Specialized fork recall
 

All 2012 Tarmac SL4, 2013 Tarmac SL4, 2013 Crux and 2013 Secteur
FYI:

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/articl...-models-36271/

Not all Secteurs, just the disc version.

Another fork recall? Didn't they just went through with this like last year or in 2011?

Felt did but I dont recall a big Specialized recall.......

There was a recall on some hybrid bikes late last year.

FYI, the forks had different manufacturers. Last year's was Kinesis, this one was Topkey.

It's good to get the word out, so owners know to take care of it. But otherwise, it's just business as usual.

Oh good, my '89 RockHopper is still safe.

They had a recall on Globe forks in September. Before that they had a recall on some Vita and Sirrus forks for brake studs breaking off. I think they might have had a recall on some cross bikes for the same issue, but I'm not sure.

Thank you for posting this. My front teeth appreciate it ;)

Time to call the LBS.

My LBS will have hell on their hands now. Theres a huge event down here, with over 600 riders/bikes going around the island 375miles. Bet many of the riders have bikes envolved in this recall.

would you keep riding? The event wont stop for you...

Looks like my '12 Roubaix SL3 is safe.

As with all matters like this the consumer has to read between the lines. Recalls are hugely expensive for mfr's and they only participate to skirt liability.
So you can be sure there are some failed steerers out there. Mfrs balance huge litigation costs in court for injured riders suing versus the cost of product replacement to their customers.

What is even more telling is the language used in the article. What is Specialized doing? If I read between the lines, they aren't just replacing forks. They are inspecting forks. They are likely X-raying forks in other words. Your bike shop can't do this because they don't have an X-ray machine and Specialized wants the forks sent to them to control this procedure to contain further liability for making a mistake at the bike shop level. They can be looking for a couple of things. A discernible crack. Or...most likely...looking for lay up deficiency or a deficiency in fork section which reduces strength and contributes susceptibility to failure at a known location on the fork...like where the steerer meets the fork crown or another area on the fork that has failed in the field.

Matters like this are always about cost containment....and sounds like Specialized just isn't sending out replacement forks to their customers..but rather they will be X-raying suspected forks for a design deficiency. The customer will have to decide how they feel about this.

Words quoted in the article:
Specialized estimates that the recall process will take approximately two weeks per instance. All owners of the affected bikes will receive a $100 store credit for Specialized merchandise regardless of "whether or not their bike requires a repair."


The words "whether or not their bike requires a repair" is the tip off boys and girls.

Thanks for posting OP...much appreciated even though my bike doesn't appear to be in the mix...

well, at least you can get this done now in winter and run or keep on the trainer. having to give up your bike in summer is a real pita. specialized actually kept me waiting on a part last summer for weeks and i was rather irate even if i did get some free bibs from the ordeal.

There was a recall in 2011 that involved my Sirrus. My LBS took care of it quickly. I think I had the bike back in a day or two.

Similar link: http://wemakeitsafer.com/Specialized...-359123-848026

That's because shops were sent a supply of replacement forks for the Sirrus', so they just switched the old fork for a new one. This recall involves the shop removing the fork and sending it away for analysis - it's going to take much longer. They say allow 2 weeks in the US, but there is nothing in the press release about what they're doing in Europe.

It's true that Specialized aren't doing too well here:
2011 - Sirrus and Vita forks recalled
2012 - Globe forks recalled
2013 - Tarmac, Crux, and Secteur forks recalled.

Maybe they're just adopting a more conservative approach than other manufacturers. It's certainly partly due to the size of the company - having more models and selling more of each one means that it's more likely that some problem is going to be noticed somewhere, whereas a smaller brand might not catch these problems because of far fewer units being sold.

Wow, I don't feel so bad about my pos felt fork now. It cost me less than half those broken forks.

How does a free recall that includes a $100.00 credit cost anybody anything besides some aggravation?

Was referring to the cost of the bike.

Hush money. :) For many, their confidence is shaken...if a mfr lets safety critical product out the door and into the hands of the public. Most of us know what happens if a fork fails. Unfortunately...what happens is...more than one fork fail in the field, people get hurt, manufactures find out and then the mad dash to mitigate liability aka law suits begins...how it goes. None of us want to be one the statistically rare subjects of this discovery. That said, many carbon fiber bike companies have had recalls at some level.

But lets be clear what the level is here. Specialized isn't just shipping out replacement forks as most forks are likely OK. Specialized has already determined this so they don't want to needlessly spend money and replace all questionable forks manufactured down the same assembly line during the same time frame.. An owner will have his new SL4 pride and joy tied up for a while. Bike needs to be taken to the lbs, fork removed, boxed and shipped back to Specialized where each fork will likely be X-rayed to deduce carbon layup/section integrity/any presence of cracking. A determination will be made to replace or not. This is a lot cheaper for Specialized then just sending out replacement forks which would be more expeditous for owners. But this time delay has a risk for Specialized as well in terms of time containment and/or making a misdiagnosis on a fork that is returned...once a recall is known to the public, law suits will be more prevalent. This is all part of the careful calculus.

Trek had recalls in 2011, 2009, 2008, 2006.

Giant had recalls in 2012, 2010 and 2009.

Cannondale had a big one in 2009, and a couple in 2007.

It's just what happens when you sell massive numbers of bikes.

Specialized also doesn't manufacture the forks, they're made by other companies in Taiwan. My guess is that everyone (except Giant, maybe) outsources fork manufacturing.

Does Specialized actually own any manufacturing?

Specialized is the majority owners of Merida which is the manufacture.

You sure about that? http://www.bike-eu.com/Home/General/...ed-BIK000680W/

As far as I know, Specialized has never manufactured anything and has always outsourced their production.

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.

My understanding is that other than Giant, few bike companies make their own forks, let alone their own frames.

They're still responsible for QA. In that respect, they're doing about the same job as any other big company.

It appears that the recall is not just for S-Works and Pro models. The 2013 Tarmac Expert SL4s (the same frame as the 2012's Pro) are also on the more complete list, so the recall is for ALL SL4's.