Continued Failure of components on Ultegra Di2 component set

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OP
OP
R

Roaders

Über Member
Ive found raising my RPM has upped my power readings . Its a very bonkers science .
Power is simply RPM*Torque in the same way that work done = force*distance. Simple Physics.
My legs work better at higher torque and lower RPM it seems. I was not good when I tried the velodrome, that is all about high RPM.
 
Location
Loch side.
Hi All

I am starting to get pretty annoyed with my bike. I am getting failures of components far too frequently in my opinion.
I've had my bike (an Enigma) about 2.5 years ago and I have done just over 12,000 miles on it. I am a heavy guy and have been between about 210 and 250lb during this time. I consider myself pretty strong and am regularly pulling over 1,000 watts when pulling away.
99% of my riding is commuting 36 miles a day through London and that involves a lot of stopping and starting at traffic lights.

In this 2.5 years I've had to replace my frame, my crankset, and both Di2 derailleurs twice.

First off in April 2016 my crankset sheared:
View attachment 349835

Then not long later my derailleur broke:

View attachment 349836

In June my frame developed a crack and I luckily managed to get it replaced on insurance (the frame manufacturer refused to replace)

View attachment 349837

My rear derailleur needed replacing in October 2016 as the springs had worn out I think.

In November my rear hub disintegrated:

View attachment 349838

In January this year I got a gold service done on the bike hoping that my bad luck would turn and that the bike would start to feel better. It had not felt right for a while with issues with the gears not feeling as good as usual.
Surprisingly not much was replaced.
A few weeks later (about 500 miles I think) I took the bike back to the shop as the chain was still slipping off the front ring.
This time they replaced:
  • rear hangar
  • rear derailleur (700 miles old)
  • rear brake pads
  • rear brake rotor
  • both chainrings
  • cassette/chain
The reason given was that the hangar had been bent and had worn out the derailleur. Also the brake pads had work through and damaged the rotor.
A few weeks and 500 miles later this happened to the small ring:
View attachment 349839

One of the bolts had come loose and the chainring then sheared and bent round so much that I could not turn the pedals without the ring scraping on the frame.

Today my second front derailleur broke in the same way that my first one did. This was 3,000 miles old.
View attachment 349840

I don't know what to do!
Some of these issues could be blamed on poor maintenance but I take my bike to shop for servicing a LOT. I clean the drivetrain pretty much every weekend.
The front derailleur shearing doesn't seem to be a maintenance issue.
I am sure that people will blame the bike shop but I have tried 3 different shops at my work and I really believe that this shop is the best and I trust the guy that looks after my bike.
For the crankset he tightened all the bolts to the specialised specified torque and applied lock tight so what else can he do?
I consider Specialised Ultegra to be a pretty premium product and I expect it to last better than this.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Has anyone seen failures like this before?

I love my bike, it really does feel fantastic but these failures are far too time consuming, frustrating and costly.

I can understand that you feel frustrated but I think you are to blame for most of these problems.

The crank shaft broke in reverse, in other words, from frequently standing on the pedals - left foot back and hopping obstables. My guess is that you are a hotfoot instead of goofy, like most of us. It is a skateboarding/snowboarding concept but it has bearing on how we stand on the pedals. In the early 1990s had an engineering failure with Octalink BBs because Shimano didn't consider the concept. Have someone help you figure out if you are (foot) biased as I think you are.

The frame. I blame you for buying titanium and thinking it is stronger than other frames. Titanium is touted as the moder metal and if you look at the lab figures for strength, it is indeed very strong. However, it doesn't fail in the two most commonly measured modes of strength namely tensile or compressive. It fail in brittle fracture, emanating from the weld. That crack is not a result of front-end collision but from your weight bending the fork forwards and frame downwards. The crack started at a stress riser under at the head tube weld. I would recommend that you are a good candidate for a carbon frame. However, even an aluminium frame would be better that a Ti one for longevity.

Your FD. In short, unsympathetic gear changes. You are attempting to change down whilst still powering the chain. You have to learn to "feather" the pedals when shifting. Just because the electric system can shift under power, it doesn't mean it is a good thing to do.

Chainring failure. Again, shifting under power. If you apply heavy force whilst shifting, you will have problems. I can see from the position of the crank that the crack developed in the region that is stressed when you push your right leg down. The chainring and FD failures are thus related. I am surprised at the size differential between big and small ring? Is that setup standard?

Hub failure. It is the inboard bearing that broke when the inner race cracked and broke in two. I can't quite explain that one other than to point out the fretting damage on the hub axle directly underneath the inboard bearing. This shows that you do apply high force to the cranks. Remember, that the axle has to resist all the chain tension and it flexes right there. I have no advice because I don't know of anyone making a hub with an oversize steel axle. I suspect 10mm steel axles won't do the job.

Your failures have nothing to do with maintenance. However, you need to attend a few equipment sympathy therapy sessions.
 
OP
OP
R

Roaders

Über Member
I can understand that you feel frustrated but I think you are to blame for most of these problems.

The crank shaft broke in reverse, in other words, from frequently standing on the pedals - left foot back and hopping obstables. My guess is that you are a hotfoot instead of goofy, like most of us. It is a skateboarding/snowboarding concept but it has bearing on how we stand on the pedals. In the early 1990s had an engineering failure with Octalink BBs because Shimano didn't consider the concept. Have someone help you figure out if you are (foot) biased as I think you are.

