(you can skip the first paragraph if you want to go straight to my question)
my bike came with an FSA gossamer pro BB30 crank/chainrings and a shimano 105 front derailleur. it's had persistent front shifting issues since i bought it, and until now i (and others, including mechanics) have just chalked it up to poor FD adjustment, shifting under load, etc. but i knew there had to be something else going on. when downshifting from big to small ring, the chain would get stuck, come around the back, and slam into the back of the FD. i went through three FDs this way. today, my LBS finally decided i needed new chainrings. they swapped them out (along with the FD, which was bent to heck once again) for new FSA rings and the shifting is now perfect. better than it's ever been going up and down.

so here's my question. i have about 6000 miles on this bike/crank/chainrings, including indoor and outdoor miles. i lube the chain regularly and change it when it's worn. i thought chainrings lasted a long time. are the FSA chainrings just so crappy that they wear out after 6000 miles, or is it likely there was something wrong with them when i bought the bike - especially considering that even then it never shifted as well as i expected it to?

i dont think the gossamer are the higher end cranks,i think they are low to mid grade from ive seen

Sounds to me like the big ring was damaged (bent tooth most likely). You don't get chain suck in 6000 miles unless you are some kind of quadzilla mashing up hills all day long. How many chains and cassettes have you replaced so far?

The middle chainring on our Gossamer triple crankset (on a tandem) wore out in less than 3,000 miles. No problems with shifting though. The chain just started skipping under load. The chainrings must be quite soft to wear out that fast.

Sounds about right. FSA chainrings are pretty soft aluminum. They're pretty much a low/mid OEM crank so there shouldn't be a huge expectation, especially if you look at BB30 and the next step up is S900 or Force in the SRAM line.

Would have to see a pic as to whether it was shark finned or not to say for sure tho.

Think price point.

Got exactly the same issue on my 2009 Giant Defy 1. FSA Gossamer triple up front, all 105 otherwise. Bent tooth and shearing rivets on the middle ring after less than 3000 mi. Replaced it with a 105 middle ring. Looks a little funky (is grey not black like the big & small rings) but rides great.

Sounds like the FSA Gossamer is not very resilient.

My 39 tooth middle ring on my Gossamer started skipping at 16,000 miles. And 90+% of the time I'm on that ring. Changed it again after another 15,000 miles even though it wasn't skipping. I'm not especially strong of leg, though.

I had an FSA Gossamer chainset,but it was the ISIS one not the hollowtech.Anyway it wasn't good,it was very flexy.I changed it for a 105 5600 which is much stiffer and still going strong after 20,000 miles

I had a lot of problems my FSA crankset. I ended up replacing that with an Ultegra 6600 triple and bottom bracket. I now have no problems.

I had an FSA Gossamer double on my Novara Element. I got the bike used, so I don't know how many miles it already had (but it came with Kenda tires, which often come stock on Novaras). After I put about 4,000 miles on the bike, I had to replace both chain rings.

I have the FSA SL-K MegaExo on by 2007 Specialized Tarmac and had the same issues within a few hundred miles. It wasn't until they took the chainrings off and ground them down that my issue was resolved.