Crankset and BB Advice

[Ivan]

I am looking for some comments here... My front wheel got caught in a groove so I had a very low speed fall. My left crank became loose and I discovered stripped threads in my crank spindle, which on my SRAM Force GXP is on the expensive right crankset. I am using a SRAM Team BB (GXP). As I was one foot pedalling to get home, I sadly wondered how long his would take to get fixed and how much it would cost!!

Looking online and at the second market in my city/country I found that:
- Like many riders I liked my SRAM crank but not the SRAM Team BB. I never found it spun very smoothly when tightened and my constant fiddling with the crank may have caused the threads to weaken resulting in its early demise. I am sure some user error on my part too!
- GXP is not common at all here, a subtlety which I didn't know before. Almost all the SRAM stuff here is BB30.
- I could pickup the same SRAM force crankset brand new on eBay at good close out prices but then I think I am stuck with the GXP BB, which due to my negative experience I am not so happy about. Compatible hubs from Chris King and Hope look good but are expensive, harder to source, and I have never used them.

POSSIBLE SOLUTION:
I can buy a used DuraAce 7800 crank and DuraAce 7800 BB at a good price, both which get rave reviews. While I am not 100% happy about mixing components, since I am using SRAM brifter and FD this combination should be fine right? After getting stuck on the road this week I really want a smooth spinning crankset/BB.

I looked for Silvio 2 pics with the Ultegra or DuraAce hollowtech crankset but couldn't find any. Anyone have one?

 

[ratz]

For your weather....

For your weather and commuting load, An enduro xd might be worth it http://www.enduroforkseals.com/id332.html
The Hope is really nice too. No experience with the Chris King.

 

[Ivan]

It appears a lot of the fault

It appears a lot of the fault is mine. I had always felt my crank felt too tight and something was not quite right. Upon disassembly/reassembly I finally realized that my GXP BB cups should NOT have the spacers installed. Because of this, as another forum stated, the crank arms get stuck and don't spin easily. Thus, I had my crank molting bolt too loose so thy could soon decently. Also, because the of the extra spacers, not enough of the mounting bolt grabbed the spindle, thus explaining how the bolt sheared from such a small fall. The good thing is that the stripped threads are the bolt and not the crank spindle so it's an inexpensive replacement.

I have a Shimano crank in there now to get me back on the road while I wait for SRAM parts. This has been a good lesson for me, and now another part of my bike I understand much better.