OCTALINK

SHIMANO 推出的花键中轴

上个世纪末，SHIMANO推出 OCTALINK 的花键（俗称“梅花”）中轴制式.

This system, designed by Shimano, was the first successful alternative to the older square taper. The Octalink system uses a larger and stiffer spindle with eight splines. The splines provide a greater contact area between crank and spindle for a stiffer interface. Octalink exists in the marketplace in two variants, Octalink v1 and Octalink v2. The difference between the two can be seen by the depth of mounting grooves on the bottom bracket spindle. V1 spline grooves are 5 mm long, while V2 are 9mm long. 105, Ultegra 6500 and Dura Ace 7700 cranksets mate to version one bottom brackets, while later mountain bike designs use the deeper-grooved version two. The system is proprietary and protected by Shimano patents and licence fees, thus few third-party manufacturers (such as Blackspire) produce Octalink cranksets. While some competitors to Shimano (especially Campagnolo) continued to use the older square taper, others worked together to create a similar ISIS design as a free alternative. Although Octalink is a successful and reliable three-piece system, Shimano's newer two-piece systems integrate the spindle onto the right crank arm.