Originally Posted by
HTupolev
Have you actually looked very hard? Tange makes a variety of BBs under multiple brands (i.e. IRD) and at multiple quality tiers, for instance.
I'd also question whether a lack of intermediate-tier would actually contradict my point about legacy support, since even the $30-ish products are pretty good. They're often lighter than a 40-year-old adjustable bracket that's being replaced, and they tend to enjoy many years of smooth function with no maintenance.
There is nothing made in the last couple years that wouldn't be better than a 40yo cup and cone. The question is would you take that fairly good new BB and pair it with you ~$400 crank? IMHO you have a decent cartridge BB to pair with pretty great modern square tapers none of which are in any measure high end.
Originally Posted by
Rolla
I just bought a 122.5 mm Tange square taper cartridge BB for $36, and a Velo Orange 124mm for $40. Both seem to be of excellent quality.
VO stuff is generally pretty great but again they're as niche as anything I've brought up without the track record. I guess I've probably shouldn't have ignored them since they make a BB with every conceivable configuration