For good measure, here are some detailed shots of my R7000 cranks versus my 6800 cranks.
R7000:
6800:
Noticed some ticking sound for the past few rides, something that Iâd heard before since Iâve had two cranks crack, and lo and beholdâŚ
Approximately two years old and about 11K road miles.
My other bike, that I used exclusively on the trainer, is also starting to tickâŚso yes, Ultegra cranks = junk.
Since I purchased these from my LBS, I think theyâre going to warranty repair, but weâre in the early stagesâŚweâll see.
Just happened to me. Ultegra 6800 approx 7000km. Started with a creaking noise. Suspected bottom bracket issue so changed that. Noise gradually got worse. Changed pedals. (Last thing I suspected or expected was a crank failure). One day felt like the pedal was bent. Took it to a Trek mechanic who said âyes, seen that before, itâs commonâ. He twisted the crank arm and showed me where it was separating. Also called his junior mechanic over to show him the issue saying âsee, this is what we were talking aboutâ. So absolutely is a common problem. Dissapointing. Iâll see what recourse I have and switch to SRAM if I have no joy.
Nothing is made to last forever, especially when itâs made to be light. Also personally I donât consider a few dozen issues on the internet out of the 10s of thousands of shimano cranks out there to really be âcommonâ.
If it falls outside of the 2 year warranty period people get mad. If they extended to 5 years and it fell outside of that, people would be mad. The only solution is a lifetime warranty, which is also quite mad
I know three people on the second crank and one on his third.
Theyâre garbage.
Maybe itâs how or where they are riding, because I personally do not know a single person whoâs had the issue, everyoneâs heard of it but not had it happen. Iâll actually ask my LBS how common it is
Could you please describe the squeak? My wifeâs bike is making a noise I havenât heard before.
Dumb question: Why not?
Oh boy. This sounds eerily similar to my wifeâs bike.
Does anyone know if Is there anything I can check BEFORE catastrophic failure happens?
No expert on describing creaking noises but it wasnât that pronounced. Clearly more noticeable on climbs (when applying more pressure/force to the cranks). And possibly on each pedal revolution. I will share a couple of photos. If there is separation it should be easy to spot once you know what you are looking for.
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Hope this helps. Separation can clearly be seen. If a creaking noise is coming from your Ultegra cranks it is probably worth checking for any of this before risking riding any further. I was fortunate that nothing broke while I was standing up and pedalling. Seems to me that Shimano are playing this down. Certainly no cautionary information or media message sent out as far as I am aware. Iâd be interested to know if there have been many injuries caused as a result of this defect.
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I have read somewhere that this issue is more common in hotter and humid countries, where the humidity (water) gets in and causes the corrosion. Far less common in temperate and more northern climes. Sorry I really donât recall where I read that, but it was a pretty systematic analysis)
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Had this problem last year on a set of 6800 cranks. Four years old with >20,000 miles on them. Noticed that right hand side seemed to be flexing one day - felt like a bent pedal spindle which I had on the MTB once after a hard strike. Closer inspection turned out to be cracked. Contacted the LBS who I bought the bike from, they contacted Shimano, they shipped me a new R8000 replacement within a week despite being well beyond warranty.
Know 2 other people this has happened to with similar outcome. Does seem that failure tends to be gradual rather than catastrophic, which I guess is why they havenât done a recall. If cranks were snapping clean off with no warning signs then there would be accidents and litigation. And given their willingness to sort the issue out regardless of warranty, Iâm reasonably confident continuing to ride Shimano cranks.
Access. Access is the currency used to control reviewers. With an industry heavyweight like Shimano itâs a powerful incentive. Ever wonder why no reviewer ever breaks the embargo on pre-release equipment? They would be first & it would get a ton of eyes on their publicationâŚbut if they did it once they would lose access to that manufacturerâs pre-release equipment.
Just being honest here: I have an ultegra crankset! 
I try to inspect it before every rideâŚtwo thingsâŚ
1.) Run my finger nail along each spider arm from the center of the spider to the outside of the spider. If my fingernail catches on a big gap along the seal lineâŚprobably not a good time to ride that bike.
2.) Look on the back side of each crank arm, maybe an inch or two inches below where each pedal spindle screws into the crank arm. Look for cracks propagating from the exterior of the crank arm diagonally up towards the pedal spindle.
I believe the less you get the crankset wet the less likely it is to fail. SooooâŚif you need an excuse to not hose off your crankset here it is. I just use baby wipes on mine.
Good luck!
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Crank arm based power meters (pioneer, 4iiii, stages, etc) can be helpful in detecting cause the power it detects will be way off on the side with the crack. Though also less helpful if your crack does go bad cause even if shimano gives you a new crank for free youâre out a power meter
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Perfect! Thank you.
My Dura Ace 9000 right hand crank spider had exactly this problem a couple of weeks ago. The outer shell of the spider parted company from the inner half of the spider.
I had this happen with my 6800 series crank (4 years old), I had noticed the spider arms seemed raised relative to chainring but it did not occur to me the crankset was failing. There was a clicking noise which led me to replace the bottom bracket, change the pedals to no effect.
Another indicator was my power numbers seemed to be going backwards and I was failing even more VO2 workouts than normal (Iâve always struggled with those 120% especially the longer efforts)
Wonder if there is a correlation to cranks used on trainers in erg mode and the spiral of death?
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Nah. ERG has nothing to do with it. People thrash these in any trainer mode, and often harder in Resistance since that is the mode many choose for things like Anaerobic sprints and such.
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Couple that with the fact that I have seen these failures on plenty of bikes that never spent any time on a trainer. This has noting to do with where or how they are used.
Force is force, and bad parts will fail as a result of those forces, inside/outside/erg/resistance⌠whatever.
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This thread and some parts of the recent re-flamed disc-brake debate make one thing clear: 105 the groupset of the people wins once again!!