Originally Posted by
dedhed
There's more to it than "ANY". You have to know your BB shell specifications i.e.width, threading. Given what it sounds like you have it's likely 68mm or 72mm English (BSA) threaded so the variations of Italian, Swiss, French, 70mm etc won't be a factor.
Learn to read the Shimano tech docs if you plan on doing the work yourself and make sure you understand Shimano compatibility before you order anything, especially if ordering by individual part rather than a groupset. While Shimano is often "plug & play" if you're not trying to combine older/newer, road/mountain you still have to understand what is what.
EDIT - Also the special tools required to remove your old stuff and install the new using a different tool
Sounds good
. I have opened the Shimano compability guide almost more frequently then my work mail over the last week, but I was going for an Alivio setup.
But very good tip for those situations!
Now knowing that I most likely can use a hollowtech crank, I'm upgrading to deore
.
Question out of curiosity: Shimano has a special
T Trekking series, and a special
MTB series. They use the same group names within both categories. What is the technical difference between those (if there is one?)