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I have Merida track 500. It comes with a 175mm FSA vero track crankset and JIS square taper cartridge.

I want to change it with Miche Pistard Air track crankset, 165mm and for that I need to change bottom bracket also.

I wanted to know whether I can use road BB into my track bike. Here is the compatibility for Miche crankset.

BB compatibility:

-Evo Max 36x24tpi (ITA) - 1,370x24tpi (BSA)
-Evo Max 68x42 (BB30)
-Evo Max 68x46 (BB30)
-Evo Max 86,5x41 (PF86)
-Evo Max 86,5x46 (PF86)

The size of Shimano BB I am looking forward to buy is BSA 1,37x24.

Will it go with the crack?

Please help ASAP. Are these two compatible?

now you can see

this the BB I want to use this this Crankset

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  • If you have the bike at hand, you might measure the width of the bottom bracket shell. That is the width of the tube like part of the frame where the bearings are in. Have a look at the diagramme in the following answer: bicycles.stackexchange.com/a/38972/30402
    – gschenk
    Nov 22, 2019 at 22:53

5 Answers 5

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Bottom brackets are incredibly confusing--there is a huge number of standards, and some of them refer to the diameter in the name, some the width, etc.

The compatibility chart for your new crankset lists BSA as an option. BSA uses the same bottom-bracket threading as JIS--which we know is already working on your bike--so that is the correct BB to get. What you'll be getting is just a set of thread-in cups and bearings, rather than the cups, bearings, and spindle as you had on your old BB.

Italian bottom brackets are also threaded, but the thread pattern is different. And the other BBs that the crankset is compatible with don't use threaded cups at all.

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  • wow! you are good at this. thanks a lot. and also will the crank fit perfectly with the new BSA BB?
    – Deadpool
    Nov 22, 2019 at 20:00
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    I can't make any promises, but that's the idea.
    – Adam Rice
    Nov 22, 2019 at 20:03
  • right. I meant the length of the axle. any chances?
    – Deadpool
    Nov 22, 2019 at 20:04
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    Axle diameter and length on the Miche crank may not be the same as Shimano Hollowtech II, no guarantee that any "BSA threaded" BB will work Nov 22, 2019 at 23:05
  • According to this page (see specs), it is Hollowtech II compatible.
    – Adam Rice
    Nov 23, 2019 at 0:33
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The product page you linked to is listing the crank in question as being compatible with Miche Evo Max bottom brackets, which in different types for different frame interfaces. It will probably also be fine with a Shimano road BB, most 24mm road and track cranks are, but that's not being called out as compatible here, so you're rolling the dice a little.

One of the potential gotchas in a case like this is that this crank is the sort that uses one high-torque crank bolt on the left crank, which means unlike Shimano it does preload via either an elastomer or a wavy washer. If it's a wavy washer and if it doesn't come with the crank, which they sometimes don't, then getting this plus a Shimano BB won't get you everything you need to install it.

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Although the question is almost 1 year old now I have a simple answer: no, it doesn't fit.

How do I know? I have tried the exact same (Miche Pistard 2.0 crankset and the same Dura Ace BB). The axle of the crankset it too thick. I managed to get it in, but it was very very tight. When I tried to attach the left arm crank and started the tightening, I noticed something wasn't right. When I tried to remove the right side crank, my BB broke due to the force applied. Lucky everything else remained perfectly fine...

Chainline and everything else will be fine, those are standard.

I don't know what else to get yet. Maybe just stick with the recommended Miche Evo BB

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TLDR: Miche crank may not be compatible with Shimano external bearing BB. The Miche BB is compatible of course and will very likely fit your frame (but bearing quality unknown, and probably not as good as Dura Ace).

If you are going to use the crank with the recommended Miche BB you need to know what frame BB shell width and thread size you have. Majority of modern threaded shells are 'British/English' AKA 'BSA' threads. The BB seems to have a varient for Italian threads as well, in case that's what you have. See here for info on the difference. It's very likely the Miche BB is for a 68mm BB shell as that's the road bike standard, but I could not find that bit of info on the Miche site. You can measure your BB shell easily of course.

If you want to use a Shimano Hollowtech II external bearing BB, then you need to know if the crank is compatible with that standard. There are two parameters: the axle diameter and the total width of the BB when installed. Hollowtech II has 24mm axles and 10mm bearing cups for total width of 88mm (if I recall correctly, might be 11mm bearing cups and 90mm width).

The Miche crank and BB may use a different axle diameter and BB width. I did not see "Hollowtech II compatibility" when looking at the Miche page. You'll need to dig a bit deeper into the specs to find out.

As an aside, I don't know if there is such a thing as a dedicated track bike BB. Most track bikes use a cartridge type bottom bracket with square taper cranks (or one of the splined types I guess). The reason for this I believe is that cartridge BBs offer very good bearing alignment and low friction. This is not guaranteed with external thread in bearings, and press in BB bearings can definitely have very bad problems in this regard. You might want to think about that BTW when considering the Miche crank.

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  • There are dedicated track BBs, and what differentiates them is their lack of contact seals. Nov 22, 2019 at 23:41
  • @NathanKnutson that makes sense Nov 22, 2019 at 23:46
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The axle will probably be too long pushing the chainring too far out from where it should be which is inline with the sprocket. Most track bikes have a rear spacing of 120mm and use a 107mm axle, compared to 130mm for a road bike, and all sorts of axle lengths depending on the chainring manufacturer, but mostly longer than 107mm.

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  • so what to do. I am already confused and then...hahaha could you please let me know a solution to my silly problem
    – Deadpool
    Nov 22, 2019 at 19:27
  • Why do you need to change the BB? I would have thought the new crankset would just go straight on.
    – user68014
    Nov 22, 2019 at 19:31
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    the BB installed right now is a JIS square taper cartridge and miche crankset has its own axle
    – Deadpool
    Nov 22, 2019 at 19:33
  • I think you probably want the one you said-- the BSA one. It's a different kind of BB but if the axle comes with the crankset it should be the right length. I thought you had a road square taper BB so was completely answering the wrong question... Just check the shell in the bike is BSA, i.e. threaded and lefty tighty on the right hand side.
    – user68014
    Nov 22, 2019 at 19:40
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    Should be OK but check the BB is for a 68mm shell (assuming the bike has a 68mm shell which it probably does but if in doubt measure it.)
    – user68014
    Nov 22, 2019 at 19:56

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