Truvativ Howitzer XR M12 Bottom Bracket

Portable Laptop Scanner - Plustek M12

Advantages: Lightweight, Portable, Compact, High Quality, Good Software & Bundled Stuff
Disadvantages: Can't Scan In Books/Booklets/Full Size Newspapers Direct

them all in one by one - which is both time consuming and wastes cartridges/paper, etc. The other downside of this is that it can't scan A3 documents properly - it rips them. I know that other box style scanners can't scan in A3 documents - they are usually designed to scan in A4 information, but on a box scanner you can simply scan the top half of the page then turn it over and scan in the bottom half of the page. With the M12 you need to have photocopied it onto separate A4 sheets. This isn't really much of a problem though - unless you are wanting to scan in a lot of newspaper articles or anything larger than an A4 sheet (which I've only done once). Anything A4 and under (photos, magazine articles, business cards, etc). It scans through fine. The scanner originally cost me £60 including postage, which seemed a tad expensive ...

caroline9 24.04.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Plustek OpticSlim M12

Retro Tech Delivers the Goods

Advantages: Cheap, extremely durable, abuse tolerant
Disadvantages: Poor crank choice, may not be suitble for extreme use

the others, and now the latest big thing are external bottom brackets. X-type from Race Face, Hollowtech II from Shimano, and GXP from Truvativ. While they have different names they are all interchangeable, as they are all made to similar specifications and similar dimensions. Each "improvement" has led to stiffer and lighter BB's, with a marked decrease in durability. The latest BB's can last as little as 3 months on a mountain bike, if ridden in wet and muddy conditions. ISIS are particularly bad in this regard, but the new external BB's are in a class all of their own. Mounting the BB outside of the frame, makes them extremely vulnerable to water penetration and early failure. The UN54 will give you an average service life of around 18 months to 2 years, and this reason alone may be enough to persuade you to stick with square taper. My ...

fred_redwood 31.05.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Shimano UN54 Bottom Bracket

Shimano UN 72 Tapered bottom bracket

Advantages: Cheap
Disadvantages: Breaks easily

I have had three or four of these because they were cheap, it turned out that in the long run it was cheaper to save up and buy a decent bottom bracket. Everyone of these that I bought broke in under a month, the same two faults occured each time. 1) Mud and grit easily get past the seals and wear out the bearings causing them to cease or rattle. 2) The ends of the tapered arms round off very easily, even during light XC and commuting use I have rounded them off. Steer clear and buy a decent bottom bracket, or even better get the new external type, or if your into jumping and DH get some 3piece cranks. ...

Cheezy_Feet 26.02.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of UN 72 Shimano Tapered Bottom Bracket BS 68mm