Shimano recalls 760,000 cranks after reports of failures resulting in injury

Shimano has recalled 760,000 11-speed Hollowtech road cranksets across the USA and Canada in order to inspect them for signs of delamination.

The recall has been issued after a reported 4,519 incidents of cranksets separating. This has resulted in six reported injuries, “including bone fractures, joint displacement and lacerations”, according to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission.

At the moment, the recall just affects the USA and Canada, but it is expected to be extended globally - with a further announcement due to be made, by Shimano, on Thursday evening. 

All 11-speed Hollowtech II road cranksets produced between June 1, 2012 and June 30, 2019, need to be inspected, with Shimano saying that it "expects only a very small percentage of these cranksets will need to be replaced". 

The affected products are Dura-Ace and Ultegra branded cranksets with the following model numbers: Ultegra FC-6800, FC-R8000 and Dura-AceFC-9000, FC-R9100 and FC-R9100-P. Affected cranks are printed with a two letter code, you'll find the full list of these codes at the end of this story.

People with an affected crankset have been advised to contact an authorized Shimano dealer.

These were sold from January 2012 to August 2023, and covers 680,000 sold in the USA, and a further 80,000 sold in Canada.

In a statement Shimano said: "The dealer will inspect the crankset for signs of bonding separation," Shimano's statement continues. "Consumers whose cranksets show signs of bonding separation during the inspection will be provided a free replacement crankset from Shimano that the dealer will professionally install. 

"If your crankset needs replacement following the inspection, please do not use it. If a replacement crankset is temporarily unavailable, Shimano will notify you through your dealer when the replacement is ready.

"The replaced crankset will be a special version, which may feature a different cosmetic appearance while maintaining the same level of performance."

The inspections and replacement programmes will begin on October 1, 2023. 

Shimano added that "no other Shimano cranksets are affected by this voluntary inspection program".

Owners should check whether their crank arms are stamped with the following codes: KF, KG, KH, KI, KJ, KK, KL, LA, LB, LC, LD, LE, LF, LG, LH, LI, LJ, LK, LL, MA, MB, MC, MD, ME, MF, MG, MH, MI, MJ, MK, ML, NA, NB, NC, ND, NE, NF, NG, NH, NI, NJ, NK, NL, OA, OB, OC, OD, OE, OF, OG, OH, OI, OJ, OK, OL, PA, PB, PC, PD, PE, PF, PG, PH, PI, PJ, PK, PL, QA, QB, QC, QD, QE, QF, QG, QH, QI, QJ, QK, QL, RA, RB, RC, RD, RE, and RF.

More information can be found at bike.shimano.com.