|   just when i thought everything was going well!............. | marco righetti
Jan 29, 2003 1:04 PM | | I haven't tested them yet but i took the ti axles from the wellgo ti-mag pedals and had them machined to fit the standard eggbeaters with the result of 210 grms/pair and it cost me £20 and the only drawback was the shorter axle length which means that the inside of my shoes are rubbing against the crank arms but thats not such a big deal but what is a big deal is when i fitted the eggs onto the crank arms i noticed that the raceface signature ti bb lockrings where a bit loose so i took the bike to my lbs and the guy tried to take the FSA crankarms from the bb in a standard way and managed to strip the crankarm threads i know the guy well and he didn't do anything different which means that we can only assume that the fsa aluminium is too soft! because the bb axle is ti plenty of copper grease was used before installation so without getting dramatic it seems to me to be another questionable FSA quality problem,i gave up after the second fsa extreme ti bb failed and this is my second fsa carbon chainset oohhh why cant components function properly!
maybe there is a case for sticking with shimano!
anyway the chainset with attached rf ti bb is on its way back to FSA we shall see! |
| Marco, Did they use the FSA bolts to extract them or a | DIRT BOY
Jan 29, 2003 1:32 PM | | Crank extractor?
This happened to me! I managed to get the bolt out and bought a Crank removal tool to get the arm off. I use the same BB, RF Ti.
Where they installed right? The special washer was under the bolt correct? If not then they will never come off and maybe the extra force they applied stripped them by accident. That happened to my last XTR. What a waste. Shimano could not even drill the bolt out to save the arm...
I called FSA and they said that all new Carbon Cranks were being shipped with Steel Self-Extracting bolts instead of the Aluminum ones that come with them. They mentioned the Aluminum was too soft and bolts could be stripped easily. They also said never use Self-Extracting bolts to remove your cranks!
I never had a problem using my Truvativ Bolts to do the same thing.
Freshwood e-mailed me and sent me new Steel Extracting bolts. Thanks Freshwood!
When I called they also sent me new bolts bu they were the old QR-2A SE Bolts that they were not using anymore. So I got 2 pairs for my troubles. Thanks again FSA!!
Now this is were I will FSA is giving the Monkey business to everyone.
1. My cranks came straight from FSA after they started supposedly to ship with steel ones.
2. If Self-Extracting bolts are not made for this purpose then why sell them? The said use ONLY a tool to remove cranks not the bolts!
I have never had a problem using Shimano or Truvativ bolts to remove crank arms that were installed properly.
Sometimes I wonder about these guys..
FYI- I love my carbon cranks though...SWEET!!!
DIRT BOY |
| hey dirtboy first of all thanks for warning me about............ | marco righetti
Jan 29, 2003 2:12 PM | | the alloy bolts i was just about to order FSA alloy bolts as i felt that the rf steel bolts where to heavy i would now stick to the rf steel bolts (even although i got an e-mail from FSA yesterday saying that they make an alloy bolt to fit the rf ti axle! ie they never recommended that i shouldn't get the alloy bolts!)anyway when i said that the threads had stripped i didn't mean the bolt threads i meant the inside of the centre of the chainset ie where the crankarms fit into the chainset spider thats the thread which has stripped,the crank bolts come out no problem and an extractor tool was used to try to take the crankarms away from the bb.
dirtboy do you think that the problem could lie with the interface between the 2 different metals ie ti bb axle and alu crankarms?
as i said above copper grease was used to prevent seizure between ti and alu.
I also love the fsa carbon chainset but i just dont want anymore problems! and i never seemed to get any problems with the xtr chainset and that 2003 xtr chainset/bb combo is almost as light as the fsa carbon/rf ti bb combo! |
| I don't know about that. I use the same copper grease | DIRT BOY
Jan 29, 2003 2:45 PM | | with no problems.
I never had a problem using other bolts with the Ti RF. The FSA and Truvativ (which I am using now) work fine.
I am starting to wonder about getting the XTR myself. Even with the Extralite rings it's not thatmuch heavier, will shift better, no ISIS problems or FSA workmanship. Hmmm...
DIRT BOY |
| Comedy.... | Tim in Wi
Jan 29, 2003 8:26 PM | | .... "never use self-extracting bolts to remove your cranks"
Then what the hell are they for???
Thats just pure mechanical ineptness for ANYONE in the bike industry to say such a thing, much less from a crank maker who specs such bolts on their product. The entire idea of the self-extracting bolt is that it would EXTRACT the arm by it's SELF. No puller needed. If FSA cant make a freakin bolt to do the job, then dont even make it with self extractor rings or at least dont call it that.
Jeeze, I would definately put the blame on FSA in this one.
