Shimano EP8 Spindle Failures and People getting injured. Where to now?

[Mrj35]

All brands of cranks are breaking them. People are getting hurt and Some of us fear riding our expensive bikes.

Well back in the early 2000's I was snapping cranks in half as well . I am curious if I will break the spindle though. I have bent the right side crank (shimano em600) once from a pretty mega pedal strike with a stump.

My bike shop said to check the crank bolt tightness every ride. I usually check most bolts before every ride. Stuff loosens up when you are charging down chunky terrain at high speeds lol

 

[Mrj35]

I came across this interesting article on Bike Radar today.

Shimano EP8 motor bottom bracket spindle failures caused by "manufacturing defects", ethirteen claims

e13 have used independent analysis to confirm that it is a design defect in the spindle and not caused by e13cranks. They shared this with Shimano who said that they were aware of 49 spindle failures and not one was associated with a Shimano crank. Shimano stated that only Shimano cranks were tested and approved for the EP8 motor.
Also, that if you have an EP8 spindle failure with a non-Shimano crank and/or have a non-Shimano crank on your unfailed EP8 spindle and are concerned, then contact the bike manufacturer. My understanding from the Bike Radar article is that Shimano are saying it is nothing to do with them.

Bike Radar also chased up some of the manufacturers that use non-Shimano cranks on EP8 motors. At the time of going to press only Commencal had replied. My reading of their response was that they were doing everything that you and I would hope. That includes replacing your e13 cranks for Shimano ones, even if you have not had a failure. Go Commencal!

https://support.ethirteen.com/hc/en...SB-156-e-spec-Shimano-alloy-crank-tech-update

This article states some reasons why their cranks potentially failed on shimano ep8 spindles.

TLDR
1. Lack of threadlocker patch. (now updated 2023)
2. Low torque spec (now updated 2023)
3. Inner seal results in false torque readings. (recommend to remove inner seal.)

 

[steve_sordy]

My post was 4th Mar'22, so it's not surprising that developments have occurred.

 

[R120]

Irrelevant of any known issues, If you ride regularly you should be checking your crank bolts (on top of everything else) pretty frequently - if you ride hard on any bike cranks will loosen up over time, and if you have a pedal strike or similar you should always check the cranks.

 

[SP5657]

I cannot get the drive side crank arm off of my Rise M10, it moves 2-3mm, but will not come off, all videos I have seen show it just comes off after removing the crank bolt and the two retainer bolts...

 

[Shjay]

Very strange won’t come off, they are basically Shimano cranks from Acoustic bike. Check bolts loosened & tab removed then may need tapping on back of crank arm with rubber mallet

 

[Bigtuna00]

I cannot get the drive side crank arm off of my Rise M10, it moves 2-3mm, but will not come off, all videos I have seen show it just comes off after removing the crank bolt and the two retainer bolts...

Are they Shimano cranks? There's a retaining clip to prevent them from falling off if loose. You have to move it out of the way: