No confidence in shop-am I overreacting?

[Melalvai]

The Bike League's Smart Cycling program teaches the ABC Quick Check:
Air, Brakes Cranks & chain, QUICK release levers, CHECK shifting & function with a short ride.

I do this every morning before I get on my bike. I turn the pedals backwards, stopping every quarter-turn to give them a wiggle. I stand on the left side of the bike to do this so I might not notice if it was the right crank that was loose.

Does anyone know, would this routine detect a loose crank? Eden mentioned that there was no warning before her crank fell off. So that got me to wondering if I'm safe from this happening because of my ABC Quick Check habit.

[Eden]

The right side crank is integrated into the spider that holds the big ring on and the axle (on my Shimano cranks at least). Being all one piece I don't think that it's possible for the right side to pull off the way the left can.

I didn't notice anything amiss before I pulled the crank off - no funny noises, no slipping. I don't think that it simply loosened up though. I think it was installed improperly in the first place... The mechanic that worked on it started saying something about how many bikes had it been on, it was just moved around too much and the bolt holes had stripped.... um no.... that was the original frame it came on and I think it had only been off once maybe twice when I'd had the bottom bracket overhauled... If the bolt holes were stripped well...

[smilingcat]

I'm sorry to hear of your accident in your race. I wish you speedy recovery and I hope your bike is okay too.

you can't strip that bolt on the crank arm. You would need to be a 500 pound gorilla or use an impact wrench. Regular bike shop would have neither.

I wonder if there is some weakness in the design as well. I've had my crank come loose on SRAM force. I do my own wrenching and I tightened down that bolt super tight. Last time it came loose, I ended up using a very small drop of lock-tight, the kind you can break loose as an added precaution. Granted, I'm no where as strong as a regular sized men, so my super tight may only be so so tight to an average guy.

[Melalvai]

You would need to be a 500 pound gorilla or use an impact wrench. Regular bike shop would have neither.

You mean not all bike shops stock a 500 pound gorilla? I guess we're just lucky.

[ny biker]

If a crank came off my bike three days after I bought it, I would absolutely take the bike back to the shop and make them fix it.

If I had a series of problems with mechanical work done by my LBS, I would talk to the manager about it, and if he did not respond appropriately I would escalate it to the owners. Even if I never return to that shop again, they need to know that their sloppy work is endangering their customers.

The people who run my LBS put a premium on customer service. It's the reason I travel 20 miles to their shop, passing plenty of other shops along the way. A few years back their mechanic broke my front derailleur while adjusting it. It was a Tiagra that never worked right, so there was probably metal fatigue from too many adjustments. But the mechanic apologized and replaced it for free -- with an Ultegra.

[westtexas]

Dogmama - I am very sorry for your troubles. You can come to my shop out here anytime. It may be a small town in BFE west Texas, but they do a good job. I watched them build my bike, so I know it was done right. And I second what everyone said about choose your mechanic, not your shop. Luckily in my case, both are good - although I trust one of the wrenches in the back infinitely more than the others. Luckily all are supervised by a guy who's been in the game longer than I've been alive, so I am always confident with their work.

I have nothing else to add except I understand your frustration and to invite you to west Texas anytime

[pll]

Dogmama: The bad service is alarming. Find a good bike shop and mechanic and please have them reassemble the bike. A bolt in the crank arm might have been lose, but they might have overtightened others and that could be problematic with carbon bikes.

[Dogmama]

I didn't notice anything amiss before I pulled the crank off - no funny noises, no slipping. I don't think that it simply loosened up though. I think it was installed improperly in the first place...

That's my story exactly. No warning. Do you have a cotter pin holding it in place? The shop manager said that was part left out of mine. If the cotter pin had been in place, the cap (or whatever) may have come loose but the cotter pin would be the saving grace to keep the crank on.

What makes me crazy is - this ain't rocket science but sure spells bad consequences for sloppy workmanship - as you found out. Sorry about your spill!