HollowTech II Failure
04-25-17 | 07:13 AM
#1
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Noob
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 76
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From: Essex, UK
Bikes: Specialized Rockhopper Expert Disc 2009, Ridgeback Nemesis (Afine 8) 2011
HollowTech II Failure
I've had a hollowtech 2 failure on my commuter bike (Alfine 8) that I couldn't seem to find anyone else has had (and therefore no way to fix)
The drive side arm has become detached from the spindle. I've tried to show in this gif what's happened:
I also got some metal bits out of the centre of the spindle which I expect were important:
The tension cap was done up hand tight and I used a torque wrench on the pinch bolts. Bike hasn't taken any abuse from my knowledge, but has been parked at the side of the road from time to time.
It seemed to just progressively get worse, there wasn't one incident that seemed to cause it.
Anyway, just thought I'd document this in case someone searches for other failures.
The drive side arm has become detached from the spindle. I've tried to show in this gif what's happened:
I also got some metal bits out of the centre of the spindle which I expect were important:
The tension cap was done up hand tight and I used a torque wrench on the pinch bolts. Bike hasn't taken any abuse from my knowledge, but has been parked at the side of the road from time to time.
It seemed to just progressively get worse, there wasn't one incident that seemed to cause it.
Anyway, just thought I'd document this in case someone searches for other failures.
04-25-17 | 07:17 AM
#2
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 19,381
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From: Rochester, NY
Bikes: Stewart S&S coupled sport tourer, Stewart Sunday light, Stewart Commuting, Stewart Touring, Co Motion Tandem, Stewart 3-Spd, Stewart Track, Fuji Finest, Mongoose Tomac ATB, GT Bravado ATB, JCP Folder, Stewart 650B ATB
I've seen this before a few times with different brands of two piece cranks. I would not worry about future ones having this problem as it's not common at all. Andy
04-25-17 | 07:41 AM
#3
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Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 1,697
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From: New Jersey
To add to what Andy said:
Even if it is out of it's warranty period (2 years for components that aren't Dura Ace/XTR), you may want to contact Shimano. If it is within that time span, they will certainly replace it.
Press fit interfaces like that are a very uncommon failure, and they would certainly like to have the part back to evaluate it.
Even if it is out of it's warranty period (2 years for components that aren't Dura Ace/XTR), you may want to contact Shimano. If it is within that time span, they will certainly replace it.
Press fit interfaces like that are a very uncommon failure, and they would certainly like to have the part back to evaluate it.
04-25-17 | 08:24 AM
#5
Thread Starter
Noob
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 76
Likes: 1
From: Essex, UK
Bikes: Specialized Rockhopper Expert Disc 2009, Ridgeback Nemesis (Afine 8) 2011
It's an Alfine single speed part, FC-S500, and it's about 6 years old now. Still just about available for sale so I bought another one and I've already swapped it over.
I did manage to get another couple of weeks out of it by tightening the crap out of it with the tension cap to take some of the play out of it. I've chucked it on ebay uk for a fiver to see if anyone wants the other bits.
I've got 3 bikes with hollowtech and the system has been bullet proof until this failure. I got the bike second hand 3 years ago.
Funnily enough, the play was only back and forth, it seems to have an internal keyway so it can't rotate, even with this failure.
I did manage to get another couple of weeks out of it by tightening the crap out of it with the tension cap to take some of the play out of it. I've chucked it on ebay uk for a fiver to see if anyone wants the other bits.
I've got 3 bikes with hollowtech and the system has been bullet proof until this failure. I got the bike second hand 3 years ago.
Funnily enough, the play was only back and forth, it seems to have an internal keyway so it can't rotate, even with this failure.
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