I switched the press-fit bottom bracket for the Pinarello MTB frame to
XTR!
↑This one
For the width that fits this frame, Shimano's genuine press-fit bottom brackets come in:
XTR grade: SM-BB94-41A at ¥5,039 including tax,
XT grade: BB-MT800-P at ¥3,132,
Deore grade: BB-MT500-P at ¥1,858.
I ordered this bottom bracket at the end of April and installed it on May 8th, but
since the customer's first choice was XT,
which was scheduled to arrive on May 25th at the time of ordering, they couldn't wait that long,
so we went with the XTR that was in stock.
The XT ended up arriving at the distributor earlier than planned, around May 18th.
The Deore has been out of stock since April, with an expected arrival of August 3rd.
In an article from March 8th this year, I wrote:
"On January 10th this year,
I ordered a 50T outer chainring for the FC-6800.
It was out of stock with an expected arrival of February 17th, but
about 10 days to two weeks before the scheduled date, the usual nonsense of pushing back the delivery date starts,
and it kept getting extended from February 17th → March 5th → March 25th,
and when I checked today it had become April 15th."
Well, this got pushed back even further to May 27th → June 17th (as of this afternoon),
and now when I look it's become July 15th.
This isn't about Ultegra but Dura-Ace, though—
the 9000 series and R9100 series have compatibility when it comes to cranksets, so
if the chainring for a 9000 crank isunobtainable at any reasonable timeframe,
you could just buy an R9100 crank instead, is what
the monopoly company acting cocky about their market dominance and selling products without care would
probably tell you, but
↑This is the FC-SR70 made by Shimano,
a model with an SRM power meter integrated into it.
This crank needs to have a 9000 chainring or else
the aesthetic gap won't line up properly.
Speaking of which, SRM also makes
Campagnolo Ultra-Torque power meter-equipped cranksets,
and the right crank arm has a hole with a smooth, clean outline that wasn't drilled after the fact.
The area that would normally show the grade designation has "11 SPEED" on it, which is the same as
the 165mm cranks from back when Record and other higher-grade components didn't come in a 165mm version,
but actually those crank arms are equivalent to Chorus from that era,
whereas on the SRM crank, the crank arms are shared between Super Record and Record,
and since the bearings are CULT,
it's the same spec as Super Record.
The crank arms on those two upper grades from that era were wider and thinner compared to Chorus,
and had a rib-like bulge down the center of the arm.
In the picture above, you can see the tape edge forms a wave-like line—that's because of that.
↑This is a 165mm crank from around the same era, fitted with an aftermarket narrow-wide chainring,
and the original two chainrings are the same as those on the Record from that era,
with bearings that are USB (where Chorus would have ball bearings),
so this one has Chorus crank arms, Record chainrings and bearings, and a length of 165mm.
↑The crank arm section of the Chorus and 165mm crank looks like this
One more completely unrelated thing I want to write about though:
The Megmilk Snow Brand (雪印メグミルク) milk sold at Seven-Eleven called
"Mainichi no Shokutaku 3.6 Milk" (毎日の食卓３．６牛乳)
has had the "3.6" removed from the packaging.
The difference in best-by dates is just 3 days, so this happened very recently.
↑3.6
↑Not 3.6
So the label no longer says the milk fat content is 3.6% or more.
I'd think that if it said "3.5% or more," it would often actually be 3.6% or more anyway.
This probably isn't related, but
the manufacturing locations are now Kobe and Kyoto respectively.
The components are pretty much the same.
At least they didn't reduce the volume—that's something.
Just to be clear, the package heights aren't different in the picture above;
I just lined them up so the ingredient label section was at the same height.
XTR!
↑This one
For the width that fits this frame, Shimano's genuine press-fit bottom brackets come in:
XTR grade: SM-BB94-41A at ¥5,039 including tax,
XT grade: BB-MT800-P at ¥3,132,
Deore grade: BB-MT500-P at ¥1,858.
I ordered this bottom bracket at the end of April and installed it on May 8th, but
since the customer's first choice was XT,
which was scheduled to arrive on May 25th at the time of ordering, they couldn't wait that long,
so we went with the XTR that was in stock.
The XT ended up arriving at the distributor earlier than planned, around May 18th.
The Deore has been out of stock since April, with an expected arrival of August 3rd.
In an article from March 8th this year, I wrote:
"On January 10th this year,
I ordered a 50T outer chainring for the FC-6800.
It was out of stock with an expected arrival of February 17th, but
about 10 days to two weeks before the scheduled date, the usual nonsense of pushing back the delivery date starts,
and it kept getting extended from February 17th → March 5th → March 25th,
and when I checked today it had become April 15th."
Well, this got pushed back even further to May 27th → June 17th (as of this afternoon),
and now when I look it's become July 15th.
This isn't about Ultegra but Dura-Ace, though—
the 9000 series and R9100 series have compatibility when it comes to cranksets, so
if the chainring for a 9000 crank is
you could just buy an R9100 crank instead, is what
probably tell you, but
↑This is the FC-SR70 made by Shimano,
a model with an SRM power meter integrated into it.
This crank needs to have a 9000 chainring or else
the aesthetic gap won't line up properly.
Speaking of which, SRM also makes
Campagnolo Ultra-Torque power meter-equipped cranksets,
and the right crank arm has a hole with a smooth, clean outline that wasn't drilled after the fact.
The area that would normally show the grade designation has "11 SPEED" on it, which is the same as
the 165mm cranks from back when Record and other higher-grade components didn't come in a 165mm version,
but actually those crank arms are equivalent to Chorus from that era,
whereas on the SRM crank, the crank arms are shared between Super Record and Record,
and since the bearings are CULT,
it's the same spec as Super Record.
The crank arms on those two upper grades from that era were wider and thinner compared to Chorus,
and had a rib-like bulge down the center of the arm.
In the picture above, you can see the tape edge forms a wave-like line—that's because of that.
↑This is a 165mm crank from around the same era, fitted with an aftermarket narrow-wide chainring,
and the original two chainrings are the same as those on the Record from that era,
with bearings that are USB (where Chorus would have ball bearings),
so this one has Chorus crank arms, Record chainrings and bearings, and a length of 165mm.
↑The crank arm section of the Chorus and 165mm crank looks like this
One more completely unrelated thing I want to write about though:
The Megmilk Snow Brand (雪印メグミルク) milk sold at Seven-Eleven called
"Mainichi no Shokutaku 3.6 Milk" (毎日の食卓３．６牛乳)
has had the "3.6" removed from the packaging.
The difference in best-by dates is just 3 days, so this happened very recently.
↑3.6
↑Not 3.6
So the label no longer says the milk fat content is 3.6% or more.
I'd think that if it said "3.5% or more," it would often actually be 3.6% or more anyway.
This probably isn't related, but
the manufacturing locations are now Kobe and Kyoto respectively.
The components are pretty much the same.
At least they didn't reduce the volume—that's something.
Just to be clear, the package heights aren't different in the picture above;
I just lined them up so the ingredient label section was at the same height.