Ultegra crank failure

2

Comments

  • Nick Payne
    Nick Payne Posts: 288
    I don't know why Shimano bother with their so-called Hollowtech cranks - they're no lighter than what they replaced - on my measurements slightly heavier. I just weighed two Deore XT LH crankarms: an M737 from 1994 - solid all the way through - and a "Hollowtech" M785 from 2014.

    M737: 209g
    M785: 218g
  • Stew41
    Stew41 Posts: 1
    Far out - exactly the same thing just happened to me. Honestly that picture could have come from my bike.

    My crank is OEM off a 2016 Defy Advanced Pro 2 and was purchased through the official dealer network in Australia. Like some others not many miles (just under 4,000 kms) and I have not dropped the bike on the drive train side. Whatever bonding is used to connect the outer plate simple appears to have failed under a normal workload. I'll be likely replacing with a 105.
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Nick Payne wrote:
    I don't know why Shimano bother with their so-called Hollowtech cranks - they're no lighter than what they replaced - on my measurements slightly heavier. I just weighed two Deore XT LH crankarms: an M737 from 1994 - solid all the way through - and a "Hollowtech" M785 from 2014.

    M737: 209g
    M785: 218g
    But the whole assembly is much lighter, the LH crank arm on HT2 includes the clamping which adds weight there for savings eslewhere.

    I presume you included the 2 pinch bolts on the HT2 and the mounting bolt for the M737 so as to make the comparison valid?
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • dee4life2005
    dee4life2005 Posts: 773
    Just had my Ultegra 6800 (11sp) CX crank spider fail in exactly the same way ... starting to peel away after a short spell of creaking, and me being unable to find the problem. Lucky it didn't snap off in traffic!!

    Also came across this as the top hit on Google.
    https://carlinthecyclist.com/2016/09/13 ... eed-crank/

    Anyone else had this problem?
    http://app.strava.com/athletes/307297
  • homers_double
    homers_double Posts: 8,232
    Seems like "ultegra crank failure" is a poular search term for people who's ultegra cranks have failed, and guess what the top hit on google is...
    Advocate of disc brakes.
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    Why would a "counterfeit" part be hollow? Why would a counterfeiter bother to make it hollow? All that extra work, for what? Ya can't actually see if a crank is hollow or not without cutting it apart.
  • daverh
    daverh Posts: 1
    Just set out for my usual Saturday morning long ride and only 10km in, I had almost exactly the same thing happen to me. The crank did not snap on the outside, the spider pulled away form the rest of crank (is it glued together or something??) and the inside seems to have cracked and snapped off. Of course, taking off from lights, in the middle of traffic.

    The bike is within warranty, being about 11 months old. It's done around 10K km which is decent but not a lot and the whole thing is kept in all but immaculate condition. Let's se what the LBS / Shimano say about this.
  • Rightarmbad
    Rightarmbad Posts: 216
    Shimano know all about it.

    Have a look at the new series cranks and the changes made were to deal with that weak point in particular.
    Shimano even proudly say they strengthened the crank in that area.

    They won't recall them, unless it is a front wheel, fork or major frame failure, bike stuff doesn't get recalled.
    Unless of cause one fails and your foot goes through the front wheel and causes a crash with serious injuries.
  • apreading
    apreading Posts: 4,535
    That does it - I have one that I got from CRC in March last year when they were going cheap. Havent fitted it yet because after ordering it, I read that it isnt much lighter than the crankset that came with the bike so I was going to wear that out first. I am sending the 6800 crankset back for a refund as CRC give you 365 days to do this - no point keeping it if this could happen and it would be out of warranty as it has sat around so long.
  • smoggysteve
    smoggysteve Posts: 2,909
    Is this happening to a particular version? Crank arm length ? With a certain ring gear combo? Would maybe help narrow down if it's a batch issue or something that can happen at any time to any chainset.
  • Semantik
    Semantik Posts: 537
    apreading wrote:
    That does it - I have one that I got from CRC in March last year when they were going cheap. Havent fitted it yet because after ordering it, I read that it isnt much lighter than the crankset that came with the bike so I was going to wear that out first. I am sending the 6800 crankset back for a refund as CRC give you 365 days to do this - no point keeping it if this could happen and it would be out of warranty as it has sat around so long.

