SRAM Omnium snapped....for the 2nd time!

My SRAM Omnium crank snapped on Friday (see pics attached). I wasn't even going for it, just gently ascending a small hill. This is the second time Omniums have snapped on me and I suffered some injuries to my hand. I was literally one second away from being involved in a collision with a van which probably would have inflicted a life changing injury to me at best.

I am now giving up on Omniums, they are not fit for purpose in the slightest. Can anyone recommend a different type of fixed wheel crank that will not crack so easily and significantly endanger life?

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What's going on there with one side being black and the other white?

The black side has been broken for a while and has oxidised/gotten grubby, the silver side was holding together until it went exposing fresh metal.

Yeah, just that the whole thing is black. I'd have thought it might've been noticeable long before that stage. Like movement, flex, squeaks, etc. What's the scoring on the front side? Where the pedal tore out?

to be honest andel track cranks are fine and are a fraction of the price. if you wanted something better maybe go for dura ace?

I’d have maybe thought that too but bottom line of course is they shouldn’t have snapped at all.

I’ve seen burrs like that on the front cranks quite often, think it’s just from tightening the pedal up against the crank innit? I wouldn’t be surprised if they are where the cracks have propagated from in this case, ie it makes a good case for using pedal washers.

I've snapped a set in the same spot before, drive side at the pedal. Google image search comes up with others at that spot too.

Well yeah, but then is it design fault, production fault, user error? Given there seems to be a lot of them - are these super common cranks and it's just normal numbers? Are they all faulty and this should be a recall situation? Is it a certain year/model that's failing more often? All that good stuff.

I didn’t realise that it was a common occurrence.

Probably a combination of things,

1 - usage being outwith design. They have a rep as being a burly crank, maybe their aesthetic design and premium price point are causing a false inflation of this? They probably appeal to the kind of rider that’ll give them a hard life?

2 - maybe there’s something about the thread that makes them particularly susceptible to damage in that area. I’m sure mine came with a set of pedal washers, not every crankset does.

As for a recall, unlikely I suspect.

This is our box of cracked miche cranks from the bikes at work, Miche rep says this many failures are all user error.

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I've only ever got pedal washers with my Quarq powermeter cranks. But then I don't tend to run carbon cranks - most of my cranks are aluminium and presumably don't need the washer protection so much.

Were they all installed by you? :D

Someone needs a torque wrench, stat! :D

sram innit.

I've never had any problems with sugino rd2 cranks or sugino 75 that I installed without torque wrench.
Surely a manufacturer defect.

I’ve certainly checked the crank bolts were tight on them all several (hundred) times probably but don’t think that has anything to do with the cracks, they are all cracked on the web between the crank arm and spider.

IIRC that was a common thing on here years ago. More common than Omnium failures. I owned a set myself but that bike didn't get much use and I'd sold it all off before coming to the UK.

Mollema.mp4

There's also thousands of Omnium owners that haven't had any issues. Not saying this is the case for every failure but if you overtighten your pedals, let corrosion through and don't feel play or hear creaks because your drivetrain is caked in dirt anyway you are more likely to expose yourself to catastrophic failure.

because your drivetrain is caked in dirt

Nah, the dirt is what holds stuff together. Wash your bikes at your own peril!

Omniums more susceptible to impact damage and pedal strike maybe? A lot of other track cranks bulge out around the pedal threads, whereas omniums are straight.

I am now giving up on Omniums

So have Sram; they aren't being made any more.
I've done many miles on Dura Ace and Sugino 75 without issue but then so have many people on Omniums....

I would have noticed if there were any visual signs of a break large enough to let dirt in to this extent before total failure occurred. The dirt is from the crank arm being exposed to the road following my fall.

I would have noticed if there were any visual signs of a break large enough to let dirt in to this extent before total failure occurred. The dirt is from the crank arm being exposed to the road following my fall.

no not by me, they were installed professionally by the shop where the cranks were bought.

Why doesn't anyone make steel cranks? I've done a pretty extensive search and most cranks (even the ones at £300 - £400) are made from aluminium. Surely steel would not be susceptible to this kind of 'shear' failure?