Hey folks, I just picked up a 2017 Warbird frame/fork and am beginning to work on the build out. I currently have Next SL cranks on my Cutthroat and absolutely love them. I came across another well-priced SL crankset online but am curious if it will work on the Warbird. The Next SL has the 68/73 30mm spindle, and the Warbird is a BB86. I know where to source the correct bearings but my Cutthroat is a BB92 and the BB86 might be too skinny? I know the Easton EC90SL and the Next SL use the same systems, and the Easton works, but can't figure out if their spindles are the same length.
Does anyone have any experience or wisdom to share? I haven't been able to find my answer online so far.
There's 2 types of 30mm spindles pretty much, the BB30/PF30 and BB386 one. The BB30 spindle is not long enough to work on BB386. BB386 has the Shimano spindle length and it's why it's super easy to use Shimano cranks on a BB386 frame since it's just BB86 with a 30mm wide spindle.
BB86 and BB92 are the same spindle width, the only difference is the length of the BB.
Is your Next SL crank designed for BB30? If it is, it won't work.
Because the spindle is long enough for the width of the shell (think of it as BB386 instead of BB30) it will work, but it's really not ideal. Since the axle has a 30 mm diameter instead of the 24 mm spindle the frame was made for, it only leaves room for tiny little bearings in the bottom bracket. They are pretty notorious for wearing out FAST. The Race Face specific bottom bracket is here.There's an FSA one here. I think it should work because BB92 is just the mountain bike width of BB86. I don't know how long the Next SL crank is, so it's likely 2 x 2.5 mm spacers are needed if it's a mountain bike crank in a road frame/BB/
You can use one of the many different spindles that are available to make this work. I have three Trek cross bikes with the Easton setup that use BB86 bottom brackets. The spindle is 30x129.5mm on those and I also use the Easton/Raceface bottom brackets. The other poster is correct, there’s not a whole lot of room for anything else inside that bottom bracket shell with a 30mm crank spindle, but I run my Di2 wires through there and it still works great. No complaints whatsoever, and the Easton cinch powermeter is a nice option as well (I have two and they work well). I’m sure the bottom bracket life is potentially shorter than others because those bearings are small, but they’re not that expensive and there are several different options available from other vendors. I meant get try the Wheels Mfg. unit at some point.
One thing to remember is that the crank arms on the Easton units and the Raceface Next cranks (I have them on my fat bike and Mtb) is different. They’ll all fit on the same spindle, but the Raceface cranks would result in a larger Q factor than the Easton cranks because they’re flared out more at the pedal inserts. Also, the spindle that seems to come standard with the Raceface cranks is 30x134.5mm so that would result in the need for more spacers on the spindle if you’re going to use it on a BB86 bike.
