Shimano chainset recall 2023

It's a chunk of metal that is supposed to take serious abuse.

Heh, until we decided they all need to be hollow!

Thanks Cannondale etc

And 105

Do we know what the deal is for workshops? Is it being made worthwhile for them to do the checks?

Related, Madison sent an email saying shimano, not retailers, would be legally liable for cranks that didn’t show signs of damage now but fail in the future.

I'm booked in at Balfe's in Dulwich next Friday for an inspection, last time I rode that bike it was quite creaky...

UK government department has published a safety report on the recalled cranks that seems to up Shimano's legal exposure

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/products/shimano-at-risk-of-lawsuits-over-cranks-after-uk-government-report

I had some cranks separate before and I know it happened to a lot of people, but has anyone actually ever been injured as a result of this?

If you read the article about it…

“The USCPSC says the incidents have resulted in six injuries, “including bone fractures, joint displacement and lacerations.”

I mean, statistically, surely as they produced hundreds of thousands of them. If your cranks separate as you’re giving it some beans, you loose balance and a car is coming the other way…

I'm trying to get my head around this mess. The bit which fails first is the glue. It happens in older, heavily used cranksets. Maybe Shimano knows why, but they're not saying. It might be corrosion and/or the atmosphere at factories in far east climates. After the glue comes unstuck the aluminium drive side arm has to bear a much higher load than it was designed for, so it gradually weakens and loosens and eventually snaps.

If Shimano says your crankset might be affected, but it hasn't snapped yet, you don't automatically get a replacement. First a bike shop is supposed to inspect it. We don't know what they're supposed to look for. Perhaps they give it a wiggle to see if the glue has failed? And perhaps Shimano believes that if the glue hasn't failed yet, it never will? Or it will fail in such small numbers that they don't care about the legal and reputational repercussions?

Lawyers and regulators think that every vulnerable crankset should be replaced. In other words, a full recall, as seen in other industries.

Shimano is being obstinate and arrogant and incurring the wrath of dealers and distributors. Could this go all the way to a humiliating climbdown and televised tearful apology from the big boss? It's still a family business. Four of the top people are Shimanos. The family owns 11% of the shares. Not the sort of thing associated with progressive corporate governance.

Shimano has 50% of the world's component business, and 70% of the high end. But the Covid boom is over. Component manufacturers' revenues for 2023 will be 25-30% down. The market is oversupplied. Disgruntled Shimano buyers have other options. Maybe this will be a turning point, with Shimano' s monopoly being slowly lost to the likes of L-Twoo.

Sources:
https://road.cc/content/feature/investigating-shimanos-snapping-cranksets-304173
https://road.cc/content/news/solicitors-view-shimano-cranks-roadcc-podcast-304479
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4572435-shimano-bike-component-monopoly-at-an-attractive-price
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2023/08/11/cycle-industrys-collapse-after-bike-boom-ends-this-year-say-analysts/?sh=7c3efbab66d9
https://road.cc/content/tech-news/budget-groupset-going-take-over-shimano-di2-300065

The guy behind Swift Cycles (Jon Reid) is one of the founders of Fairlight fwiw

It's an issue that's been going on like ten years with various road ht2 cranks. Shimano warranty occasionally have done then when under the 2 or 3 year 105 or ult limit. But can tell you now, retailers regardless if being the original seller get £0 for the labour, postage or dealing with customers, always been a gripe that they just leave you hanging out to dry. Especially with shimano steps products, e6100 being an absolute shit show of a product.

Cheers, I was aware but am down the track with Muswell Hill Bikes now, popped in earlier on to chase up and they tell me they are looking into it... still not holding out much hope I haven't missed out on getting them sorted, but time will tell!

I'm trying to get my head around this mess. The bit which fails first is the glue. It happens in older, heavily used cranksets. Maybe Shimano knows why, but they're not saying. It might be corrosion and/or the atmosphere at factories in far east climates.

i'm sure i read somewhere that part of the reason for the failure was due to water ingress through the unsealed hollow axle, which then causes internal corrosion.
seemingly part of the fix on newer hollowtech cranksets is that there is now a plastic bung in the axle.
don't know how much truth there is in any of that though...
i'll try and find a link.

link

We don't know what they're supposed to look for.

We do as bike shops like Mapdec have scanned Shimano docs and have filmed inspections and what they have to look for on Youtube.

Peak Torque video from 2020; in his opinion a combination of hot humid air being sealed in the cranks in the factory as parts are sandwiched together, then water condensing as cranks exposed to cold coupled with tiny gaps between sections as adhesive fails also causing capillary action and pulling surface moisture in making corrosion even worse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj__lexd_BI

I had a plan to mod some 7900 downtube shifters to 11-speed and run 9000 like on this bike:

https://www.cxmagazine.com/breadwinner-cyclocross-builds-nahbs-2014

However, haven't seen a chainset come up with numbers outside the recall. It would be pretty daft to buy used cranks with serial numbers affected by the recall wouldn't it? Be interested to know what others make of the situation, as it writes off second hand groupsets of that vintage

I dropped my bike off at Balfe's on Friday evening and got a call back today. "Crankset is fine, you're good to go"

I challenged and said I'd experienced a fair bit of creaking over past few months, even after a full rebuild and new BB, response on the phone was: "oh. In that case we'll take a really good look tomorrow and get back to you..."

I.e., the quick inspection by the newbie didn’t raise any concerns, but if we remember and have time tomorrow we’ll have a seasoned mechanic look at it for an additional few seconds to confirm that we don’t have to do anything more for you for free.

Exactly this. They called back and said it all looks fine, feel free to come back in 6 months and we can take another look 🙄

Sounds like that service is worth what you paid for it :)

Fair. I get this is a pain in the arse for bike shops, is there another option though? Shimano certified/approved place that will do a paid (and presumably more thorough) inspection?

What are you looking for? If your crank isn't visibly coming apart, they won't swap it for you. You'll be able to see for yourself if it is. They won't be doing any testing on it, only looking at it the same way you can

What are you looking for?

For Shimano to stop being cunts and just replace them all. But that ain't gonna happen so I'm just clutching at straws and having a moan.

Did they remove it and take the rings off and clean everything? That's what they're supposed to do. Shimano has even given them 10 pages of instructions just for the cleaning. It's all in this Mapdec video which dubtap referred to https://youtu.be/HZLc3Ml4TXQ?si=wS6oIbstesAI50bg&t=352

How long does the inspecti0n take, and how much does the shop get paid for it?