bigern11
08-02-2008, 06:16 PM
Greetings! I'm relatively new to this forum, but have an issue with a 2 year old Dura-Ace Crank. But first some background.
In April I replaced the OEM bearings and cups with ceramic bearings and OEM cups. Within a few weeks I noticed a mild clunking feel/noise in the left pedal, but attributed the mild annoyance to, what I thought was, dirty cleat/pedals. Cleaning the cleats and pedals seemed to help.
The other day I'm out of the saddle pedaling up a hill and I feel a definite clunk on the downstroke of the right crank arm. Back home I check to see if anything is loose and grab the crank arms with both hands to check for bearing play. Everything seems normal. Then, with the crank arms parallel to the ground, I reach through the rear wheel with my right hand to grab the pedal and with my left hand on the other pedal, I move my hands up and down and notice some play. I loosen the two pinch bolts(bolts and nut seemed tight), tighten the lock nut and re-tighten the bolts. Play still there.
I then remove the bearing cups and find that the right side bearing is toast(after less than 1000 miles). Well at least I've found the problem, right? Wrong! I put the OEM cups back in and the play is still there. I've even used a pair of channel locks on that plastic wrench to make sure the fixing nut is pushing the left side crank arm in far enough and I'm sure I'm exceeding the recommended torque for the the pinch bolts, but the problem persists.
My local wrench says that it sounds like bearing wear, but what are the odds that two sets of bearings have worn out in less than 1000 and 3000 miles respectively? To me if feels like the left crank arm is moving on the shaft, as if the splines on the crank arm are worn.
Has anyone else had this problem. Thanks for your help.
In April I replaced the OEM bearings and cups with ceramic bearings and OEM cups. Within a few weeks I noticed a mild clunking feel/noise in the left pedal, but attributed the mild annoyance to, what I thought was, dirty cleat/pedals. Cleaning the cleats and pedals seemed to help.
The other day I'm out of the saddle pedaling up a hill and I feel a definite clunk on the downstroke of the right crank arm. Back home I check to see if anything is loose and grab the crank arms with both hands to check for bearing play. Everything seems normal. Then, with the crank arms parallel to the ground, I reach through the rear wheel with my right hand to grab the pedal and with my left hand on the other pedal, I move my hands up and down and notice some play. I loosen the two pinch bolts(bolts and nut seemed tight), tighten the lock nut and re-tighten the bolts. Play still there.
I then remove the bearing cups and find that the right side bearing is toast(after less than 1000 miles). Well at least I've found the problem, right? Wrong! I put the OEM cups back in and the play is still there. I've even used a pair of channel locks on that plastic wrench to make sure the fixing nut is pushing the left side crank arm in far enough and I'm sure I'm exceeding the recommended torque for the the pinch bolts, but the problem persists.
My local wrench says that it sounds like bearing wear, but what are the odds that two sets of bearings have worn out in less than 1000 and 3000 miles respectively? To me if feels like the left crank arm is moving on the shaft, as if the splines on the crank arm are worn.
Has anyone else had this problem. Thanks for your help.