Re: Latest Broken Crank/FSA

[raamman@gmail.com]

On Jul 8, 10:36 am, Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman
<sunsetss0...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> raam...@gmail.com who? wrote:
> > On Jul 8, 1:25 am, Jay Beattie <jbeat...@lindsayhart.com> wrote:
> >> I broke a Cannondale frame a few years ago and got a free replacement.
> >> Because I saved money on the frame, I decided to splurge on a some
> >> components, including an FSA carbon crank and an FSA Ti BB (ISIS).
> >> So, I'm riding on the coast over the holiday, and the bike is creaking
> >> like crazy -- more than the usual Cannondale creak. I pulled the BB,
> >> and the bearings were shot. I could barely turn the spindle. Jim
> >> Beam predicted the failure of the FSA Ti BB bearings, so kudos to him.
> >> In fact, that whole ISIS cartridge set-up is doomed for failure, IMO,
> >> because it does not allow for large enough bearings, enough seals,
> >> etc. Too much packed in a small space.
>
> >> Well, I returned to town and sprinted over to Universal Cycles (a net
> >> seller and LBS) on my commuter and bought a CroMo Isis BB. When I
> >> went to reinstall the left arm, I noticed that there was a crack all
> >> the way through the splined Al insert. This explained a weird "bent
> >> pedal spindle" feeling I had on the left -- the ISIS interface was
> >> opening up, and the crank was flexing. Two strikes for FSA. This was
> >> a moderate mileage bike, and the whole set-up crapped out in three
> >> years.
>
> >> So today, I bought an Ultegra Hollowtech crank on sale at Performance
> >> (also an LBS in PDX). Freaky. It takes like five minutes to install
> >> -- I hope this is not more sh** techology. I'll live with the 150
> >> gram difference. That was my eighth broken crank -- or ninth. I quit
> >> counting with the old Campy NRs. -- Jay Beattie.
>
> > why did you break so many cranks ?
>
> Doing a lot of standing while climbing would be the most likely suspect,
> as this will create the greatest bending moment relative to the minor
> axis of the crank.
>
> --
> Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
> The weather is here, wish you were beautiful
>
> --
> Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Understood, but I've never broken a crank; nor took one off and found
a crack- I do a lot of hilly rides forcing bigger gears- (it's slower
and harder, but I'm not racing)- so breaking so many cranks is very
curious to me

[Jay Beattie]

On Jul 8, 11:52 am, raam...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Jul 8, 10:36 am, Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman
>
>
>
>
>
> <sunsetss0...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > raam...@gmail.com who? wrote:
> > > On Jul 8, 1:25 am, Jay Beattie <jbeat...@lindsayhart.com> wrote:
> > >> I broke a Cannondale frame a few years ago and got a free replacement.
> > >> Because I saved money on the frame, I decided to splurge on a some
> > >> components, including an FSA carbon crank and an FSA Ti BB (ISIS).
> > >> So, I'm riding on the coast over the holiday, and the bike is creaking
> > >> like crazy -- more than the usual Cannondale creak. I pulled the BB,
> > >> and the bearings were shot. I could barely turn the spindle. Jim
> > >> Beam predicted the failure of the FSA Ti BB bearings, so kudos to him.
> > >> In fact, that whole ISIS cartridge set-up is doomed for failure, IMO,
> > >> because it does not allow for large enough bearings, enough seals,
> > >> etc. Too much packed in a small space.
>
> > >> Well, I returned to town and sprinted over to Universal Cycles (a net
> > >> seller and LBS) on my commuter and bought a CroMo Isis BB. When I
> > >> went to reinstall the left arm, I noticed that there was a crack all
> > >> the way through the splined Al insert. This explained a weird "bent
> > >> pedal spindle" feeling I had on the left -- the ISIS interface was
> > >> opening up, and the crank was flexing. Two strikes for FSA. This was
> > >> a moderate mileage bike, and the whole set-up crapped out in three
> > >> years.
>
> > >> So today, I bought an Ultegra Hollowtech crank on sale at Performance
> > >> (also an LBS in PDX). Freaky. It takes like five minutes to install
> > >> -- I hope this is not more sh** techology. I'll live with the 150
> > >> gram difference. That was my eighth broken crank -- or ninth. I quit
> > >> counting with the old Campy NRs. -- Jay Beattie.
>
> > > why did you break so many cranks ?
>
> > Doing a lot of standing while climbing would be the most likely suspect,
> > as this will create the greatest bending moment relative to the minor
> > axis of the crank.
>
> > --
> > Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
> > The weather is here, wish you were beautiful
>
> > --
> > Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com-Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> Understood, but I've never broken a crank; nor took one off and found
> a crack- I do a lot of hilly rides forcing bigger gears- (it's slower
> and harder, but I'm not racing)- so breaking so many cranks is very
> curious to me- Hide quoted text -

I have ranged between 187lbs ('70s) to an all time high of 225lbs.
I'm running between 210 and 215 these days. I climb out of the saddle
and do bend crank arms. As for the Campy cranks, they had design
flaws at the spider and the pedal eye that lead to many failures. I
think Jobst failed a dozen of these things. I broke an Ofmega track
crank that was a POS and died within months, a Stronglight that was a
million yeas old (off a '69 PX-10), a Shimano Ultegra Octalink that
could not hack the low gear climing out of the saddle while pulling my
son in a trailer (my guess). The FSA should have lasted longer. It
only had 10K miles or so -- maybe 15K, which is not a whole lot,
really. The carbon arm did not break. It was the aluminum insert at
the top of the arm with the ISIS grooves. Unless the crack migrated a
lot, the failure probably would not have been spectacular or
particularly dangerous. BTW, my crank failure history goes back to
the mid/late 70's with 20 years of off-and-on racing and lots of miles
until the 2000s when I realized I needed to mow the lawn and attend to
my family rather than piling on miles in the hopes of coming in 12th
in some Masters criterium. Oh boy, I won another box of Kettle Chips
in a prime. Woo hoo! (meanwhile, offstage, kid graduating from
highschool).-- Jay "We'll Have a Good Time Then" Beattie.

