Shimano Ultegra & Dura-Ace cranksets - inspect regularly

Wow; thanks for posting this!

I snapped the arm off my 10 yo DA crank while riding.  Fortunately, the failure was not complete and I didn't land on my face.  It had lots of miles on it (20K miles maybe).  The miles is just a guess because I have too many bikes and swap out frequently. I also don't inspect my equipment often enough for possible fatigue cracks everywhere that they might occur, but this made me rethink that. 😂

I have read, I don't remember where, that top or near-top line components can be less durable than lower lines.  For my riding a few hundred grams are irrelevant so I go for durability over weight.  That said, I once broke the axle in a Phil Wood bottom bracket (which was more than 10 years old).  Fortunately it wasn't a catastrophic failure but the crank arms ended up more like 150 degrees apart than 180.

 

No stats in the linked article, so we don't know whether this is truly a widespread problem.

No stats in the linked article, so we don't know whether this is truly a widespread problem.

  Agreed, stats would be great but Shimano has been steadfast that there isn't a problem.

I have read, I don't remember where, that top or near-top line components can be less durable than lower lines.  For my riding a few hundred grams are irrelevant so I go for durability over weight....

And interestingly the 105 cranks have not been reported as having this issue. 

 

There have also been a lot of recalls of high end parts:

Canyon and Trek both recalled stem/bar "cockpit"

Whisky No. 9 12F Carbon Drop Handlebar

 

Here's a list of all types of recalled bike stuff...

 

I think it's pretty standard for manufacturers to deny problems, even when they anecdotally seem pretty frequent. The problem is that the plural of 'anecdote' is not 'fact.'  So it's hard to know the extent of the problem.

This could be true about any kind of aluminum that gets sweated on.

 

I trust Hambimi when it comes to bearings but I still take everything he says with enough salt to corrode a crankset.

 

This is not an issue with aluminum cranks.  It is a problem with Hollowtech cranks.  The problem is that they are bonded (glued) together.  This problem does not occur with 105 cranks because they are not glued together.  A quick Google search will reveal that this problem was not discovered or made up by Hambini, it is described in online bike mags (Bikeradar, Road.cc, ) and many forums. 

Indeed the issue only seems to occur with the higer end hollowtech cranks, if you wanna laugh / cry have a look on the instagram account thanksshimano

No stats in the linked article, so we don't know whether this is truly a widespread problem.

 

It's widespread. I have personally seen three. One was a guy who lives on my street. It definitely wasn't due to power. He broke ribs among other injuries when his DA crank snapped. The other two were at cyclocross races. Which, I have also seen one of the old SRAM RED 10 speed crank where the crank spider was molded into the crank arm break along with a couple of Easton pedal inserts pop out. The difference is SRAM still sent out a new crank even though it was YEARS past warranty and being used for racing and Easton will send a crank arm if you have the original receipt/order. 

 

Somebody linked the ThanksShimano Instagram account which has tons of failures. Or must Searching Shimano crank failure will get you lots of pictures. The same search with other brands doesn't give quite the same results. 

 

It's widespread. I have personally seen three. One was a guy who lives on my street. It definitely wasn't due to power. He broke ribs among other injuries when his DA crank snapped. The other two were at cyclocross races. Which, I have also seen one of the old SRAM RED 10 speed crank where the crank spider was molded into the crank arm break along with a couple of Easton pedal inserts pop out. The difference is SRAM still sent out a new crank even though it was YEARS past warranty and being used for racing and Easton will send a crank arm if you have the original receipt/order. 

 

Somebody linked the ThanksShimano Instagram account which has tons of failures. Or must Searching Shimano crank failure will get you lots of pictures. The same search with other brands doesn't give quite the same results. 

 

See my earlier post with my comment about anecdotes. However, if I'd seen THREE such failures, then yeah, that'd be enough to convince me to never run such a crankset. 😱

 

Heck, I've seen ONE broken crankarm on a White Industries crankset, and I still think of it each time I see WI.

 

See my earlier post with my comment about anecdotes. However, if I'd seen THREE such failures, then yeah, that'd be enough to convince me to never run such a crankset. 😱

 

Heck, I've seen ONE broken crankarm on a White Industries crankset, and I still think of it each time I see WI.

They can't figure out how to make a power meter either. Even after buying Pioneer's IP! It will be a long time before I own another Shimano crank.