Do nice bikes break more?
Riding to work this morning my left crank FALLS OFF!
I was utterly stunned. A crank falls off?
I've got a one month old Seven Sola Steel and I'm trying to put some miles on it to break it in because I'm doing a portion of the Continental Divide this summer on it. Well I sure "broke" it in. The crank falls off in the middle of a turn. It's in the street and I'm dodging cars trying to retrieve it.
The long and short of it is the threads on the inside of the crank stripped. It's one of those ill fated '04 XT integrated BB-crank "innovations". I know what "integrated" means now-- when one tiny part fails, they all fail together. When the crank comes off, the whole crankring set and BB slide right out. I'm shoving this thing back in with my right foot and shaking the left crank off while avoiding cars. Jesus! At least I could walk the rest of the way. I would have HATED for this to happen in the middle of Montana. Still, there's this great shame *pushing* a $4000 bike.
Between the Dual Control shifters/levers and this bottom bracket from hell, what's there to like from XT? I've never had anything nicer than LX in my life nor have ever had a problem with Shimano equipment. Happiness is having a good time using inexpensive (and well designed) toys. I'm not happy. Do nice bikes break more often? It just doesn't seem rational but it appears to me nicer parts have greater expectations placed upon them and their design often tries to overcome conflicting needs i.e. lightweight but strong.
(On a side note, my LBS where I got my custom nightmare is replacing the whole unit with a different bottom bracket and an '03 XT crankset and sending this thing back to Shimano. It's one of those "octalinks". I just don't trust the thing and I'm nobody's guinea pig. I'm replacing the shifter/lever pods from my own pocket since they aren't my preference.)
Chuckie