BB Crank axle too wide (FSA GAP Gravity Crankset)

Arthfael

Hello guys,

I need some help here cause I think I did a mistake. I decided to change my crankset on my commencal el camino 2015 as the stock one was bent and I got this one (wasn't that cheap when I ordered :@)

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ro/en/fsa-gap-alloy-m-exo-crankset/rp-prod151710

So far so good. I also decided to do it on my own and I purchased all the tools to remove the old crank and install the fsa. The reason behind this is that I recently moved in Bucharest Romania and my experience here from a few bikeshops wasn't the best and not everybody speaks English.

After almost a month -.-' the crankset arrived so I started working on it.

First problem, a 2,5mm spacer was amiss (the pack is supposed to have 3, I had 2). Either way I decided to continue to see where that will lead, and here we are. The crank axle (if it's called like that) is way too wide... as you can see on the image bellow.




Now the question remains, the bike has a 68mm bottom bracket, the crankset was listed as an 68/73mm... Wasn't supposed to be compatible? Is there any way to save this or I have to sell it and get something else?? Any insight is welcome.

Thank you.

cooldad

It appears you are missing a spacer. As you yourself pointed out.

Arthfael

Well the spacer is 2.5mm so I doubt it would make any difference. It seems that CRC gave wrong info.

They said that :"This crank runs a regular 95mm MTB Mega Exo crank length for a 68/73mm bracket width."

My meter says otherwise.



I contacted them and I hope they will sort this out. I was really hoping that I did something wrong while mounting that, but it was pretty obvious that the crank was wide as f***.

Meh... another month without my bike...

cooldad

Have you actually read the instructions?

Normally one spacer for a 73mm BB and three for a 68mm.

Unless they sent you an 83mm one. Should be easy enough to sort out.

cooldad

Certainly less than a month, just buy a sensible Shimano one, those old FSA are heavy and quite cr4p.

Arthfael

Yeah man, I did read those. Also did a lot of research before starting changing the crank. This is why I was confused. The math was there but the result was nowhere close. Took me long enough to think that they might have given wrong info on the crank length... Obviously not an 68/73mm one. Even with the 3rd 2.5mm missing spacer your cannot cover that huge space.

AlsoI went for the FSA as I wanted something solid. Lots of drops and mostly going on descents. Seemed fair enough for what I wanted.

Damn though, I was almost done with the rebuild...

whyamihere

There's a 100mm BB shell 'standard' generally used for DH/freeride bikes. That looks like one of those.

If the shop advertised it as 68/73mm, you're well within your rights to send it back.

Arthfael

They replied and the answer is really whatever...



Now, his solution is bad, that would leave the left crank in a very unbalanced position compared to where the right one sits and secondly 2 x5mm wont cut it. Simple math. The area to cover is 1.5cm.

He also suggested the return/refund policy. Sure, I'll try go with it but I will have to pay around 12 to 20 euros for their own fuck up? Didn't I already payed shipment to get something they wrongly listed? Not to mention it takes a shit ton of time to get the money back. Then what, the local market here in this country I ended up for work is limited and very expensive. Not to mention that I am going to lose at least one month of ride again or even more...

That's it for me. Chainreactioncycles has the worst customer service. Too bad that Probikeshop doesn't ship here, they always sorted everything out perfectly, no matter the problem.

cooldad

I'm pretty sure CRC pay return postage if they c0ck it up. In the UK they do free return postage on everything, for any reason.

Arthfael

This is not the case here unfortunately. I have to pay the shipping. or at least those are the options I have on their website. I contacted them again and if they are unwilling to cooperate, I will explore other options. Either way, for me it was the last time I deal with them.

"It seems our stock has a changed and this crankset you have received is for a 83mm shell width bottom bracket."

It's not like I am a clairvoyant... -.-

larkim

I think given a) the website doesn't list the crank width specification and b) the FAQ answer on their own website says that "This crank runs a regular 95mm MTB Mega Exo crank length for a 68/73mm bracket width." then you have a fairly solid case for them selling the wrong item to you.

cooldad

As larkim said, and:

(for non UK deliveries)

"Who pays for my return delivery cost?
If the item is being returned as a result of our error, (damaged, defective, wrong item sent etc), we will refund Royal Mail First Class or Standard Parcel postage costs. Other returns are payable by you and non-refundable. If you are in the UK you can use or free Collect+ service. For large items or from regions were local postage is very costly please contact us for additional options."

If you paid by Paypal, and have activated the free returns, Paypal will refund the postage.

Arthfael

Well, after ranting a bit in my reply as I was very disappointed with them, they did a nice comeback

My reply to the previous mail (right click on it -> view image or open image in new tab if it's too small to read)



their comeback,



and my final reply,



Well that was a very unfortunate event... At least they did offer a solution. Now there I go again in my quest to find a crankset... the local market is bullshits, I even had to order maxxis tubes from outside the country as the only thing I could find here was low quality kenda ones. Where did I put my self? xD