In a message dated 5/16/2002 8:43:48 AM Eastern Daylight Time, dartley@co.ba.md.us writes:
<< I've never actually heard an account of the failure occuring until this report. Jim's crank failing at the pedal would make for a catastophic failure >>
Just for the record, in all my damn near 30 years of messing with this fancy stuff, I have never seen a Campag crank actually fail at the spider from aforementioned cracking. I have no doubts that they have crapped out somewhere, at some time, but it is hardly an epidemic.
I certainly have seen more than a few Campag cranks (and other makes as well) break ~fail at the pedal hole or just above it... In every case I have examined of the latter, there always seemed to be a "dirty" part of the fissure, where apparently a crack had previously existed and it oxidized inside itself... This leads me to theorize that the crack occurred earlier and finally "gave out". This is the area which would have (theoretically again!) received the brunt of a cornering error or crash.... So I tend to believe that these cranks are as good as any but just receive harder use and occasionally give up the ghost after brutal service, which is no dishonor in my book!!
Dale Brown
Greensboro, North Carolina