Aftermarket Shimano crank bolt with hole -Problem?

bus_ter

I added some bling to my bike today, swapping out the plastic Shimano crank arm bolt with a red annodised one to match the other red annodised details on the bike.

I've just noticed the bolt has an open design with a hole in the middle. This will obviously make it easy for water and dirt to get inside and into the middle of the crank spindle.

Is this a really rubbish design that's going to cause problems or nothing to worry about?

Monty Dog

Crank spindle is steel so unless you're taking your bike for a swim in the sea, not really a problem

SME

Very nice - how about a picture of the whole bike?

In the meantime, would something like this be useful...?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/32100970 ... pla&crdt=0

bus_ter

Thanks for the replies.

Good news that water getting in there won't cause any major problems. I was looking through and I'm sure I could see a little light at the other end suggestive that it's not sealed anyway. Hard to tell, might have been a reflection.

The little grommets might be a good idea too. Keep the worst out. So thanks for that link.


Oh and here's my baby. Oh and my little girl too :-).

ROSE CGF-3100 2015

SME

bus_ter wrote:

Thanks for the replies.

Good news that water getting in there won't cause any major problems. I was looking through and I'm sure I could see a little light at the other end suggestive that it's not sealed anyway. Hard to tell, might have been a reflection.

The little grommets might be a good idea too. Keep the worst out. So thanks for that link.


Oh and here's my baby. Oh and my little girl too :-).

ROSE CGF-3100 2015

Can't see how you'd see light at the end?

Nice looking bike. And, of course, the young lady.

ElectronShepherd

The MTB Hollowtech cranks have a hole on the drive side, and a bolt with a hole in just like yours on the non-drive side. Those generally get a bit wetter and dirtier than road bike cranks and don't have any problems, so I'm sure it'll be fine.

If it was me, I'd leave any grommets off. Any water that does get in will soon dry up with the open hole. If you try to seal it with a grommet, the water that does get in will then sit on the inside of the crank axle for a long time, and may well cause more problems.

Also, I'd put some copper grease or similar on the bolt thread. The aluminium thread might "weld" itself to the steel crank (galvanic corrosion) and it will be tricky to get decent leverage on the bolt to get it out if that happens.

k-dog

I would definitely grease it but the cranks are alloy not steel.