Catastrophic failure Campy record cranks

[rwsh]

My 3-year old Campy Record alloy crank arm (non drive side) snapped last week and dumped me hard on the road. Admittedly I am 178 pounds and a high-gear rider, often out of the saddle but their margin of error should be able to handle that !!!!

I remain convinced that the bike community's/industry's current obsession with weight is arguably coming at a high price. I hear/read of multiple component failures (cranks/stems/seat-posts/bars/bottom brackets/chains/wheel-rims) that would have happened much less frequently some years ago. Retro-grouch over.

Campy is apparently planning to replace the whole crankset rather than just the left crank arm as was an original possibility. However they are doing this only under a 3-year warranty; I have no idea what they might have otherwise.

Two questions on which I shall be grateful for advice:

1) What are other riders’ experiences in the last five years of so with failed cranks. Which brands? Which material? Any follow-up?
2) If lack of catastrophic failure is to be my absolute #1 priority (at the expense of weight, looks, cost and crash-resistance if necessary), should I replace the Campy alloy cranks or should I consider moving to carbon (either Campy or FSA?).

Thanks for any help. William Hudson. San Antonio.

 

[Adam-from-SLO]

Two questions on which I shall be grateful for advice:

1) What are other riders’ experiences in the last five years of so with failed cranks. Which brands? Which material? Any follow-up?
2) If lack of catastrophic failure is to be my absolute #1 priority (at the expense of weight, looks, cost and crash-resistance if necessary), should I replace the Campy alloy cranks or should I consider moving to carbon (either Campy or FSA?).

Thanks for any help. William Hudson. San Antonio.

Sorry to hear about your Campy non-drive crank snapping on you (can you tell me which level of Campy it was - Chorus, etc. ??).

I've used two sets of Campy Record 9spd Cranks in the last 8 years. One pair has approx. 16+K miles , the other pair has about 13K miles - both with no problems. However, I weigh 155 pounds (but my thighs weight 50 lbs each - not .

You could go with a 9spd/10spd Dura-Ace /Isis BB on a Campy drive train... it shouldnt hurt anything. Campy's first Carbon crankset- 2001 ? - was quickly discontinued for the new version- multi directional Carbon - which looks solid.

One last word, if you take a look at the MTB industry- they just recently are going with a X-Type BB , that has the bearings on the outer part of the shell- towards the outer part of the BB shell - that is directly in line with the Crank - which in turn creates a SUPER stiff BB area ....... less stress on the BB bearings , and overall looks like a super design ! Looks like the Isis thing will be taking a back seat. The square tappered spindle , still the "norm" across the board / MTB/Road/ etc. ........ not so sure that will ever go out of style/ production.

Hope this helps.

 

[froque]

Can you post pictures please?

 

[Scarpelli]

A teammate of mine also broke an older Campy Record carbon crank, and on the non-drive side, so that makes at least two! It dumped him over the bars. I use a newer Record carbon crank, and I have confidence in it.

 

[boudreaux]

Sorry to hear about your Campy non-drive crank snapping on you (can you tell me which level of Campy it was - Chorus, etc. ??).

I've used two sets of Campy Record 9spd Cranks in the last 8 years. One pair has approx. 16+K miles , the other pair has about 13K miles - both with no problems. However, I weigh 155 pounds (but my thighs weight 50 lbs each - not .

You could go with a 9spd/10spd Dura-Ace /Isis BB on a Campy drive train... it shouldnt hurt anything. Campy's first Carbon crankset- 2001 ? - was quickly discontinued for the new version- multi directional Carbon - which looks solid.

One last word, if you take a look at the MTB industry- they just recently are going with a X-Type BB , that has the bearings on the outer part of the shell- towards the outer part of the BB shell - that is directly in line with the Crank - which in turn creates a SUPER stiff BB area ....... less stress on the BB bearings , and overall looks like a super design ! Looks like the Isis thing will be taking a back seat. The square tappered spindle , still the "norm" across the board / MTB/Road/ etc. ........ not so sure that will ever go out of style/ production.

Hope this helps.

Don't you know how to read? And nonsense.

 

[boudreaux]

My 3-year old Campy Record alloy crank arm (non drive side) snapped last week and dumped me hard on the road. Admittedly I am 178 pounds and a high-gear rider, often out of the saddle but their margin of error should be able to handle that !!!!

I remain convinced that the bike community's/industry's current obsession with weight is arguably coming at a high price. I hear/read of multiple component failures (cranks/stems/seat-posts/bars/bottom brackets/chains/wheel-rims) that would have happened much less frequently some years ago. Retro-grouch over.

Campy is apparently planning to replace the whole crankset rather than just the left crank arm as was an original possibility. However they are doing this only under a 3-year warranty; I have no idea what they might have otherwise.