    My thoughts as well. Bought one from Wiggle in September a lot cheaper than current price but not planning to fit it soon so might return it.
  • smoggysteve
    smoggysteve Posts: 2,909
    Semantik wrote:
    apreading wrote:
    That does it - I have one that I got from CRC in March last year when they were going cheap. Havent fitted it yet because after ordering it, I read that it isnt much lighter than the crankset that came with the bike so I was going to wear that out first. I am sending the 6800 crankset back for a refund as CRC give you 365 days to do this - no point keeping it if this could happen and it would be out of warranty as it has sat around so long.

    My thoughts as well. Bought one from Wiggle in September a lot cheaper than current price but not planning to fit it soon so might return it.

    I converted a bike to accept a shimano chainset purely to use an ultegra chainset and a Stages power meter. Was using a carbon FSA SL-K light before. This was before you could get a Stages to fit the FSA. God hates me
  • Muzzledoctor
    Muzzledoctor Posts: 31
    Had a customer come in with a crank with the same issue. Just over 2 years old, straight refusal to even consider a warranty from the distributor.
    www.morethanwheels.co.uk
  • e999sam
    e999sam Posts: 426
    The exact same break happened to me last night on an ultegra 6800 cx chainset. Just emailed the shop awaiting a reply.
  • Rodrego Hernandez
    Rodrego Hernandez Posts: 1,436
    Muzzledoctor wrote:
    Had a customer come in with a crank with the same issue. Just over 2 years old, straight refusal to even consider a warranty from the distributor.

    Would you say that it is unrealistic for a crank to last 2 years?
  • Pippy aston
    Pippy aston Posts: 37
    The law states products should last a reasonable length of time. My partner had a 5yr old iPhone that was playing up, took it to Birmingham apple shop and it was a hardware problem. No argument, they swapped it there and then.
    Madison are the importers for a lot of brands and if it's a manufacturing fault then they should replace it, you bought it from a shop though so your contract is with them. I'd suggest going to the small claims court.
  • apreading
    apreading Posts: 4,535
    Rodrego Hernandez wrote:
    Muzzledoctor wrote:
    Had a customer come in with a crank with the same issue. Just over 2 years old, straight refusal to even consider a warranty from the distributor.

    Would you say that it is unrealistic for a crank to last 2 years?

    Crank should definitely last longer than that. They are designed such that the consumable parts can be replaced (bottom bracket, chainrings, pedals) in order that the core spindle and crank arms can live for a long time. Glad I returned mine without fitting it now.
  • Rodrego Hernandez
    Rodrego Hernandez Posts: 1,436
    I agree, a crank should last longer than 2 years and the shop really needs to replace it and then they can argue with Madison. The customers relationship is with the shop, not Madison.
  • Joaquim
    Joaquim Posts: 1
    Had my Ultegra 6800 crankset replaced April last year, due to the spider coming off, most likely from epoxy failure. Yesterday, as I was finishing a ride with friends, noticed a noise from the bottom bracket area, which I thought it was from the pedal. Turn out to be the crankset ( the replacement ) in which one of the arms is starting to unglue. At 1,77 cms and 70 kgs, aged 54, don´t see where I can generate the wattage to destroy 2 cranksets in little over a year. Claim is out to Canyon ( it´s mounted on a CF SL 9.0 LTD 125 - 2014 ), and will wait for their "analysis". Most likely will turn to some other crankset, Praxis being the one I favour.
  • andcp
    andcp Posts: 644
    As the OP, thought I'd bring this up to date. When the crank failed, it also damaged a chainstay. Bearing in mind my mate lives in Abu Dhabi and has his stuff delivered there, Madison and J E James did him proud. Madison supplied a new crankset and brand new frame (upgraded) to boot, J E James put it together. Took a bit of time to resolve, but he's well happy.
    "It must be true, it's on the internet" - Winston Churchill
  • mostly
    mostly Posts: 113
    2ly0euv.jpg

