TNT had Ultimate Machine make many of their parts. In 1994 TNT and Ultimate "split the sheets" and their seems to be some anamous. The cause of the break-up we don't know, but Ultimate began immediately selling the same parts with the same design that they had been sub-contracted to make for TNT. TNT Performance has improved all their designs. The new TNT Sealed Cartridge Ti B/B is our choice of the finest B/B available. A review of it will be posted here soon.

TNT ULTIMATE ATB SEALED TITANIUM B/B
TNT Performance makes what are probably the lightest B/Bs ever. The Ultimate ATB is a "floating" type using a Titanium spindle. The spindle is machined from Ti 6Al-4V Titanium rod with tapered ends for easy crank installation. Each bearing rests on a 17mm diameter section of the spindle, with the area between both bearings turned on the lathe to a smaller diameter to reduce weight. The spindle is drilled through with threads tapped inside the ends for the crank bolts. The bearing cups are machined from 7075-T6 aluminum rod. The lathe process shapes and cuts the rough cup, leaving an outer flange that tightens against the B/B shell and closes the shell off from the outer environment. A hole is drilled from the outer face leaving an inner lip for the bearings to rest against. The bearings are pressed into the cup from the outer side. Four equidistant holes are drilled into the flange for the final pin spanner positioning, then the cups are threaded for the B/B shell. The TNT B/B uses aluminum locking collars to hold the spindle in position. Once you've positioned the spindle, these collars slide down the spindle and two allen head set screws cinch down and hold the spindle firmly in place. To cap it all off, TNT includes some wickedly fine, machined aluminum crank bolts. Exquisitely made from 7075-T6 aluminum rod, these are one piece bolts with the washer machined into the bolt. A perfect choice of material for use in the Titanium spindle, because they are light and won't seize on installation. The crank bolts weigh just 10.5 grams a pair, and are available separately. It is recommended that you tighten the cranks onto the spindle with steel bolts, remove them and then use the aluminum to hold them onto the spindle. The TNT Ultimate B/B comes with either a 120mm, 125mm, 130mm, or 135mm spindle. The weight of the Ultimate ,with a 125mm spindle and the crank bolts, is 156 grams. Wild! Made in Silver with English threads only. This version of their B/B has been discontinued. We sold it for $149.99

TNT ULTIMATE COMP SERIES SEALED TITANIUM B/B
TNT makes another series of B/Bs they call the Ultimate Competition. There are three versions of these Ultimate Comp B/B's, the Ultimate XTR Comp., the Ultimate ATB Comp., and the Ultimate Road Comp. The differences among them are the  availablespindle lengths and the Ultimate Road Comp. is available with Italian threaded cups. The Ultimate Comp. B/Bs don't rely on locking collars to hold the spindle in place, but instead still use a "floating" principle, having adjustable cups and lockrings to hold them in place. The bearing cups are precisely machined from 7075-T651 aluminum alloy rod. The outer face of the bearing cup has four equidistant holes bored into it. These 3mm diameter holes are made to allow the Green handled Park SPA-1 pin spanner to be used to tighten the cups into the B/B shell. The hole where the spindle exits the cup has a channel milled into the face's thickness to allow an O-ring to be installed, permitting a greater seal against outside contaminants. Unfortunately, TNT doesn't install this useful, yet "optional", O-ring seal because they are the manufacturer the B/B's sold by Specialized Bicycle Components, (known previously as Specialized Bicycle Imports). Their agreement with Specialized apparently calls on TNT not to install the O-ring, giving Specialized an opportunity for distinction from the TNT version. The O-ring is 7/10th" in diameter by .05" thick, and available at plumbing supply repair stores, this overlooked feature makes it easy to purchase and install. Both of the cups use lockrings machined from the same type of aluminum rod. The lockrings have six square cut notches for a hook spanner to grip and give the final tightening. The spindle is beautifully machined from Titanium 6Al-4V rod. It's center diameter is reduced on a lathe to 600/1000ths to bring its weight down, (remember the spindle sold in the Specialized version is 650/1000ths making it slightly heavier). The spindle is also drilled through to reduce its weight then tapped for the crank bolts. The spindle's 2¡ tapered ends will accommodate all aluminum crank arms. The precision sealed bearing cartridges are pressed onto the spindle and nestled up to and against a shoulder cut by the lathe at each end. TNT uses the Japanese IJK 6903RS bearings, (as do the Specialized models). The Ultimate Comp B/Bs use the same marvelous one-piece aluminum crank bolts as the Ultimate bottom bracket weighing just 10.5 grams per pair. It is recommended that you tighten the cranks onto the spindle with steel bolts, remove them and then use the aluminum to hold them onto the spindle. The Ultimate XTR Comp B/B comes with either a 107mm or 111mm long spindle, with English threaded cups. The Ultimate ATB Comp B/B comes with either a 117mm (which can be used for the Grafton or Suntour Micro Drive cranks), 122.5mm or 125mm long spindle, with English threaded cups. The Ultimate Road Comp B/B is available with either a 103mm spindle (to fit the 1993 released Super Low Profile Dura-Ace crankset), or a 112.5mm long spindle. The Ult. Road Comp is also available with either English (to fit a 68mm wide B/B shell) or Italian (to fit a 70mm wide B/B shell) threaded cups. The Ultimate XTR Comp in a 107mm length spindle weighed 157 grams, including the aluminum crank bolts. This has been discontinued by TNT. It sold for $149.99