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The bsa broke about 2/3rds of the way down, just above the pedal thread. I felt a twisting motionwhen pedaling, got off the bike and it had started to split/tear across the width of the crank. The pair I have on my Paragon now seem solid though...(famous last words!) I forgot, my RRA crank did the exact same. They were famous for breaking though it seems. Maybe I'm doing something wrong...
jeff80-
I seem to remember that Chater crank I mentioned had broken in a similar place to your BSA - it wasn't on the pedal thread, which seems more common with ali cranks.
I've got an ancient BSA fluted crank in use - I will give it a very careful examination.
Very few old steel cranks are getting any serious use these days, so it's hard to know whether breakages would be frequent if they had more use. My policy will be to trust to luck - and careful inspection !
clubman
It must be really bad luck to break BSA cranks - where did they break?
That broken Chater crank was shown to me by an ancient bike shop owner, and his take on it was that he was really surprised it had happened.
I doubt if these breakages are really a feature of age - quite often it happens with relatively new kit. As for abuse,the most likely problem is hitting a kerb or falling off, in which case the crank will usually be bent and should have been disgarded. I suppose it's always possible some one may have straightened a bent crank and left it weakened, but it will take a lot to persuade me that steel cranks are not safer than ali.