Despite the overall bias for dirt bikes at the Sea Otter Classic, there is still plenty of new road bike technology to be found. No doubt, one of the biggest road bike announcements of the weekend came at the joint presentation hosted at the Sierra Nevada pavilion by BH Bikes and FSA. This was where they unveiled not only a new bottom bracket standard to the cycling world, but also a new bike to use it.

Dubbed BB386EVO, the system utilizes plastic, press-fit cups that allow frame manufacturers to mold their carbon creations without any additional machining work. The intended result is to allow frame designers to use wider and taller downtubes and chainstays, thereby increasing stiffness, strength, and power efficiency. Those are good things!

BB386EVO has a 86.5mm wise shell, and a 30mm integrated spindle. With proper spacers and/or cups, the system will be cross-compatible with BB30 shells, as well as most cranks with a 24mm-diameter spindle. FSA will start off by offering two cranks, one model from each of their K-Force and SL-K lines.

In addition to unveiling their new bottom bracket, BH also pulled back the curtain on their newest road frame, the Ultralight. With the frame weighing in at a claimed 747 grams, including a 17-gram minimalist paint job (developed by east coast carbon builder Parlee), the Ultralight will now ascend to the top of BH's always impressive road lineup. Their current top-of-the-line G5 frame will still be available for $3000, while the new Ultralight will cost $4200 and include the fork, seatpost collar and headset.

The Ultralight naturally features the new BB386EVO bottom bracket, as well as ultra-thin seat stays, an oversized, square-shaped seat tube, and tall chainstays. Underneath the bottom bracket is a cable guide setup that allows the user to run shifter cables in a criss-cross fashion, thereby permitting said cables to not cross each other in front of the head tube.

Road Bike Action was given one of the very first fully built BH Ultralight bikes, and it's currently being put through the paces by our legion of test riders. Look for a full test on both the BH Ultralight and its BB386EVO bottom bracket here and in a future issue of Road Bike Action.

Now, for the official word from BH and FSA...

"BB386EVO is wider, stiffer and interfaces with all current BB systems. BH Bikes is known for developing cutting-edge products including the introduction of the first ever extended seat tube design, pioneering the development of sub-900 gram road frames and being one of the first to introduce aerodynamic profiles into road racing frames with its line of Global Concept frames that include the current G5, RC1 and Cristal designs.

"Recognizing another opportunity to deliver higher levels of performance, BH Bikes approached Full Speed Ahead with the idea of partnering to design a system that provides the platform required to develop substantially lighter and stiffer frames while evolving the advances already made in crank and bottom bracket designs to a whole new level.

"The BB386EVO is the next evolution in frame and component design. Proposed by BH Bikes and developed in close partnership with Full Speed Ahead, the new BB386EVO system continues the evolution of the 30mm spindle standard with an eye towards expanded integration with frame manufacturers.

"With BH’s extensive knowledge of frame design and manufacturing, the new BB386EVO system integrates the benefits of oversized 30mm spindle designs into a new standard bottom bracket shell, which greatly enhances the performance characteristics. This BB386EVO design is an open source solution, available to all in the industry, to allow real performance gains by better integration of frame and component."