>cranks. These are all _different_ cranks (takes a while for the
>_entire_ page to load) not just Campagnolo cranks. And all cranks can
>fail; I have seen STEEL cranks that have failed.
>
>My advice would be to treat you bike like it was an airplane. Visually
>check the parts regularly and keep your bike clean so you can do this
>efficiently.
>
>Regards,
>Chuck Schmidt
Good advice. Let me share a little trick I learned from my vintage motorcycle buddies, if you want to find fatigue cracks and stress fractures that you never knew you had. Park your bike in the garage/basement/whatever at night and turn of all the lights. Then look at your bike up close from front to back with a small, bright, focused flashlight. This forces your eyes and your brain to focus on just a few inches at a time.
With the overhead lights on, your eyes can look for cracks around your bottom bracket, but your brain is too busy admiring your Super Record crankset. Also, fine hairline cracks that are invisible with diffused overhead lights or in bright daylight show up easily when it's dark and you're looking with a small flashlight. This also causes your iris to contract, which gives your eyes sharper and more acute focus (just like stopping down a camera lens).
Turn off the lights. Turn on the flashlight. Discover a whole new world (of stress fractures).
Herb Langston
Evanston, IL