Cautionary tale for Hollowtech II Crank owners

[matthew_h]

After irrepairably damaging my second pair of Saint cranks yesterday I thought I would share with you some advice.

Make sure your pinch bolts are done up nice and tight.

I have no lost two left hand cranks through the pinch bolts coming loose with the upshot being that the slines in the crank arm are destroyed and you needing a new crank.

I even tightened them yesterday in case. Trouble was they must have already slipped slightly meaning that they were not fully home.

So, more frequently that you would expect, I would recommend checking that that they the left hand arm is preloaded correctly and that the two pinch bolts are done up tight enough.

[Trooper2]

From my experience as a bicycle technician for 15 years, crank pinch bolts have to be treated with Loc-tite. It needs to be applied every time you reinstall the cranks, as the one time you forget you'll have striped splines.