Two questions on which I shall be grateful for advice:

1) What are other riders’ experiences in the last five years of so with failed cranks. Which brands? Which material? Any follow-up?
2) If lack of catastrophic failure is to be my absolute #1 priority (at the expense of weight, looks, cost and crash-resistance if necessary), should I replace the Campy alloy cranks or should I consider moving to carbon (either Campy or FSA?).

Thanks for any help. William Hudson. San Antonio.

Find something else to worry about or go live in a cave. Stuff happens.

 

[rwsh]

Thanks for your answers. Will try and post pics. if I can figure it out. I suggest Boudreaux ceases abusive replies or gets a life !!!!!

 

[boudreaux]

Thanks for your answers. Will try and post pics. if I can figure it out. I suggest Boudreaux ceases abusive replies or gets a life !!!!!

Get in line. WTF do you think these chuckleheads are gong to do with pictures,use them for buttwipe?

 

[strummer_fan]

Thanks for your answers. Will try and post pics. if I can figure it out. I suggest Boudreaux ceases abusive replies or gets a life !!!!!

I can't believe that you broke the alloy cranks. These same cranks are the choice of some serious riders / sprinters like Tom Boonen, because of their durability and stiffness.

I am in shock. (But not as much as you probably were when you got up off the ground and saw the crank still connected to your shoe.)

 

[PeterF]

My 3-year old Campy Record alloy crank arm (non drive side) snapped last week and dumped me hard on the road. Admittedly I am 178 pounds and a high-gear rider, often out of the saddle but their margin of error should be able to handle that !!!!

I remain convinced that the bike community's/industry's current obsession with weight is arguably coming at a high price. I hear/read of multiple component failures (cranks/stems/seat-posts/bars/bottom brackets/chains/wheel-rims) that would have happened much less frequently some years ago. Retro-grouch over.

Campy is apparently planning to replace the whole crankset rather than just the left crank arm as was an original possibility. However they are doing this only under a 3-year warranty; I have no idea what they might have otherwise.

Two questions on which I shall be grateful for advice:

1) What are other riders’ experiences in the last five years of so with failed cranks. Which brands? Which material? Any follow-up?
2) If lack of catastrophic failure is to be my absolute #1 priority (at the expense of weight, looks, cost and crash-resistance if necessary), should I replace the Campy alloy cranks or should I consider moving to carbon (either Campy or FSA?).

Thanks for any help. William Hudson. San Antonio.

Had you ever had a crash with those cranks before? Something that could have caused a hairline crack. Campy Record alloy cranks are not really super lightweight by today's standard and they are used by some pretty powerful pro sprinters (Cipollini, Boonen, Backstedt to name a few).

 

[Adam-from-SLO]

Don't you know how to read? And nonsense.

Sorry dude... it passed right by my eyes it was so fast
I usually capitalize Record- so it stands out.

BTW, I'm gonna start calling you Grumpy

 

[meb]

My 3-year old Campy Record alloy crank arm (non drive side) snapped last week and dumped me hard on the road. Admittedly I am 178 pounds and a high-gear rider, often out of the saddle but their margin of error should be able to handle that !!!!

I remain convinced that the bike community's/industry's current obsession with weight is arguably coming at a high price. I hear/read of multiple component failures (cranks/stems/seat-posts/bars/bottom brackets/chains/wheel-rims) that would have happened much less frequently some years ago. Retro-grouch over.

Campy is apparently planning to replace the whole crankset rather than just the left crank arm as was an original possibility. However they are doing this only under a 3-year warranty; I have no idea what they might have otherwise.

Two questions on which I shall be grateful for advice:

1) What are other riders’ experiences in the last five years of so with failed cranks. Which brands? Which material? Any follow-up?
2) If lack of catastrophic failure is to be my absolute #1 priority (at the expense of weight, looks, cost and crash-resistance if necessary), should I replace the Campy alloy cranks or should I consider moving to carbon (either Campy or FSA?).

Thanks for any help. William Hudson. San Antonio.

Over the last 3 years I've broke 4 aluminun left cranks, Shimano, Sugino, Stronglight, Sakae.
One broken steel one-piece crank left side, unknown brand.

Three pedal axles, all steel, two were Atac, the other some unnamed made in China pedal.

1 Broken road aluminum handlebars Atac.


1 Broken chromoly chainstay, Vision recumbents.

Broken 3 rear axles, all quick release freewheel style.

Bent several rims.


Handlebar failure was the most catastrophic since I was doing 25 mph when it failed. One of the pedal failures occured while standing at speed, so that was a problem, the other two occured at slow speed.

Every time I had a crank fail I was at low speed since that is when you apply both a lot of weight at low cadence and have a lot of resistance. Rim failures weren't catastrophic. The Chainstay merely became a walk home issue as the wheel butted the frame into lockup.

