Carbon Crank Repair

woolwich

Folks,

I have an FSA carbon crank that is out of warranty and requires repair. The bond between the carbon crank arm and the Ali pedal thread insert has failed, allowing the thread insert to wobble about in its location.
There is little space to get in with anything to give the surfaces a clean before trying to repair and I am unsure of the best stuff to use.
Any suggestions before I scrap the cranks much appreciated.

ex-pat scot

same happened to me and plenty of others. Have you asked FSA?
Danger is if you get the alignment wrong then axle won't sit straight and you'll end up with knackered knees

hstiles

It is a known fault. Even if the cranks are outside of the 2 year manufacturer warranty, you should still report it to FSA and ask them to consider swapping or repairing them.

psychle

woolwich wrote:

The bond between the carbon crank arm and the Ali pedal thread insert has failed, allowing the thread insert to wobble about in its location.

Sounds familiar.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2krYbeon1KY.

hstiles wrote:

report it to FSA and ask them to consider swapping or repairing them.

Good luck with that. I've just had the claim on my five year old K-Force crank rejected out of hand despite the fact that the documentation which came with the cranks stated they were warrantied for 10 years. FSA have subsequently reduced their warranty period.

Does anyone know if it would be possible to substitute with an alloy crank arm, like a Gossamer?

crankycrank

If you get no luck from the warranty try one of the CF repair shops. I wouldn't trust any home repair due to the large amount of force used on the pedal axle. I've never found any epoxies/glues that would be near strong enough without using some type of expert technique or reinforcement.

woolwich

Thanks everyone for your input.
Despite being confident that I could align the thread properly with other fixtures I have, I didn't rate my chances of getting a repair to last.
I hadn't chased the supplier/manufacturer as the crank is 2011 and been well used. I feared the usual frustrating stonewall out of warranty treatment. However since a couple of you recommended it I did. Chain reaction are happy for me to send it back for consideration and have not ruled out replace/refund. Not out the woods yet but they seem positive.
ta.

clogg

I also have a problem with a K force crank but this time the problem is looseness on the splines of the LHS crankarm between the metal and the carbon . About 3 years old but where they were bought has closed. Nothing to lose now so was just going to send them back to FSA and see what they say.
Has anyone tried this before ? also is there a UK service centre or will I just send to head office in Italy. Any advice would be appreciated.