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DUB: One Spindle, Four Shells

I spend my Saturdays pressing bearings and reading spec sheets so nobody has to guess at the counter.

SRAM DUB is a crank spindle standard. When a sheet says "SRAM DUB (28.99 mm)", it is telling you the diameter of the axle that runs through the frame from one crank arm to the other. That is all it tells you. It says nothing about whether the part will go into your frame — that answer lives at the other end of the same bottom bracket, in the shell.

This is the confusion we untangle most often at the counter. A rider reads DUB on a crankset box, reads DUB on a bottom bracket box, and reasonably concludes the two are a matched set. They are. But the bottom bracket has two faces, and only one of them is DUB.

What the standard actually does

A bottom bracket is a translator. On the inside it must match the hole in your frame — the shell: its bore, its width, whether it is threaded or pressed. On the inside of that, the bearings must match the crank axle that passes through them. DUB is the second half of that sentence. It fixes the spindle diameter so that one family of cranks can be carried across a shelf of very different frames.

So the useful way to shop is backwards. Start with the shell in your frame. Pick the bottom bracket that fits it. Then check that the bottom bracket provides the spindle standard your crank needs. If your crank is DUB, every one of the four bottom brackets below will accept it — and only one of them, at most, will accept your frame.

DUB tells you what the crank needs. The shell tells you what you can buy.

— The bench

The parts in our archive that carry DUB

Four bottom brackets on file provide the same spindle. Read the two rows for each one as a pair: what it demands of the frame, and what it offers the crank.

BrandSRAM
Manufacturer part numberBB-DUB-BB30-A1
Requires — Bottom bracket shellBB30 (42 mm bore, 68 mm) or BB30, 73 mm or BBright (Cervélo, 46 mm bore, 79 mm)
Provides — Crank spindleSRAM DUB (28.99 mm)

SRAM DUB BB30 bottom bracket

BrandSRAM
Manufacturer part numberBB-DUB-BSA-A1 68/73
Requires — Bottom bracket shellBSA / English threaded, 68 mm or BSA / English threaded, 73 mm
Provides — Crank spindleSRAM DUB (28.99 mm)

SRAM DUB BSA bottom bracket, 68/73 mm

BrandSRAM
Manufacturer part numberBB-DUB-BSA-A1 83
Requires — Bottom bracket shellBSA / English threaded, 83 mm
Provides — Crank spindleSRAM DUB (28.99 mm)

SRAM DUB BSA bottom bracket, 83 mm (DH)

BrandSRAM
Manufacturer part numberBB-DUB-PF30-A1
Requires — Bottom bracket shellPress-fit PF30 (46 mm bore, 68 mm) or Press-fit PF30, 73 mm or BB386EVO (46 mm bore, 86.5 mm) or BBright (Cervélo, 46 mm bore, 79 mm)
Provides — Crank spindleSRAM DUB (28.99 mm)

SRAM DUB PressFit30 bottom bracket

Four part numbers, one spindle value in every "provides" row. That repetition is the whole point of the standard, and it is also why the spindle number is useless as a shopping filter on its own.

A worked example from the fleet

Canyon Grail CF SL 7 (2025)

Bottom bracket shellPress-fit BB86 (41 mm bore, 86.5 mm)
Crank spindleShimano Hollowtech II, 24 mm

The frame is press-fit, so instinct says the press-fit bottom bracket is the answer. It is not. The SRAM DUB PressFit30 bottom bracket does not fit the Canyon Grail CF SL 7 (2025): the shell on file does not match any shell in that part's requirement row. The bore is the sticking point, not the width.

The other three land the same way, for the same reason. The SRAM DUB BB30 bottom bracket does not fit the Canyon Grail CF SL 7 (2025). The SRAM DUB BSA bottom bracket, 68/73 mm does not fit the Canyon Grail CF SL 7 (2025), because that frame has no threads to take it. The SRAM DUB BSA bottom bracket, 83 mm (DH) does not fit the Canyon Grail CF SL 7 (2025) either. Each verdict is derived — read from one published sheet, not yet confirmed by a second independent publisher. No bike in our fleet is fully verified yet, and we would rather say that than pretend otherwise.

Notice also that the bike's own crank spindle row is Shimano Hollowtech II, not DUB. So on this frame the spindle standard and the shell standard both point away from these parts. That is a tidy no, and a tidy no saves a return.

Does DUB mean the bottom bracket will fit my frame?
No. DUB describes the crank spindle the bottom bracket accepts. The frame side is a separate specification — the shell — and it is the one that decides whether the part goes in.
Why do four different bottom brackets all say SRAM DUB (28.99 mm)?
Because they are four frame-side translators for one crank-side interface. BB30, threaded BSA in two widths, and PressFit30 all end up presenting the same spindle bore to the crank.
Can I use an adapter to put a DUB bottom bracket into any shell?
Not a question we will answer in general terms. We only publish a fit when the specific part and the specific bike are both on file. For the pairs in this article the verdict is does not fit, and no adapter path is on record.
What if my bike's bottom bracket shell is not listed anywhere?
Then the verdict is unknown, and unknown is a real answer, not a soft yes. Bottom bracket fit touches the drivetrain and your cranks; we would rather leave the blank visible than fill it with a guess.

