had worked themselves loose and I’d then opened up the taper, or there was a Ti:Aluminium problem with the frame, or something else – this was long before the days of asking for opinions on internet fora. Anyway, despite a very enjoyable afternoon spent at Royce, trying to solve the problem with Cliff (who was astoundingly helpful) I never satisfactorily fixed it. In the end the bike was stolen, so some thieving scumbag inherited the problem.

It wouldn’t put me off doing the same again if I had the money, but I’d certainly keep a close eye on the crank bolt tightness…

I remember lots of people complaining about creaking with Ti square-taper axles and ally cranks, which nothing ever seemed to cure. I have 03 RF Turbines, on a RF Signature ISIS bb. It’s been on two bikes, and had the original bearings replaced after eighteen months. Those replacement bearings are still working fine. I would get an SKF stainless ISIS bb and keep the Turbines. I’m pretty sure that, properly installed, the SKF will last you years and bearings are readily available. The SKF is quite a bit cheaper, too.

SKF do square taper BBs, too (imported by Middleburn, apparently); I think they’re mainly for tandems, but if they’re anything like the SKF ISIS BBs they should be quite good (right?)

UN73s seem to last for years, and can still be bought new. I’d go for one of them and spend the change on something else.

The SKF ones are available in sizes from 107mm to 121mm (including the normal 113 for middleburn) apparently. But I can only find a US seller online 🙁
http://www.mtbtandems.com/SKF.htm

So does Middleburn stock them?

Middleburn’s website doesn’t appear to suggest that they do.
Has anyone ever managed to buy a SKF isis BB? When they came out I tried for several months, but although lots of people said they’d heard of them no one seemed to manage to buy one so I gave up and stayed with the Truvativ ones.
If I could only work out how to get reasonable gearing out of a Campag UT chainset I’d use one of those instead as they’ve been very reliable on my road and cx bikes over the last two years.

I wouldn’t necessarily trust the Middleburn website to be 100% up to date – give Matt a ring and ask him, he’ll give you the low down.

Cheers, Rich

SKF used to come in through Pce didn’t they? I know 18Bikes used to have them, dunno if they still do.

Pace certainly were the distributors here. I’ve heard nothing to contradict that recently. Didn’t Tim at Sideways do them as well?

RS7 on Royce Ti is superb set up! Have it on two bikes and a tandem. If you fit the BB correctly then there is no problem. You should check the crank bolts at first to make sure the are tight, I use the Ti bolts which are lovely. The thing about a Royce is you can’t see it but you know that it’s simple engineering loveliness. Middleburn stuff is great quality. Can’t recomend the set up enough.

Mmm. Royce track hubs.

To be found on my track bike in time for the winter….

It’s sounding like it’s a bit tricky to fit a Royce correctly..? As someone with experience only of fitting HT BBs, should I avoid doing it myself? How hard can it be? Mine also has Ti bolts if that makes any difference.

Are Ti bolts on Ti BB OK then?
I thought there was a danger of them galling when trying to remove them.

I recently had the problem of tracking down an SKF isis BB after speaking to the chaps at middleburn they put me onto this firm
RJC X-treme
took delivery this morning

very pleased with the servicePace have some on sale on there website but only in 118mm

Just as a athernative i’m running a TA steel BB with my middleburns and its very nice. Been very pleased so fair. But nice to see theres someone selling SKF square tapers.

pedalhead – Member

It’s not hard to do you just follow the instructions. If you are nervous call Cliff at Royce (mega helpful) before you start.

snaps – Member

Not had a problem with Ti bolts on Ti axle, I use the silver grease stuff that comes from Royce and all seems well.

I went though two SKF ISIS BBs in 9 months, installed with a torque wrench. Cant polish a turd etc.

cheers mt

the wife’s bike has a royce ti and RS8 combo and it’s rather lovely. They aren’t that hard to fit IF YOU FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS and use the proper royce threadlock. She is on her second set of bearings and also managed to ruin an axle (not easy to do according to Cliff) they don’t like being unused for long periods.

I’ve had that set up for 5 years or so. Just this year it’s started creaking, but then I might have been a bit cack handed changing the bearings. Still 5 years of heavy use is pretty good and I’d recommend the set up.

Sorry, should’ve said I’d seen the SKF ST BBs at rjc-xtreme. They’re about £65, but as far as I can make out they’re quite heavy?
I’m really torn here, tbh. My current UN73 is creaking like a creaky thing when applying any pressure on the pedalling, and I haven’t had more than a year. Plus my current Turbine cranks are slightly iffy, with the non-drive taper a bit worn 🙁

Royce is a great choice. I had one of their BB’s back in the day and it ran forever (until i sold the bike) If I buy new hubs I will be investing in a set of Royce.

I am also a Middle burn User and have been for years. Their construction is second to none.

Buy British…