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-   -   Specialized fork recall (https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/869407-specialized-fork-recall.html)

coasting 02-12-13 07:16 AM


Originally Posted by garysol1 (Post 15205913)
The answer to the question is still the same to me. If Merida owns 49% of Specialized then I have a hard time considering that outsourcing in the truest sense but yes, I was backwards on who owns who.

Merida used to be contract manufacture for Specialized until specialized nearly went bust in the 90s. Specialized had to sell 45% of itself to Merida to stay in business because it could not pay Merida what it owed them.

RaceVW14 02-12-13 10:00 AM


Originally Posted by Chris_W (Post 15264128)
I can confirm that the fix is an insert. We already had the first 2 forks back that we had sent in, one of which had the insert added, the other not. I'll have to take a look tomorrow when I'm at work as to the details of the insert. The good news is that even with shipping from Switzerland to the Netherlands and back again, the 2 forks took less than one week.

Just before the recall announcement went out publicly, we were waiting on a bike ordered by a customer. It was delayed for an extra week due to awaiting a "security check" so it seems that even before Spec' made their press release, they were checking all forks on all new bikes before shipping them, and I believe they gave the checked bikes a small sticker on the underside of the fork. Therefore, if your new bike only just arrived at the shop then it will have been checked before being shipped to them.

the fork on my 2013 Secteur Expert Disc has the green sticker on it, not sure if it was done at the LBS or factory.

Campag4life 02-12-13 11:16 AM


Originally Posted by RaceVW14 (Post 15265008)
the fork on my 2013 Secteur Expert Disc has the green sticker on it, not sure if it was done at the LBS or factory.

Stickers aren't applied by your LBS.

RaceVW14 02-12-13 12:27 PM


Originally Posted by Campag4life (Post 15265334)
Stickers aren't applied by your LBS.

What I should have said is, the fork on my 2013 Secteur Expert Disc has the green sticker on it, not sure if the fork swap/inspection was done at the LBS or factory.

Campag4life 02-12-13 01:36 PM


Originally Posted by RaceVW14 (Post 15265568)
What I should have said is, the fork on my 2013 Secteur Expert Disc has the green sticker on it, not sure if the fork swap/inspection was done at the LBS or factory.

Will say again. Stickers to verify forks are only attached by Specialized where inspection is performed. This is the crux to the recall. Specialized reduces their liability by controlling the inspection process. This removes the variation of how well an inspection would be performed by a bike shop. Not all bikes shops are capable and Specialized knows that. Further, most bikes shops don't have X-ray machines...lol. The step to send forks back to Specialized has a cost. This is calculated. This cost is << than if a bike shop were to perform a poor inspection, falsely verified a defective fork and a field failure were to occur. Big law suits can destroy companies. A chess game.

Chris_W 02-18-13 03:17 AM

Just received two more forks back. This time both of them got the insert. One was from a bike ordered in November 2011, the other in August 2012. They may have abandoned the x-ray process and just started to put inserts into all forks, but we need more data before having any degree of certainty about it. We've been weighing forks with and without inserts, unfortunately some are different lengths, and we never weighed the same fork before and after the insert, but we estimate the extra weight of the insert to be about 10-15 grams, so no big deal. Forks that get the insert also come back with a new compression plug included since the internal diameter is greatly reduced.

Campag4life 02-18-13 06:42 AM

1 Attachment(s)

Originally Posted by Chris_W (Post 15286271)
Just received two more forks back. This time both of them got the insert. One was from a bike ordered in November 2011, the other in August 2012. They may have abandoned the x-ray process and just started to put inserts into all forks, but we need more data before having any degree of certainty about it. We've been weighing forks with and without inserts, unfortunately some are different lengths, and we never weighed the same fork before and after the insert, but we estimate the extra weight of the insert to be about 10-15 grams, so no big deal. Forks that get the insert also come back with a new compression plug included since the internal diameter is greatly reduced.

That's interesting Chris. Thanks for the insight. Sounds as though this very light 'insert' is a 'sleeve'. Since you mention that it decreases the inside diameter of the steerer thereby requiring a new expansion plug.
Could you snap a couple of pics for the future? Have you removed the expansion plug to see how its changed? The stock expansion plug...I have included a pic below...is 48mm in height. Obviously placing a sleeve inside the steerer for its entire length will reinforce the steerer. Since the weight increase is so small, sounds as though the sleeve is very thin. What do you think its made out of? Maybe a glass reinforced nylon versus carbon fiber which would be more costly?
Thanks again.
PS: Another thought is...the thin plastic sleeve aka insert maybe just lightly pressed in place. It would therefore be locked into position once the expansion plug is expanded. Its thin wall would likely deform creating a tight fit to the ID of the steerer. This approach would be simple for Specialized. They would choose an insert aka sleeve length to match the steerer tube height and wouldn't require any messy epoxy to hold it in position. What do you think?

GDawginHTown 04-02-14 12:23 PM

Bump!

I just recently bought a 2013 Secteur Sport Disc from a LBS in Houston. Should I have them verify my fork or contact Specialized?

garysol1 04-02-14 12:33 PM

If it were me I would contact Specialized directly and have your serial number ready.



Originally Posted by GDawginHTown (Post 16635423)
Bump!

I just recently bought a 2013 Secteur Sport Disc from a LBS in Houston. Should I have them verify my fork or contact Specialized?


therhodeo 04-02-14 12:55 PM


Originally Posted by garysol1 (Post 16635448)
If it were me I would contact Specialized directly and have your serial number ready.

That or ask Campag4life. He seems be all over the issue.

GDawginHTown 04-02-14 01:17 PM

Thanks all. I will contact Specialized directly. Hopefully this won't be my first and last bike.
I haven't rode a bike in 25+ years until recently but I'm really looking towards getting back to the sport.


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