The frame. I blame you for buying titanium and thinking it is stronger than other frames. Titanium is touted as the moder metal and if you look at the lab figures for strength, it is indeed very strong. However, it doesn't fail in the two most commonly measured modes of strength namely tensile or compressive. It fail in brittle fracture, emanating from the weld. That crack is not a result of front-end collision but from your weight bending the fork forwards and frame downwards. The crack started at a stress riser under at the head tube weld. I would recommend that you are a good candidate for a carbon frame. However, even an aluminium frame would be better that a Ti one for longevity.

Your FD. In short, unsympathetic gear changes. You are attempting to change down whilst still powering the chain. You have to learn to "feather" the pedals when shifting. Just because the electric system can shift under power, it doesn't mean it is a good thing to do.

Chainring failure. Again, shifting under power. If you apply heavy force whilst shifting, you will have problems. I can see from the position of the crank that the crack developed in the region that is stressed when you push your right leg down. The chainring and FD failures are thus related. I am surprised at the size differential between big and small ring? Is that setup standard?

Hub failure. It is the inboard bearing that broke when the inner race cracked and broke in two. I can't quite explain that one other than to point out the fretting damage on the hub axle directly underneath the inboard bearing. This shows that you do apply high force to the cranks. Remember, that the axle has to resist all the chain tension and it flexes right there. I have no advice because I don't know of anyone making a hub with an oversize steel axle. I suspect 10mm steel axles won't do the job.

Your failures have nothing to do with maintenance. However, you need to attend a few equipment sympathy therapy sessions.

Thanks for the reply.

You are completely wrong about me "hopping" BTW - I very rarely even drop down off a kerb onto the road and when I do it I go very slowly one wheel at a time.

Since I bought the frame a few people have told me that it was the wrong choice. Unfortunately I explained exactly the riding I was going to be doing and 2 different bike shops were very happy to sell me a bike.
The reason that I went for a Ti frame is because I wanted Di2, Hydro disk brakes and a rear pannier. That does not exist on a carbon bike.
The hub failure WAS due to a lack of maintenance apparently. It's a hope hub and I've been told that they need cleaning out and re-greasing every now and then. The bike shop that regularly has the bike told me that. Apparently I need to specifically tell them to do this every few months rather than them doing as part of normal servicing.

The chainrings are perfectly normal 52-36 rings. Nothing special.
 
Location
Loch side.
Thanks for the reply.

You are completely wrong about me "hopping" BTW - I very rarely even drop down off a kerb onto the road and when I do it I go very slowly one wheel at a time.[/QUOTE]

I'll accept that. But just check with which foot forward you descend or rest. It may have bearing on the situation. It may also be that Dura Ace uses a thinner crank shaft.


Since I bought the frame a few people have told me that it was the wrong choice. Unfortunately I explained exactly the riding I was going to be doing and 2 different bike shops were very happy to sell me a bike. [/QUOTE]

You sound surprised that 2 different bike shops were prepared to sell you an expensive frame?
The reason that I went for a Ti frame is because I wanted Di2, Hydro disk brakes and a rear pannier. That does not exist on a carbon bike.
I understand that choices are limited with that setup.
Here's your next bike, just spec Di2
The hub failure WAS due to a lack of maintenance apparently. It's a hope hub and I've been told that they need cleaning out and re-greasing every now and then. The bike shop that regularly has the bike told me that. Apparently I need to specifically tell them to do this every few months rather than them doing as part of normal servicing.

That's just plain nonsense. The only maintenance that can be done on those hubs is a pawl service and bearing replacement. Whilst regularly replacing all bearings sounds like a good idea, it merely introduces new risks each time. A bearing does not crack like that from lack of maintenance. It cracks because of a fault in the bearing itself. If you still have the bits we can look at it. Dud bearings do exist as with any mass-manufactured products. Such faults show up relatively quickly during use and once they have lived a certain time, they won't fail like that but wear out. By regularly replacing them you are simply re-introducing a new risk each time.

You were just unlucky with that hub. It won't happen again.

The chainrings are perfectly normal 52-36 rings. Nothing special.

OK, it just look a bit strange but has no bearing on the issue.[/QUOTE]
 

Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
Frame aside, I have a smalller, but similar list from commensurately smaller mileage. I've gone through drive train components (but not mechs, admittedly) like nobody's business.

I'd put your experience down to a combination of heavy use, bad luck, less than obsessive maintenance, and short working life of components. I suspect Ultegra/di2 is designed with racers/Mamils in mind who will lovingly relube everything after each and every ride and replace things in short order.

How about going for a nice steel frame with hub gears like Alfine or somthing? Just a thought.
 
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OP
OP
R

Roaders

Über Member
The quoting was a bit messed up there. I don't get what you meant about my next bike...

TBH - I don't really descend or rest much. Very few hills on my route and the ones I have I pedal down. I suppose I coast up to traffic lights but that's it. When waiting at lights I always have the same foot clipped in and the the other on the road.
 
OP
OP
R

Roaders

Über Member
If its basic then why do his results differ to mine ?
The fact that a higher RPM produces higher power figures is basic physics...
 
Location
Loch side.

Cuchilo

Prize winning member X2
Location
London
I'm going to leave you to your basic but not basic physics and go and watch girls ride bikes in yorkshire :scratch:
 
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