NKT |
| you know Tim in Wi you're right!!!!!!!!!!!!..................... | marco righetti
Jan 30, 2003 3:53 AM | | why produce a self extracting bolt if you are not allowed to self extract!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
come on FSA whats going on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Interesting. What needed to be changed on the axle to make it | JIT
Jan 29, 2003 1:34 PM | | work with an Eggbeater? Thats funny, the thing I disliked most about the Eggbeaters is that they were too wide with no lateral cleat adjustment possible unlike Shimano and most others. I do have both of those pedals right now along with some Corratecs Ive been testing out. Im trying to find the perfect light pedal. The perfect pedal is probably the 959 or the really 737, but neither would be considered real light. Maybe I'll have to try that Frankenstein pedal with the Wellgo spindle and the Eggbeater.
The Corratecs seem pretty good and weigh 240 grams I think. The entry is a bit odd and sticky. Exit is excellent. They seem to have some "roll" to the cleat allowing your foot to rock on the pedal. |
| JIT, How about 959's with Action Tec Ti Spindes? (nm) | DIRT BOY
Jan 29, 2003 1:43 PM | | |
| JIT i took the wellgo ti axles to the machinist along with...... | marco righetti
Jan 29, 2003 1:52 PM | | the eggbeater axle and asked the guy to machine the ti axle to the same spec as the eggs but to leave the screw end bit on the ti axle alone as the egg body is kept attached to the ti axle via a nut as opposed to the screw which goes into the end of the egg axle,when i assembled it it felt a bit stiff and lumpy and i think it was due to the nut rubbing against the circlip thing which keeps the sealed cartridge bearing in place in the eggs so i went back and asked the guy to take 1.5 mm off the ledge bit under the screw bit and it is much better now but it is still a bit stiff but perhaps it might loosen after a few rides (I hope)but taking that 1.5 mm off means that the pedals are even shorter and i cant test them until i get the FSA situation sorted. ( I hope that the above makes sense its hard to explain without getting bogged down!) |
| DIRT BOY is right - bummer about your cranks :( | spinjunkie
Jan 29, 2003 4:40 PM | | Ya always gots to use the crank tool. Why didnt the shop have one?
How much longer can FSA produce marginal stuff and get away with it? IMO they are throwing stuff out there before it's tested - just my opinion.
As far as crank and bb choices, does anyone else feel like it's getting thin out there? Shimano, Truvativ, Race Face and FSA seem to be the only companies that are really chasing/making cranksets anymore. Sure it was easy for a lot of machine shops to churn out square-taper stuff back in the day, and just about all of them have fallen by the wayside with the inception of Octalink and ISIS. I guess they didn't want to pay the Octalink dues and a few of them dried up before ISIS arrived...My question is if you don't want to use Octalink, your choices get limited pretty quickly. ISIS has had it's ups and downs as we all know, hopefully Truvativ's Giga-pipe will pan out. I'm using Truvative for next year and my race season will depend on their durability.
Love 'em or hate 'em - you gotta admit - the evil "S" churns out a few good designs (bb's, cranks, front derailleurs, pedals - top my list).
Hope everything works out for you, Marco. |
| how long was your crank installed on your BB? I'm | ol-crank®
Jan 29, 2003 6:34 PM | | using the FSA square tapered on an old Ritchey ti BB and am worried that the ti spindle/axle might weld itself to the aluminum in the crankarm. I take it apart often and put a bit of ti lube on it. I sure don't have to worry about the XTR on my other bike, with an xtr or dura ace BB, and avitar spider and any 64/104 rings it's light and bulletproof for my light xc riding. |
| Yip the big S does make some great componentry... | malcolm
Jan 29, 2003 10:20 PM | | and you dont hear to many negatives only from people that bag it because they are so dominant in the market.Sure they do things to make them selves incompatible with others but they can afford to-And going by FSAs attempts I can now see why.
They probably spend more on R&D than some competitor companies turn over.XTR was 4x years in the making so they dont release anything until its well proven.Also, yes bad luck Marco- get the XTR cranks-mine are sweet.
Malc. |
| ol-crank the rf ti bb was installed 3 months ago............ | marco righetti
Jan 30, 2003 3:49 AM | | and so far it seems to be ok the lockrings loosening i would imagine would be quite normal especially when it was only installed 3 months ago,if i was to get the 2003 xtr chainset because of FSA i would be really mad to have to sell the rf ti bb! |
| FSA seems to have some problems | Jaybo
Jan 30, 2003 12:24 PM | | I don't know that you have to stick with Shimano (I do because I like flawless drivetrain's), but FSA seems to have some issues. They push the envelope of weight loss, but some have great luck with them. I avoid sucy frilly stuff. |
| i REALLY dont know why people still buy fsa parts (or crap) nm | stump
Jan 30, 2003 1:37 PM | | |
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