Advocacy & Safety - Bicycles Recalled by Trek Due to Fall Hazard

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 27, 2011
Release #12-024

Firm's Recall Hotline: (800) 373-4594
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908
HC Media Contact: (613) 957-2983

Bicycles Recalled by Trek Due to Fall Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Name of product: Trek 2012 FX and District bicycles

Units: About 27,000

Importer: Trek Bicycle Corporation, of Waterloo, Wisc.

Hazard: The bolt that secures the seat saddle clamp to the seat post can break posing a fall hazard.

Incidents/Injuries: Trek has received four reports of incidents with one injury involving a broken tooth and lip injury.

Description: The bicycles affected by this recall include the following models:

Model Year 2012: Trek 7.2 FX, 7.3 FX, 7.4 FX, AND 7.5 FX; District, and 9th District bicycle models: WSD, Livestrong and Disc models. The model name is found on the bicycle's frame.

Consumers can determine the model year by looking at the SKU number stamped on the bottom bracket, which is found near the pedals. If the last two digits of the SKU are 12, the bicycle is a Model Year 2012 bicycle.

Sold at: Specialty bicycle retailers nationwide between May 2011 and September 2011 for between $550 and $1,100.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should stop riding the bicycles immediately and contact an authorized Trek dealer for a free replacement bolt.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Trek at 800-373-4594 between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. CT Monday through Friday or visit the company's website at www.trekbikes.com

Note: Health Canada's press release is available at http://cpsr-rspc.hc-sc.gc.ca/PR-RP/recall-retrait-eng.jsp?re_id=1440

To see this recall on CPSC's web site, including pictures of the recalled products, please go to: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12024.html

Gee, I wonder how they could screw up something as simple as getting a halfway decent grade of bolt.


Manufactured in: China

Never mind.

At a safety conference a few years ago, I talked to a gentleman who presented on fastener safety. When you think of the bolts, nuts, pins, etc. that are used to hold together aircraft, construction equipment, critical systems, etc., you can see that reliability is a huge factor. Anyway, he presented on the massive fastener counterfeiting issue. Do a Google search and you will be amazed at how many off-spec fasteners find their way into the market.

I would bet that Trek had good specs for these bolts; however they got a batch that just did not live up to it. Counterfeit? There is a good chance of it.

-G

At a safety conference a few years ago, I talked to a gentleman who presented on fastener safety. When you think of the bolts, nuts, pins, etc. that are used to hold together aircraft, construction equipment, critical systems, etc., you can see that reliability is a huge factor. Anyway, he presented on the massive fastener counterfeiting issue. Do a Google search and you will be amazed at how many off-spec fasteners find their way into the market.

I would bet that Trek had good specs for these bolts; however they got a batch that just did not live up to it. Counterfeit? There is a good chance of it.

-G

Want to bet that those fasteners are standard on X-Mart bikes?
I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a recall on those.

Gee, I wonder how they could screw up something as simple as getting a halfway decent grade of bolt.

Never mind.

Bigot.

Gee, I wonder how they could screw up something as simple as getting a halfway decent grade of bolt.



Never mind.

+1 The only fasteners I have ever rejected at work have been manufactured in a large asian country.

+1 The only fasteners I have ever rejected at work have been manufactured in a large asian country.

Exactly, I was was about ready to say, "I wonder where THOSE BOLTS come from?" :innocent:

Gee, I wonder how they could screw up something as simple as getting a halfway decent grade of bolt.



Never mind.

+1

Bigot.

Several things come to mind from seeing this reply.

1. At first it does seem emotionally bigoted, against Chinese manufacturing as a whole.:eek:
2. At the same time, is this the first incident out China concerning Trek bikes?:rolleyes:
3. Considering that Trek is having all or some parts of their bikes built in China, does Trek allow the Chinese facility to be run like a 'sweat' shop, or do they keep a tight rein on the facility to insure product quality?:rolleyes:

Exactly, I was was about ready to say, "I wonder where THOSE BOLTS come from?" :innocent:

More important, who specified these bolts? I bet it wasn't someone in China.

