Moots Profiles
Sales Director/Sales Monkey
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Every morning I sit at my desk picking at the emails that have sprouted overnight. My desk faces the open door of the sales floor, leading to the stairwell. Reliably, the third person to come upstairs every day is Caleb Franklin, lead finisher turned welder. Caleb is putting away his lunch for the day- which almost always includes cheese and crackers, and he’s followed by his ‘Short Tailed African Cougar Hound’ Luther –my favorite shop dog.
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Finisher Extraordinaire
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RSL—the little things all brought together…..
As we hit the ground running in 2010 we thought it might be interesting to take a deeper look at our new Vamoots RSL road frame. This is a new frame for us from the ground up….every tube, every feature every piece of technology used that best embodies Moots and the Moots build philosophy and as usual- keeping it all titanium. In the past we had the Vamoots SL and Compact SL made of Reynolds 6/4 seamless butted tubing that filled this offering. After a couple of years that tube set was no longer available, so we started our search for something better. The search landed us with Reynolds but this time utilizing our US made tubing, butted to our specs. Combining those tubes with a Press fit BB30, sculpted head tube, paired down Breezer style drop outs and 6/4 micro seat stays……. The RSL was born!For today, we’ll start with the specs and tech behind the Press Fit BB30. Over the past several years BB30 has made its way into many high end bikes, touting lightweight, stiffness and power transfer from rider to machine. Back in the spring of 2009 we started with a standard BB30 set up. This requires that the bearings with a 30mm inside diameter be pressed directly into the frame shell. This requires that “C” clips be used behind the bearings for “stops”. We built them and road them, learning the entire time. This set up did accomplish a few things: stiffer bb area, lighter crank and better power transfer. Not totally satisfied with the bearing to shell interface, possible creaking that could occur and difficulty of installation and removable we set off into a second version with Press Fit BB30. It is produced by SRAM and takes the bearing to bottom bracket shell contact out of the picture. The bearings (still a 30mm inside diameter) are housed in a nylon cup set (see above picture) that is pressed into the shell with a common head set press. This takes away the direct bearing contact to shell. We are using a 2 inch outside diameter seamless 3/2.5 titanium tube that is then bored out on the inside to accept the press fit cups.
The Press Fit 30 unit is easy to install, easy to remove and accomplished exactly what we wanted; lighter crank component, stiffer BB area, better power transfer, an outside diameter that gave a larger landing area for the down tube, seat tube and chain stays.
The Press fit is available in standard and ceramic bearing offerings. Any BB30 crank set is compatible with the Press Fit BB30, with adaptors in the works from companies like Wheels Manufacturing for most 24mm spindle crank sets.
If you have any questions, please ask or comment.
Next week we will take a look at the tubing used in the RSL…..stayed tuned.
6 January 2010
| Comments (16)
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Comments
Jon,
Was it ever determined if Campy’s BB30 adapter would work with the new RSL frame?
Very interesting.
A few questions:
- is the “press fit bb30” a standard that other frame builders are using?
- does the “cup” ever need to be changed?
- is the “cup” available separately?
Thanks!
Thanks for the questions!
Frank, To be honest we are 90% sure the campy will work, we will be putting them to the test ourselves as soon as a set arrives: http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=32015
Thomas, some other small frame builders are starting to use the Press Fit standard, but really it’s pretty new and will take some time to catch on. I have it from a very good source that the big “S” will be using this in the 2011 line up. The bearings are housed in the nylon cup and when they go bad the entire unit (bearings and nylon cup) get replaced. Rough retail cost is around $50.00 for the unit. So to your last question they are only sold as bearing & cup unit.
Many thanks for the questions!
Thanks Jon! If the RSL shell ID is 42mm, I am sure the Campy adapter will work. I just have not seen any dimensions yet for the press-in BB30 bottom brackets. Keep me posted.
Will the BB30 be available on your other models as well? Say.. maybe the 2010 Mooto-XZ?
Frank, we have Campy cups on the way so next week we’ll have hands on check.
Jgerhardt, for now the PF BB30 will only be in the RSL..
Jon,
When you machine the bottom bracket shell to except the cups how do you assure concentricity between the cups from one side of the shell to the other when they are installed. It seems that do to the tight interface between the BB30 crank shaft and the bearing I.D. that you would need to be almost perfect as you would with the standard BB30 set-up. Is the PressFit BB30 more forgiving with the resin cups in regards to this? Also do you do any post weld machining to assure roundness of the shell?
Thanks,
Randy
Hi there, I’ve seen in the SRAM/Truvativ site
http://www.sram.com/en/truvativ/bottombrackets/pressfit/30.php
that the PF30 is meant for “CROSS COUNTRY AND TRAIL”, and it requires a 73mm wide shell. It is 68mm “COMPATIBLE W/SPACER KIT”. Does it mean that a standard BB30 road crankset works fine, or the extra 5mm may cause problems?
Also, I cant see how this shell can work with Campy’s OF-fit cups. These requires a 42mm internal ID (BB30 standard) while the PF30 is 46mm.
Has anyone been successful in locating the SRAM Pressfit BB30? If so, where?
Randy,
Thanks for the questions. The Press Fit is just a little more forgiving than the straight up BB30, we do face and bore the bb after all welding is complete. We do this on the CNC machine to assure a round and square BB shell.
Ennio,
The mountain bike spec for Press Fit BB30 in 73mm, the road is 68mm. A standard BB30 crank set from any maker will be compatiable....Sram, FSA, Cannondale.
There are a couple of manufacturers coming with adaptors as well, so that a 24mm spindle crank can work with this system.
thanks!
Simon,
The Press Fit BB30 is currently available from QBP, which most shops can order from.
Thanks!
are you sure there is a 68mm version? So far I can only spot the 73mm, and it says “68 mm compatible w/spacer kit”. Also I’d like to know if your 50$ estimate is correct since I can only find this offering at wiggle http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/SRAM_PressFit_30_BB30_Bottom_Bracket/5360048138/
and is sells for over 242$ !!!
Forgive my ignorance, but will this frame accept D/A 7800/7900 cranks? I don’t see any listing for a BB30 crankset on Shimano’s website. Any work-around for us Shimano users? Very interested in this frame…
Ennio,
We are sure there is a 68mm version. It has been used in all our proto types and now going into the production RSL. I wonder if that price is the ceramic version...they have two..standard and the ceramic.
thanks,!
Josh,
Shimano does not make a BB30 crank at the moment. Wheels manufacturing is making adaptors, as well as Enduro that will allow a standard (24mm) spindle crank to be used.
Thanks,