not solely out of vanity

 Years ago, after ruining a Truvativ crankset by turning a bolt the wrong way (and who knew I was strong enough to do that?), I put a FSA crankset on the Yellow Maserati with which I've never really been happy. It ha been powdercoated black. I was newer to bike mechanics at the time, and dropped chain a lot. And every time I did, that powdercoat on that right crank arm got marred up.

And then the excellent Ricky G (whom I am privileged to call a friend) had a series of problems with his cranks, and decided that the bottom bracket should be considered a wear item, and replaced periodically (and reasonably frequently). Ricky has more good sense than vanity, although he's also probably got too much humility to admit it, so I knew this wasn't just about getting some bling on his bikes (and who would look for it on a bottom bracket, anyway?).

Well, the proprietary bottom bracket for that FSA crankset is about $50-60, where a standard square-taper BB can be had for about $12 (and up, of course, but if I'm gonna replace it regularly...). 

And I had a cranky week last week.

And I'm never gonna have a stable of gorgeous bikes. 

So I decided to pop for a crankset that had caught my eye: the New Albion XDD. It's available in 46x34 chainrings (which is what this old biker uses: the "standard" road-compact is 50x34, but I find I benefit from the easier gears, and I'm never gonna use those faster gears anyway: the only way I can get up to those speeds is with a gravity assist. Ahem).

It's got the look of a famous Sugino crankset (which I like, and it's consistent with the copy-of-a-classic crankset I have on the Krakow Monster, which is a knockoff of a fluted Campagnolo style). 

 

Here's removing the old, exterior-cup bottom bracket:

 

Installing the square-taper bottom bracket:

Drive side:

Pedals on. That's the despised FSA on the floor in the background.

It's a different width from the FSA, and required some jiggering with the front derailleur (and yes, I dropped the chain a few times, but scratch aluminum and there's aluminum beneath, as Robert Penn says in All About the Bike [although he probably prefers "aluminium" - dratted Brits]). But it shifts now, and I like the look of the blue-silver aluminum. Aluminium. Whatever.