    Mine went today, been creaking for about a week, had put it down to pedals, had a look at the bb this afternoon a crack ahoy. 18 months old about 1200km.
  • BRB61
    BRB61 Posts: 1
    edited January 2018
    Another Ultegra crank failure (Geelong, Australia 10/01/2018). Wilier bike is only 17 months old & has done about 5000km. I am 56 years old, 185cm, 85kg and average about 26km/h on the bike 3 - 4 times a week (approx. 50km per ride) so am hardly a high end, power user. Noticed some creeking & cracking sounds from the RHS pedal area about a week ago when pushing a bit harder up hills & thought it was just an issue with new cleats. Crank arm fractured/pulled away from face of chainring yesterday during sedate ride on flat section of local road - no warning other than odd noises as mentioned. Bike is currently back at LBS who have contacted Shimano Australia & sent broken parts for review. As I understand it, Shimano components have a 2 year warranty so hopefully they are replaced free of charge. Have others with similar problem had crank replaced under warranty by Shimano ?

    PS - cant figure out how to attach images, any ideas ?

    HZHc2xfckHzeQQf_lz5Mf-7O5PiA8HgsDcauISbQVn461-CVARIHr_fRTFO65beOqUH70d5cR5tO_KMKHTnSBmYIZmSBKlBT2gj0NDyiAkU4hLs64hz0Z8Z3ACwtGw-GbZDVkYoM7w
  • shirley_basso
    shirley_basso Posts: 6,195
    ^ upload to photo hosting website (I use Flickr) then link to here using the BB Code which embeds the image into the post.
  • Nick Payne
    Nick Payne Posts: 288
    BRB61 wrote:
    PS - cant figure out how to attach images, any ideas ?

    https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipM ... cA9x0iT4Aw

    If you have your image on Google Photos:
      With the image open in Google Photos, click on the Share icon (fourth from the right at top right) and then click on Get Link Copy the generated goo.gl link to the clipboard Go to the web site
    https://ctrlq.org/google/photos/ and paste the link in the field indicated
    Click on Generate Code
    Copy the direct link (https://...) to the clipboard
    Click on the "Img" button in the editor here and paste the clipboard
  • mostly
    mostly Posts: 113
    BRB61 wrote:
    Another Ultegra crank failure (Geelong, Australia 10/01/2018). Have others with similar problem had crank replaced under warranty by Shimano ?

    PS - cant figure out how to attach images, any ideas ?

    HZHc2xfckHzeQQf_lz5Mf-7O5PiA8HgsDcauISbQVn461-CVARIHr_fRTFO65beOqUH70d5cR5tO_KMKHTnSBmYIZmSBKlBT2gj0NDyiAkU4hLs64hz0Z8Z3ACwtGw-GbZDVkYoM7w

    Took about 3 weeks until shimano issued a credit note,
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    ^^^ that chain! Holy sh1t.
    Ben

    Bikes: Donhou DSS4 Custom | Condor Italia RC | Gios Megalite | Dolan Preffisio | Giant Bowery '76
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  • dstev55
    dstev55 Posts: 742
    A guy pulled up at the cafe we were sitting outside at today. He too had snapped the spindle on his Ultegra Crank. He could pull both sides of the crank straight off and the spindle had sheared away somewhere in the middle. Shocking how it can happen. He was only your average type cyclist too, putting no major power out and quite slightly built.
  • davep1
    davep1 Posts: 836
    Had the same failure at the weekend. Started with a click from the right pedal and eventually the centre part of the crank is split and coming away. Gutted as I was about 2 miles from Rosedale Chimney and couldn't risk the climb. It's a 300 mile drive away...
    My bike is 3 years old and has 19000 km on it, not sure if I am going to get any help getting another.
  • philbar72
    philbar72 Posts: 2,229
    this ones a nice one. da9000 and well, look at it. https://instagram.com/p/Biexc5mBHzB/ was standing on the pedals uphill and the left one folded inwards. cue lots of scuffed bits, cursing and a one pedalled ride home!
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    philbar72 wrote:
    this ones a nice one. da9000 and well, look at it. https://instagram.com/p/Biexc5mBHzB/ was standing on the pedals uphill and the left one folded inwards. cue lots of scuffed bits, cursing and a one pedalled ride home!

    Yikes! Any prospect of a warranty? Will Shimano blame Pioneer and vice versa?

    Just how many grams do they save by using hollowtech / glue etc vs a conventional forged crank / spider?

    And why aren't the pros ripping their cranks apart too? Or is the age of the kit a factor I wonder?

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