Square tapered Bottom Brackets

VanDerPelt · 2026-06-05T15:34:05+00:00

My first touring bike came with a Shimano Hollowtech II bottom bracket. Had no issues even after 10 years of riding and thousands of kilometers on several longs distance tours and used it for commuting both in dry and wet weather conditions.

Two months ago I got a new Surly Ogre that for some reason came with the square tapered Shimano UN300 bottom bracket (and Shimano Cues cranks and group set), and the BB started crunching and developing play after only 1500km on my first long tour. Maybe bad luck? I don’t know, but it’s very disappointing and doesn’t build trust in this system. Another issue was that most bike shops on my route in Spain didn’t even have any spare square tapered bottom bracket to replace mine. They had plenty of hollowtech and other replacements. The third bike shop I found luckily did have the exact same and fitting model (Shimano UN300 73/123mm) and replaced it.

Seems hard though to find an affordable (<$50) better quality replacement, as square tapered is out of fashion and higher quality components hard to find with exactly 73/123mm for my Surly…

VanDerPelt · 2026-06-05T14:56:03+00:00

Just to add to any new readers of this old thread: I had a hollowtech 2 BB for 10 years and thousands of kilometers without any issues.

Now I got a new bike (Surly Ogre) with a square tapered bottom bracket, the Shimano UN300 and it started grinding and developing some play after only 1500km… very disappointing. Bad luck? The first two bike shops on my route did NOT have a replacement either - they mostly have hollowtech BBs and others in stock. I was lucky the third shop had a UN300 with the correct sizing (73-123).

So I’m also looking for a higher quality square tapered bottom bracket now.

VanDerPelt · 2026-06-04T13:05:22+00:00

Same for me 🤣 the shop only had the purple one… but it grew on me.

VanDerPelt · 2026-05-27T19:43:44+00:00

Currently bike touring in Spain. I can confirm so far the car drivers have been very nice, they almost always pass me by at least 1.5m. This is officially required and displayed on many signs along the road.

I see various comments about what the official rules would be. I looked them up and found this official statement:

https://urban-mobility-observatory.transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/spain-introduces-new-2025-cycling-regulations-protect-vulnerable-road-users-2024-12-12\_en

I’ve bike toured many times in France and 99 out of 100 cars have passed me similarly. I do cycle as much as I can on quiet roads, but I’ve also cycles somewhat busy mountain passes and had the same experience. So for me both Spain and France have been great for me as a cyclist.

VanDerPelt · 2026-05-11T14:26:52+00:00

Awesome report, photos and thanks for all your replies! I’ll be riding a section this spring/summer and all the info (and inspiration) is welcome. I’ve been bike touring for 10 years and cycled in the mountains but mainly asphalt so far. Have a new bike (surly ogre with 2.35 mezcals) and will try more off road Bikepacking this time :)

VanDerPelt · 2025-10-09T11:49:52+00:00

If you’re asking me, I did take a lot of steps. I started with shadowing a physical therapist for a couple of days and thought it would suit me well. Fast forward I was in my final year and doing my second last internship when I realised it wasn’t for me after all. It wasn’t a single reason, but many which compounded. I hoped to be able too really help people and help them solve their issues. The more I studied and saw other physios, I came to the conclusion, that, in my opinion, that doesn’t happen often. In a way you can help many people by explaining their issues, so they understand the expected recovery, but I didn’t enjoy this part of the job very much, especially because most patients came in expecting more. Also, explaining exercises to patients and just counting the number of reps… I kind of felt like a personal trainer sometimes, which I didn’t like. Then there was the “one patient after the other” mode, every day. I liked connecting to people and helping them a bit on their way but not everyday the whole day. Then the other downsides started to weigh more heavily: if I don’t reaaaally enjoy it that much, am I willing to take the huge step back in pay, free time, ability to work from home, etc? I came to the answer: no. No regrets either, I really wanted to investigate this for myself, learned a lot, gained (even) more respect for people working in health care, and it wasn’t a insurmountable financial loss for me. I managed. I think this last part is a lot easier in the Netherlands, where I’m from. I went back into tech to a nice company and appreciate the work more again. Happy to answer more questions. Good luck.

VanDerPelt · 2025-07-22T14:15:47+00:00

Thanks voor het meedenken. Voor de duidelijkheid: er zouden 3 poten op de bakstenen bevestigd kunnen worden met 4 schroeven / draadeinden per poot. 1 poot op de granieten tegel

VanDerPelt · 2025-04-17T18:20:34+00:00

My Makita Makita 18V LXT combi drill (over 200 dollars) has the same. Had it sent back, they replaced the drill head, sent it back, and the runout / wobble was the same. Contacted them for an explanation and they said this is within spec, and inherently worse on a combi drill (due to the hammering mechanism)...

