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just how rubbish are FSA!?!!

ikedawilliams...

I'm guessing that the bolt you are talking about is actually the Crank arm extractor. This when undone pulls the non-driveside crank off spindle and stops the crank arm from moving when on? Its product number is M17.

Did you remove the outer ring first before unsrewing the bolt? Could you let me know the process that you used to try and remove the cranks as it sounds like that you may have been doing it the oppersite way around to what you needed to.
 
is the product supposed to be nearly twice a good? It doesn't make any sense.
Ultegra. I think it's better quality, for much less.

Did you establish whether you need Italian threads? (I know a good tailor :) )

My FSA BB and crank were horrible. Threw them away. Replaced with Ultegra. Happy camper until crash. Still happy camper as the components are undamaged and will ride again.
 
I am a beginner, and may have tried to take the crank off wrong, but watched a couple Youtube video's before hand, with different brand cranks, so I thought I had some idea of what to do. I can't really remember now whether I took the two bolts holding the crank arm on the spindle or tried undoing the one that goes into the spindle. I think I did it in that order, bolt into the spindle last. If there was one more step of removing something around the bolt that goes into the spindle, I missed that step.

I went to an LBS where I work nights last night to price an Ultegra BB, and guess what - closed. I always seem to go to LBS's on Wednesdays. They have the 2011 model of my bike and I thought they might be able to help with the thread question too. I went to another one near my home today. They are super friendly and have English speaking staff, so they get top marks for that, but they were like, um... well we need to order the part... that will take about a week... I got home and found I can get it from Amazon, likely the next day for 10% less. That is another story. They want 2,000 for installation too. If they can deal with that stripped bolt for that, all the power to them. Not happy about it taking a week though.

It is so complicated. I needed to research whether the Ultegra BB would go with FSA crank arms. Seems like, carbon = no, aluminum = yes. I have the later, so that is fine. The BB says 1.37 x 24, so that is Italian threading I suppose.

My bike is messy, so I will clean it up tonight and bring it down tomorrow. Tempted to get a new chain for the hell of it, thinking it will prevent problems in the future - probably similar quality to the BB (KMC DX10SC). All up, ouch - just checked and the chain is a hair over 4,000 on Amazon, it will be around 8,000. Wish I was spending that on something I could actually see, but I guess it is needed.
 
FSA carbon cranks are not compatible with the Shimano BB Cups..... although a rubber mallet did work wonders for mine :D although a little tight.

Basically the bolt that you stripped is actually the crank extractor tool in its own right and it doesn't actually come out of the left hand crank. It actually remains in place and as you unscrew the bolt itpushes the crank arm off the spindle.

I actually have a few spare M17 extractor bolts if you want one :D
 
Thank you very much for the offer. I might take you up on it. Thinking it might be easiest to just pay the shop this time round though. I can always go back easily if there are any issues later, and they are not asking for too much.
 
1.37x24 is ENGLISH thread NOT Italian! Italian is 36mm x24.

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The Gossamer Rd. and the Energy Rd. is compatible with the Chris King bottom bracket (made to Shimano compatible dimensions). These cranks use BB6000, this BB's dimensions are compatible with Shimano.

FSA K-Force Light Rd. Crank is not compatible with a Chris King bottom bracket (made to Shimano compatible dimensions). Also, the K-Force Rd. crankset will not be compatible either.

Dae Oh
Full Speed Ahead
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The main difference is the width of the bearing (7mm vs 6mm) - As FE said, you can use a mallet and force-tolerate the chainline / clamping offset - but it's 'not correct'.

I have to re-iterate: MOST OF THE BB ISSUES ARE RELATED TO NON-PARALLEL CUP HOLDERS. IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBT THEN GET YOUR BB SHELL PROPERLY FACED!

The factories, rarely, if ever, do final assembly finishing. Back in the <real> day, it was the 100% domain of the team mechanic to take out his / her prized set of Campagnolo machine tools and perform this set of finishing ritual. Preparing all bearing retention surfaces PERFECTLY and generally correcting ANY small alignment flaw or issue including dropout facing and alingment, rear triangle setting, etc etc ... I have seen very few mechanics (with exception of perhaps Hiroshi san and a few other Keirin trained pros) really take this to heart.

If you generally get a frame assembled direct from the factory there is a very high chance it is not prepared properly. This is exactly why high-end makers such as NPB will go to extreme efforts to cross ship their parts to specialized , skilled assemblers, to ensure a properly prepared and assembled machine.
 
So, I spent a while cleaning my bike, brought it to the shop and they were like, ah... it is the pedals, mate. Not the first time they said that. After the first time, the clicking went away. At that time it was when the non-drive side crossed between the 12 and 1:00 position. The clicking mysteriously went away for a month or so, and now it has moved to the other side, the drive side, when when the crank arm/pedal cross the same position. I know there is play both Shimano pedals, the ones people say are bombproof. If I stand my bike on it seat and hoods and flex the crank arms back and forth I can feel a little play and clicking in the bb as well. I have a stripped bolt head on a bolt, but that seems to not be an issue for now. I guess I will just keep riding it and see how bad it gets. The click seems to get worse as I ride - after the first 5 or 10kms it is more noticeable than when I start. Maybe the next time I meet up with some of you, you can take a look at it for me.

Tim, thanks for clarifying it is British threading. I researched that, but must have been tired when I typed Italian in error.
 
Sorry my friend I don'tI use the K-Force version :(

But you can do what I did..... contact FSA directly and tell them you need one ASAP for a race. They sent me3 of them in the post free of charge!
 
Almost a year since I started this thread. My mind hasn't changed on FSA. Now on the 4th BB. Keep getting them replaced under warranty but it's a hassle. The second set of crank arms also seem to be on their way out so I'll be ditching the whole FSA set up sooner rather than later.

Andy

www.jyonnobitime.com/time
 
Yep I lost the BB's ages ago and just reemed out a new Dura Ace BB to take the FSA crank axle. The Pina branded K Force cranks however are great.
 
Wow, that was a long time ago. Since then I changed to Ultegra. I actually cracked one left crank arm. But Shimano customer service is excellent. I posted the crank on Friday and received a new one on Monday.

Andy

www.jyonnobitime.com/time
 
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