There is often a big difference between specification, the test sample sent and then the actual product shipped. This is why periodic spot checking of components MUST be done.

On another note, one of the many factors contributing to the speed at which the Titanic sank was due to the builders stepping down a grade in the rivets used, to save money.

Several things come to mind from seeing this reply.

1. At first it does seem emotionally bigoted, against Chinese manufacturing as a whole.:eek:
2. At the same time, is this the first incident out China concerning Trek bikes?:rolleyes:
3. Considering that Trek is having all or some parts of their bikes built in China, does Trek allow the Chinese facility to be run like a 'sweat' shop, or do they keep a tight rein on the facility to insure product quality?:rolleyes:

2. Is this the first incident of a recall for Trek or any other bike manufacturer? Were there recalls based on Taiwan manufactured parts? USA manufactured parts?
3. Do they keep as tight a reign on their facilities in the US and Taiwan, as they do with their Chinese vendors?

And I'll toss out #4:

4. Is this a part Trek spec'd or is this a part spec'd by the vendor who sold them the seatpost...?

(^^^ not that this absolves Trek of responsibility, which they are taking, but certainly another way things could have gone wrong in this case.)

Well, I also didn't think Specialized brake assemblies could disengage and get into the wheel.

I'm glad Trek is taking care of this, but it sounds like just a bad batch. 4 complaints out of 27,000 bikes probably equates to maybe 100 bolts, most of them holding up. I wouldn't blame this on trek, they just got a bad batch. It happens, and 4 out of 27,000 isn't bad.

Bad parts have crashed more than one plane. Sh*t happens. Best we can hope for is it doesn't happen to us.

Several things come to mind from seeing this reply.

1. At first it does seem emotionally bigoted, against Chinese manufacturing as a whole.:eek:
2. At the same time, is this the first incident out China concerning Trek bikes?:rolleyes:
3. Considering that Trek is having all or some parts of their bikes built in China, does Trek allow the Chinese facility to be run like a 'sweat' shop, or do they keep a tight rein on the facility to insure product quality?:rolleyes:

Yes, because the Chinese are known for their ethical business practices. They would NEVER cut corners to increase profit at the risk of safety....oh, wait, didn't a bunch of pets die because melamine was added to food to cheaply increase protein content? Haven't kids' toys been found to have lead paint, or be made out of cadmium.

It's not bigoted to question the quality of Chinese manufactured goods. It doesn't mean one doesn't like Chinese people.

A guy on reddit forwarded me the tsb for this. If you have one of these bikes (my wife does), you can check the seat clamp bolt (the one that holds the clamp together that in turn holds the rails for the saddle). Down in the allen key socket on the bolt, there's a little stamp mark. If that stamp mark has a ring around it, you're fine. If not, it needs to be replaced.

Here's an image of the two bolts:

http://imgur.com/ULIPI

I received my recall letter yesterday. Bought a 2012 7.5 FX in June.

Yes, because the Chinese are known for their ethical business practices. They would NEVER cut corners to increase profit at the risk of safety....oh, wait, didn't a bunch of pets die because melamine was added to food to cheaply increase protein content? Haven't kids' toys been found to have lead paint, or be made out of cadmium.

It's not bigoted to question the quality of Chinese manufactured goods. It doesn't mean one doesn't like Chinese people.

US companies are also known to cut corners to increase profit at the risk of safety. In fact, specifically in the case of lead paint, it was the US producer (Mattel) who apologized to China for the whole brouhaha -- Mattel production managers here in the USA were paying more attention to the bottom line than to the product spec's.

Yes, bigotry toward China tends to be reflexive and unexamined. Expect more of it in the future. Remember when Michiganders were sledge-hammering Japanese cars and Japanese made bikes were cheap and shoddy? Now Japan builds cars here in the US and their frame makers are the stuff of legend...