 

[asgelle]

My 3-year old Campy Record alloy crank arm (non drive side) snapped last week and dumped me hard on the road. Admittedly I am 178 pounds and a high-gear rider, often out of the saddle but their margin of error should be able to handle that !!!!

I remain convinced that the bike community's/industry's current obsession with weight is arguably coming at a high price. I hear/read of multiple component failures (cranks/stems/seat-posts/bars/bottom brackets/chains/wheel-rims) that would have happened much less frequently some years ago. Retro-grouch over.

Campy is apparently planning to replace the whole crankset rather than just the left crank arm as was an original possibility. However they are doing this only under a 3-year warranty; I have no idea what they might have otherwise.

Two questions on which I shall be grateful for advice:

1) What are other riders’ experiences in the last five years of so with failed cranks. Which brands? Which material? Any follow-up?
2) If lack of catastrophic failure is to be my absolute #1 priority (at the expense of weight, looks, cost and crash-resistance if necessary), should I replace the Campy alloy cranks or should I consider moving to carbon (either Campy or FSA?).

Thanks for any help. William Hudson. San Antonio.

http://pardo.net/pardo/bike/pic/fail/000.html

 

[supergrill]

Over the last 3 years I've broke 4 aluminun left cranks, Shimano, Sugino, Stronglight, Sakae.
One broken steel one-piece crank left side, unknown brand.

Three pedal axles, all steel, two were Atac, the other some unnamed made in China pedal.

1 Broken road aluminum handlebars Atac.


1 Broken chromoly chainstay, Vision recumbents.

Broken 3 rear axles, all quick release freewheel style.

Bent several rims.

WTF!!
You're sure as hell not borrowing any of my rides!!

 

[Slider77]

...
One last word, if you take a look at the MTB industry- they just recently are going with a X-Type BB , that has the bearings on the outer part of the shell- towards the outer part of the BB shell - that is directly in line with the Crank - which in turn creates a SUPER stiff BB area ....... less stress on the BB bearings , and overall looks like a super design ! .....

One thing that I have often wondered about with the new external bearing designs is: that while I agree that it can result in stiffer performance and reduced stress on the BB bearings, doesn't this design with the outboard bearings put a lot more stress on the frame's BB shell particuarly at the threaded edges?

 

[Catabolic_Jones]

I busted my drive-side Campy Mirage crank right off in the middle of a busy intersection. Luckily, I didn't go down, but scrambling across the pavement with the crank scraping on the ground every time I kicked on the ground was sure "funny."

I think I must have cracked it in an earlier crash and not noticed; I'm not the sort to deliver astounding wattages, being a climber.

 

[artmichalek]

Get in line. WTF do you think these chuckleheads are gong to do with pictures,use them for buttwipe?

Just because you wouldn't know what you're looking at doesn't mean the rest of us wouldn't.

There's a good picture of a broken Super Record crank here:
http://www.campyonly.com/images/mystuff/bianchi/Dscn2422_640.jpg
The large black areas indicate that the crank had probably been cracked for a few months before it finally broke. The dark gray bands show a few thousand cycles of propagation, probably from the ride leading up to the failure. The additional blackening around the edges would lead one to believe that they propagated along a surface crack.
Conclusion: Cranks don't fail catastrophically, they fatigue over time. And none of them will last forever. Keep your cranks clean and look out for any cracks or scratches.

 

[boudreaux]

Conclusion: Cranks don't fail catastrophically, they fatigue over time. And none of them will last forever. Keep your cranks clean and look out for any cracks or scratches.

They can if there is a materials or manufacturing defect.....But you are right. His were 3 years old and should have been tossed at 2 years or 2000mi, whichever comes first.

 

[artmichalek]

They can if there is a materials or manufacturing defect.....But you are right. His were 3 years old and should have been tossed at 2 years or 2000mi, whichever comes first.

For someone who likes to tell people to learn how to read, you don't seem to have gotten the hang of it yourself. Go look up the propper deffinition of catastrophic. It reffers to single cycle failure. Unless your cranks shatter the first time you turn them over, this isn't the case. The point is that lightweight parts fatigue. That is, they fail over time. This can be accelerated by defects, crashes, or corrosive environments, but the mechanism of failure is always the same. I don't know where you dreamed up this "2 years or 2000mi" nonsense.

 

[boudreaux]

For someone who likes to tell people to learn how to read, you don't seem to have gotten the hang of it yourself. Go look up the propper deffinition of catastrophic. It reffers to single cycle failure. Unless your cranks shatter the first time you turn them over, this isn't the case. The point is that lightweight parts fatigue. That is, they fail over time. This can be accelerated by defects, crashes, or corrosive environments, but the mechanism of failure is always the same. I don't know where you dreamed up this "2 years or 2000mi" nonsense.

Guess it depends on which definition one uses. There is nothing particularly lightweight about current Record cranks,and they don't have a known history.Easier to suspect a materials or manufacturing defect,than fatigue in this case.