I have an Ultegra crankset with a Giant power meter, two letter code on the crank arm is TC, so it’s not included the in the recall. Does anyone know if/how Shimano changed its manufacturing for these cranksets, presumably for those produced after the recalled models?
Luckily, I’d seen so many Shimano cranks break that I long ago decided Ultegra/Dura Ace weren’t suitable for ultra or gravel racing/riding. I’ve only got one Ultregra crankset that was on a used bike when I purchased.
Well, maybe not so lucky since I guess some of these folks will be getting a free replacement crankset?
But the really unlucky riders are the ones who bring in a dodgy crank only to be told there is no sign of delamination so put it on your bike & keep riding it! 
If it hasn’t broken in half a decade, it’s super safe!
But not everyone has access to an x-ray machine and can do eddy current tests.
Shimano should say: ‘We screwed up! We cut some corners and it resulted in a long term fail for us. We are always in debt to you, the riders and mechanics that work on our products. We hope by replacing every existing crankset, we can gain your trust and respect.’.
As if that would happen.
I have two bikes with that crankset: One really looks contagious. I wouldn’t want to be the person that had to tell a customer that their ragged and contagious looking crankset was ‘totally fine’.
But good on Shimano for appearing to do something for its users. Waiting to have to take them in, and see what happens…
Ive got one of these broken. Mine began as a crack, but was hard to identify where it was. In fact i replaced the bottom bracket thinking that would fix it, it even confused the LBS. After that i kept riding for quite awhile, continued to hear the sound at a specific part of my pedal stroke. Finally identified the crack, soent $300 to replace it. Im wondering if Shimano will reimburse me for that expense. I still have the broken one and receipt.
I’d expect you could trade the broken one in for a new one. But I doubt they’ll cut you a check for the replacement. Do the trade-in and ebay it?
Watched Hambini’s video about it.
Interesting to me was that Shimano only issued the recall because US consumer protection made them. Also he expects them to get sued over it, because they knew about the issue for a decade and just kept selling the things.
Also as practical takeways - the reason for the failure is corrosion. If you live somewhere dry, you’re less likely to have seen it fail. If you live somewhere wet, or especially ride on wet, salted roads, you’re more likely to have issues.
On the two cranks I’ve experienced this failure they were both gradual - creaking initially and then visible flexing under load. I can only assume those who’s failed when sprinting etc. had not noticed this initial separation occuring.
Well, that should be a clear case that would pass inspection! Ha! I say take it in and replace it.
It’s a good point to consider, though, after half a decade many, many cranks have already broken and been tossed in the trash. So I guess Shimano are off the hook for those. Most failures will be infant mortality & if you’re crank was going to fail, it probably already did.
So Shimano probably figure, ‘Might as well admit it now. Most of the liability is past.’
Is Hambini making that claim? If so, I don’t think he understands the meaning of the phrase “voluntary recall”.
Knowledge of the issue does not necessarily equate to negligence. Again, look at the numbers - 0.5% reported failure rate. Of those reported failures, only 6 have resulted in injuries. Someone will undoubtedly file a suit at some point, but that doesn’t mean that it will succeed or that there was negligence on Shimano’s part.
Hambini is a huckster and sensationalist who needs to inflame people for clicks.
If corrosion is part of the root cause then wouldn’t think it would be a case of “infant mortality”, they’ll fail as and when they’ve had enough mileage and exposure to the elements and that could take years. FWIW mine failed after 4 years and ~30,000 miles. And also failed halfway through the first winter when I was taking that bike out in cold and wet conditions on roads that had been salted. For the previous 3 years that bike had stayed inside when the weather was bad and I used my winter bike, but my winter bike died during the covid period when it was almost impossible to get parts/bikes and so my “nice” bike started going out in all weathers. I guess it’s not a coincidence that the crankset failed a few months later! If I’d carried on only using that bike in nice weather those cranks might still be going strong, but would still be prone to fail if or when they started getting used in winter.
Yeah, @cartsman’s post highlights an issue I have with the recall process. They are going to inspect cranks for signs of current failure, which is great……but since corrosion seems to be the cause, the inspection does nothing to assess the chances of future failures.
As I said earlier, it may also lead to a false sense of security for consumers who think their cranks are now OK indefinitely because they have been checked.
It really behooves people to pay attention to the warning signs listed…creaking sounds from the BB, sense of flex in the cranks, etc. it does not seem like there are many, if any acute, catastrophic failures, so the warning signs are there.
Did you toss it, or do you still have it hanging around for replacement? If you tossed it, then Shimano thank you for your cooperation! ;-D
The vast majority of these instances will fall into two of three cases…either there is no observable delamination on the crank and shimano don’t replace it, or the crank broke years ago, got thrown away, and shimano won’t replace it. So the risk to Shimano is minimal, which is also their judgement, which is why they’re coming clean about it after all these years.
Also, I’m saying this has been a known issue for a long time, anyhow. It’s been tribal knowledge in the old school gravel scene that ultegra/dura ace cranks weren’t gravel rated. So, I mean, kinda this whole recall is closing the barn door after ole paint has already bolted. So if anybody has that broken ultegra crank hanging around, they should definitely try to make Shimano replace it. Shimano deserve that, at least.
Curious if you had been experiencing any of the warning signs…creaking, etc.
Let us know how the replacement process goes.
To start off this is a gravel bike and it has a 1x chainring on it - just throwing that disclosure out there.
To get to your questions, not at all did I experience any of the signs they are referring to and the bike is crazy silent. I can dish out over 1200w sprints and have done so on this bike many times for racing catching a gap etc.
Im pretty shocked honestly.
Took it back to the LBS I bought it from, they spoke to Shimano and had me a brand new crankset about a week later despite the fact it was lockdown and everything was sold out everywhere. No complaints about how they handled it, and this was 2020 so the replacement I was given isn’t included in the recall and is hopefully ok.
Maybe that means it was still in the very early stages of failure? Dunno….lots of unanswered questions still.
Glad you caught it before it failed, though!
Can you highlight the delamination in this image? I don’t have a DA crank around to compare it to, but at first glance I’d have brushed this off as just the normally visible seams in the back of the crank.
Sean,
I actually took this half-awake and am now sitting here thinking about this. This is a multiple hairline crack, which when I watched the Shimano PSA video I swore it was on there but the video is private or taken down now.
I honestly don’t know if you could see this if the small ring was on the crank still.
None-the less here is a zoomed highlighted and non-highlighted version.
Can also confirm that the inspection video on Shimano’s Yourtube channel has been taken down. Interesting.