As a current HT2 user I’m impressed with the cranks; stiff, light-ish and they last if fitted properly, but the stock BB’s are shite, I’m quite impressed with the Hope steel BB I bought for my Hone cranks it’s done 6 months without issues (so far), we’ll see how winter progresses…
What annoys about HT2 me is that it’s cost me an extra £50 to make the bloody BB work, I’m glad I’d not plumped for a set of XT’s as for the difference in cost I reckon Middleburn Square tapers and a decent Shimano BB are probably worth the money for bearing durability, yes the cranks cost marginally more and if a small amount of flex bothers you then maybe they aren’t for you but you should have 2 years bare minimum out of a UN72…
As for BB30, just what the world needs, yet another standard, the principle is fine but it’s not a million miles away from ‘Mid’ BB’s… Obviously my luddite rants will wither and die in a few years when I find myself sat onboard a far superior bike with BB30 cranks, and an E2 taper, semi integrated head tube, 12mm rear end maxle and QR15 forks… but until I buy into every Fad going they’re all shite and a total waste of money…