Problems With New Race Crank

turbo ultrasport said:

Just bought the new Dues XC Crankset and went for a ride, had it installed at a good bike shop that seems to know what they are doing. 20 minutes into a trail ride I looked down to see what all the noise was and it looked like the chain rings were warped.

Drove it to the shop and said it was slightly loose. They said they tightened it up and used some lock tight. I have read that there have been problems with this type of crank X Type with this BB. Is there anything that I should be on the lookout for.

I also notice that it makes some light creaking noise(s) I assume this to be expected as I have never had a bike that I have riden XC that has been quiet.

I hope it works out but I wasn't very happy.

Click to expand...

I am using the Dues X-type crank on 2 of my bikes(Kona King Kikapu, Jamis Dragon) and have had not one problem with these cranks. I do own a bike shop and installed them myself, maybe the shop you went to installed them wrong. Bring to another shop and have them ckeck your crankset.

I've got the Deux X-Gen crankset on my new bike and they have been flawless so far after 3 rides, 2 of which had a lot of technical rocks and drops. I'm well into the Clydesdale class so 3 rides should do the trick if they were prone to coming loose. I do know that before they were installed that the bottom shell was well greased and then they were really cranked on hard. There is a locking nut on the drive side that should prevent them from backing out.

I had the same problem with my RF Deus...

My LBS installed the crankset, and on the second ride the drive side crank came loose. Took it back to the shop to fix it, and on the next ride it came loose again. So I tightened it beyond the MFG specs, and it's been fine since. However, I suspect the problem has to do with the installation by the LBS and maybe improper use of the spacers.

My suggestion is to either go to a LBS that is familiar with the new RF cranksets, or demand that the original LBS call RaceFace for installation advice.

When I installed my Deus, I was suprised as to how much torque was required to bottom the bolt as per installation instruction. I wouldn't be suprised at all that people that are unfamiliar with this setup just don't torque it fully. This would lead to unscrewing. My set of crank have been trouble free since day one.

On a related subject, they don't spin freely when hand spun and free of chain. They'll do about 2 turn before stopping, quite akin to a CK hub in feel, which leads me to think that the seals used in the BB assembly makes for this effect that some consider a negative trait. That leads me to think that asking this X-Type crank to spin as an internal BB might not be relevent. As long as no binding is felt. Anybody has any thoughts on that?

Not sure about the seals issue

My Deus crankset also had a lot of drag from day one of the installation. It wouldn't spin freely, and my LBS explained that the RF bottom bracket has extra seals to make it more durable. Well, the drag just got worse and worse, and the bearing finally seized on the drive side. This was after about one month of riding and no mud. The LBS replaced the bearings with XT and I'm happy to report the cranks now spin freely.