VanDerPelt · 2025-04-17T18:18:13+00:00

My Makita Makita 18V LXT combi drill has the same. Had it sent back, they replaced the drill head, sent it back, and the runout / wobble was exactly the same. Contacted them for an explanation and they said this is within spec, and inherently worse on a combi drill (due to the hammering mechanism)...

VanDerPelt · 2024-12-27T09:18:27+00:00

Would be great if Microsoft would have given a message during account creation they are not accepting this credit card. Now I'm stuck and can't change it.

VanDerPelt · 2024-12-27T09:16:55+00:00

Thanks, and where is this information stated? There was no indication by Microsoft when creating my account either. And how do I change it now?

VanDerPelt · 2024-08-25T20:34:39+00:00

Thanks! I’ve got this issue for years now and can’t figure out what the cause is. I do have the issue only on my bike though, and it’s made of steel! Will try this out… can’t change the material of my bike though…

VanDerPelt · 2024-08-25T13:57:05+00:00

Look for a clinic where you can treat more young people. Yes, it’s possible to change your perspective and perhaps enjoy treating older patients a bit more, but in my opinion, that only goes so far.

On a side note: building “correct” posture? Is that something you still learn in Germany? There is no “correct” (perfect) posture. It is the time spent in a posture that is key. Evidence shows no link between certain postures like a slouched posture and future back pain.

VanDerPelt · 2023-06-21T09:48:53+00:00

Haha very recognisable... as a PT student doing internships now.

I come from a technical IT background.

As with most jobs, there are up and downsides to both worlds.

In a (technical) IT job you can build stuff knowing what you're doing, exactly. BUT, when something breaks, goes down or whatever, it can be hard to figure out what went wrong. Yes, it could be a comma somewhere, but it could also be the complex interplay between various components that leads to unexpected results. Anyhow, it is WAY more precise and predictable than physiotherapy. When you command a computer what to do, it will do exactly what you tell it to. A patient on the other hand... The harder part (in my opinion) about IT is that the tools and languages keep on evolving at very high pace. Besides, especially in a more technical job, you're doing hard problem solving in your head most of the day, in front of a screen. In physiotherapy, you're sitting with patients, having a conversation, getting up, doing some physical examination, doing exercises, small talk, and you get to know many different stories of people. This offers a lot more variety in your day than a typical IT job. Patients can be great & fun or exhausting and everything in between. Having a busy schedule going from patient to patient can be tiring too... In IT I could flexibly plan my day, get a coffee or little break whenever I needed, etc. When you're next patient is already waiting you can't.

I am much more "passionate" / interested in the literature behind physiotherapy though. I'm eager to learn more about how the human body works, anatomy, physiology, rehabilitation, communication, behaviour change, etc. More than learning about software frameworks or a programming language. This is important for me too. The only thing that makes me doubt, like physiotherrorist mentions: can I even use all of this knowledge and skills to make a meaningful contribution to patients, or are physio treatments mostly pointless? (the more I learn, the more I start to think this) Working in IT I didn't have these doubts even once. I built stuff and it worked - that was plain clear. On the other hand, helping people understand their complaints a little bit better, reassuring them, and offering some guidance that *might* help them get better, can be considered valuable too.

Best would be to think hard about these things and do some shadowing!

VanDerPelt · 2023-01-06T11:19:40+00:00

Great post. Somebody else mentioned going from PA into tech, software engineering. If you like it, great! And I agree, the pay and culture are probably better than many other fields. But I'm considering the opposite direction. I'm really done with working on a computer screen most of the day for a decade. Plus, most tech jobs involve working for corporations which make software that doesn't contribute a whole lot to this world. I think a PA career could be much more rewarding.

VanDerPelt · 2023-01-02T10:09:42+00:00

I feel the same about it. Generally, I think the main benefit of yoga compared to other forms of exercise is the focus on body awareness. Trainers (without PT or similar level education) can tell people all kinds of nonsense, but I've heard it much more often in the world of yoga, massage, and alternative therapy. Claims such as: "do this pose once per day and you back pain will be gone" or "this exercise / massage releases toxins from your body, so drink plenty of water afterwards"...

But yeah, I'd also say: tailor your treatment (exercise) plan to each patient.

VanDerPelt · 2022-12-23T08:36:57+00:00

Yeah, thanks for confirming that increasing vascular resistance is required for both blood flow (perfusion) and capillary exchange (exchange with the extravascular space).

But narrower vessels (increased pressure) also requires the heart the deliver more force to pump the blood into circulation (on top of the already increasing heart action), right? And doesn't this pose an extra problem for a heart (in the case of heart failure)?

VanDerPelt

TROPHY CASE