Originally Posted by
hybridbkrdr
Maybe I should have been a bit more specific. One of the things I saw in the youtube videos was someone saying if you have the cranks too tight, it will ruin the bearings. If you have it too loose, that's not good either. So, would you find it easier if Shimano designed a system where the cranks click once they're in the proper place?
“Ruin the bearings” is way too strong of a description IMHO. If you have the preload too tight, it will subject the bearings to elevated wear, meaning your bottom bracket won’t last quite as long (because radial cartridge bearings don’t do well with side loads), but that’s a long way from ruin. You’d probably still get thousands of miles out of the BB. Sure, if you crank down on the preload cap with a tool attached to a socket wrench you can probably break something, but if you use that little plastic wheel and just snug it down with finger pressure, I think it would be pretty hard to mess it up.