What to carry away

  • SRAM DUB is a crank spindle standard, stated as 28.99 mm. It is the crank side of a bottom bracket, never the frame side.
  • Four bottom brackets in the archive provide it: the BB30, the threaded 68/73 mm and 83 mm BSA versions, and the PressFit30.
  • Shop shell first. The requirement row on the part must name the shell on your frame's sheet.
  • All four are recorded as does not fit for the Canyon Grail CF SL 7 (2025), on a derived shell mismatch.
  • Missing shell data means unknown, and the shop does not sell a part into an unknown.

Filed in the archives in 2026. If a second independent sheet turns up for any of these frames, the confidence on these verdicts moves from derived to verified, and we will say so here.

More in the Journal

  • What We Still Don't Know About the Grail CF SL 7

    The Canyon Grail CF SL 7 (2025) sits in our fleet with one source behind each fact and no second publisher agreeing yet. Here is what that means, which answers still stand, which ones wait, and what would change them.

  • SRAM DUB bottom brackets, sorted by shell

    Five SRAM DUB bottom brackets sit in the drawer. They all hand the crank the same spindle interface; what separates them is the frame shell they need. Here is each one by its numbers, plus the one projected verdict we have on file against a bike in the fleet.

  • The Cassette Shelf, Counted Cog by Cog

    Five cassettes are on file in the archive: one nine-speed microSHIFT, one twelve-speed Shimano, and three SRAM eleven-speed options. This guide lays out the three numbers that separate them — freehub body, rear speeds, and the smallest rear derailleur capacity they demand — and says plainly which bike in the fleet they do and do not fit.

  • Why your 11-speed chain fits — and the 12-speed one does not

    Chain compatibility comes down to one standard most boxes print as a speed count: the chain width. Here it is for the two KMC chains people ask about most, and what it means on an 11-speed and on a 12-speed bike from the fleet.

  • The Giant Escape 3, As Far As Our Paper Goes

    A plain accounting of the Giant Escape 3 (2024): the measurements we have on file, the ones we do not, the three regions worth reading before you buy, and four listed parts with their projected verdicts.

  • Rear Wheel of the Giant Fathom 29 2: What Bolts On

    A region guide to the rear wheel of the Giant Fathom 29 2 (2022): the cited frame and wheel facts we hold, the two Maxxis parts projected to fit, why each verdict lands where it does, and the measurements that are still missing from the file.

  • The Glory Advanced Is on File, Not Yet Verified

    Every fact we hold on the Giant Glory Advanced (2025) comes from a single cited source. That is enough to answer some questions and not enough to answer others. Here is exactly which is which, and what would move a line from unknown to answered.

  • Setting Up a Rear Derailleur on the Bench at Home

    A plain bench procedure for hanging, limiting, indexing and clutch-checking a rear derailleur at home, plus the three rear derailleurs the shop lists and how they read against the Canyon Grail CF SL 7 (2025).

  • Swapping a Cassette at Home, Without Guesswork

    A bench procedure for removing and installing a rear cassette, the spec rows that decide which cassette you can even buy, and the three cassette pages the shop lists — including why all three are projected not to fit the Canyon Grail CF SL 7 (2025).

  • The e12 chain and the Grail: a clean match on the drivetrain

    The KMC e12 e-bike chain, 12-speed fits the Canyon Grail CF SL 7 (2025). The chain standard on the bike's sheet matches the chain standard the part requires. Here is the reasoning, the rows behind it, and what happens when you bring an older chain to the same drivetrain.

  • The KMC X10, and the one thing it asks of your bike

    The KMC X10 chain, 10-speed has a single requirement: a 10-speed drivetrain. We read the spec rows, then check it against the two bikes on file with the same chain standard — the Giant Fathom 29 2 (2022) and the Kona Sutra (2025). Both come back as fits, on derived facts.

  • The X9 and the Roam: one chain, one answer

    The KMC X9 chain, 9-speed fits the Giant Roam 2 Disc (2021). The chain standard on the bike matches the chain standard the part asks for, and both facts are on file. Here is the reasoning, the spec rows behind it, and the chain that does not fit.

  • Rotor size is a safety question, not a taste

    A bigger rotor brakes harder. It also loads the fork mount beyond what it was tested for when it exceeds the fork maximum. Here is why a rotor reads "unknown" on a single-sourced bike, "does not fit" when the interface is wrong, and "unknown — safety-critical" when the maximum is not on file.

  • The 1.85 mm spacer: the cassette that confuses everyone

    An 8/9/10-speed cassette on an 11-speed road freehub: why there is a gap, why a 1.85 mm ring fills it, how the resolver treats that ring — and why the page can still say "unknown" after the freehub question is settled.

  • What "unknown" means in this shop

    A bike we have not verified stays on the floor with a sign on it, not in the back room. Here is what that sign says, with the Brompton C Line as the live example, and why we would rather lose the sale than guess.

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