[raamman@gmail.com]

On Jul 8, 4:00 pm, Jay Beattie <jbeat...@lindsayhart.com> wrote:
> On Jul 8, 11:52 am, raam...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Jul 8, 10:36 am, Johnny Sunset aka Tom Sherman
>
> > <sunsetss0...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > raam...@gmail.com who? wrote:
> > > > On Jul 8, 1:25 am, Jay Beattie <jbeat...@lindsayhart.com> wrote:
> > > >> I broke a Cannondale frame a few years ago and got a free replacement.
> > > >> Because I saved money on the frame, I decided to splurge on a some
> > > >> components, including an FSA carbon crank and an FSA Ti BB (ISIS).
> > > >> So, I'm riding on the coast over the holiday, and the bike is creaking
> > > >> like crazy -- more than the usual Cannondale creak. I pulled the BB,
> > > >> and the bearings were shot. I could barely turn the spindle. Jim
> > > >> Beam predicted the failure of the FSA Ti BB bearings, so kudos to him.
> > > >> In fact, that whole ISIS cartridge set-up is doomed for failure, IMO,
> > > >> because it does not allow for large enough bearings, enough seals,
> > > >> etc. Too much packed in a small space.
>
> > > >> Well, I returned to town and sprinted over to Universal Cycles (a net
> > > >> seller and LBS) on my commuter and bought a CroMo Isis BB. When I
> > > >> went to reinstall the left arm, I noticed that there was a crack all
> > > >> the way through the splined Al insert. This explained a weird "bent
> > > >> pedal spindle" feeling I had on the left -- the ISIS interface was
> > > >> opening up, and the crank was flexing. Two strikes for FSA. This was
> > > >> a moderate mileage bike, and the whole set-up crapped out in three
> > > >> years.
>
> > > >> So today, I bought an Ultegra Hollowtech crank on sale at Performance
> > > >> (also an LBS in PDX). Freaky. It takes like five minutes to install
> > > >> -- I hope this is not more sh** techology. I'll live with the 150
> > > >> gram difference. That was my eighth broken crank -- or ninth. I quit
> > > >> counting with the old Campy NRs. -- Jay Beattie.
>
> > > > why did you break so many cranks ?
>
> > > Doing a lot of standing while climbing would be the most likely suspect,
> > > as this will create the greatest bending moment relative to the minor
> > > axis of the crank.
>
> > > --
> > > Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
> > > The weather is here, wish you were beautiful
>
> > > --
> > > Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com-Hidequoted text -
>
> > > - Show quoted text -
>
> > Understood, but I've never broken a crank; nor took one off and found
> > a crack- I do a lot of hilly rides forcing bigger gears- (it's slower
> > and harder, but I'm not racing)- so breaking so many cranks is very
> > curious to me- Hide quoted text -
>
> I have ranged between 187lbs ('70s) to an all time high of 225lbs.
> I'm running between 210 and 215 these days. I climb out of the saddle
> and do bend crank arms. As for the Campy cranks, they had design
> flaws at the spider and the pedal eye that lead to many failures. I
> think Jobst failed a dozen of these things. I broke an Ofmega track
> crank that was a POS and died within months, a Stronglight that was a
> million yeas old (off a '69 PX-10), a Shimano Ultegra Octalink that
> could not hack the low gear climing out of the saddle while pulling my
> son in a trailer (my guess). The FSA should have lasted longer. It
> only had 10K miles or so -- maybe 15K, which is not a whole lot,
> really. The carbon arm did not break. It was the aluminum insert at
> the top of the arm with the ISIS grooves. Unless the crack migrated a
> lot, the failure probably would not have been spectacular or
> particularly dangerous. BTW, my crank failure history goes back to
> the mid/late 70's with 20 years of off-and-on racing and lots of miles
> until the 2000s when I realized I needed to mow the lawn and attend to
> my family rather than piling on miles in the hopes of coming in 12th
> in some Masters criterium. Oh boy, I won another box of Kettle Chips
> in a prime. Woo hoo! (meanwhile, offstage, kid graduating from
> highschool).-- Jay "We'll Have a Good Time Then" Beattie.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

thank you for the followup. I fully understand the family needs as
I've 3 young-uns myself (oldest turning 5)- there's no substitute for
spending quality time.

regards

[Wayne]

> > - Show quoted text -
>
> thank you for the followup. I fully understand the family needs as
> I've 3 young-uns myself (oldest turning 5)- there's no substitute for
> spending quality time.
>
> regards

...and quantity has a quality all its own...

Wayne