Channel 9 news - bike recall

DaveB said:

Did anyone else see the Channel 9 news about the bike
recall on brakes. I only caught part of the story.
Basically they said any new bike in the past 4 years worth
more than $2000 has a potential fault with the brakes.
They also said the fault could only be recognised by your
LBS (obviously some black art associated with this
knowledge and probably a secret handshake in there too).

"any new bike in the past 4 years worth more than $2000" is
a VERY broad statement, are you sure they said exactly that?

I just did a search on ninemsn, and couldn't find anything
under their news or ACA entries.

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Linux Registered User # 302622 <counter.li.orgcounter.li.orgOpen ↗

John Tserkezis <[email hidden]> wrote in
message [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

DaveB said:

Did anyone else see the Channel 9 news about the bike
recall on brakes. I only caught part of the story.
Basically they said any new bike in the past 4 years
worth more than $2000 has a potential fault with the
brakes. They also said the fault could only be
recognised by your LBS (obviously some black art
associated with this knowledge and probably a secret
handshake in there too).

"any new bike in the past 4 years worth more than $2000"
is a VERY broad statement, are you sure they said
exactly that?

I just did a search on ninemsn, and couldn't find
anything under their news or ACA entries.

Nothing at
recalls.gov.aurecalls last30days.cfmOpen ↗ either.

--

"I'm proud that I live in a country where witnessing two
hours of bloody, barbarous torture in gloating detail is
considered indicia of religious piety, whereas a mere second
gazing upon a woman's breast is cause for outraged
apoplexy." Betty Bowers,
bettybowers.commelgibsonpassion.htmlOpen ↗

Any mention of a manufacturer??

"DaveB" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Did anyone else see the Channel 9 news about the bike
recall on brakes. I only caught part of the story.
Basically they said any new bike in the past 4 years
worth more than $2000 has a potential fault with the
brakes. They also said the fault could only be recognised
by your LBS (obviously some black art associated with
this knowledge and probably a secret handshake in there
too). Dave B.

John Tserkezis said:

DaveB said:

Did anyone else see the Channel 9 news about the bike
recall on brakes. I only caught part of the story.
Basically they said any new bike in the past 4 years
worth more than $2000 has a potential fault with the
brakes. They also said the fault could only be
recognised by your LBS (obviously some black art
associated with this knowledge and probably a secret
handshake in there too).

"any new bike in the past 4 years worth more than $2000"
is a VERY broad statement, are you sure they said
exactly that?

I just did a search on ninemsn, and couldn't find
anything under their news or ACA entries.

Yeah they defintiely said that. It was a bit strange for a
news article, seemed more like a ACA or Today Tonight
beatup. It was saying one of the bolts holding the brakes on
was susceptible to coming loose and hence a brake failure.
They had a couple of interviews with LBS owners. I assumed
that rather than a brand of bike the problem is with a brand
of brake. But like I said they were really thin on
specifics, just saying you should go to the LBS. Dave B.

"DaveB" wrote in message

Quoted message said:

John Tserkezis said:

DaveB said:

Did anyone else see the Channel 9 news about the bike
recall on brakes. I only caught part of the story.
Basically they said any new bike in the past 4 years
worth more than $2000 has a potential fault with the
brakes. They also said the fault could only be
recognised by your LBS (obviously some black art
associated with this knowledge and probably a secret
handshake in there too).

"any new bike in the past 4 years worth more than $2000"
is a VERY broad statement, are you sure they said
exactly that?

I just did a search on ninemsn, and couldn't find
anything under their news or ACA entries.

Yeah they defintiely said that. It was a bit strange for
a news article, seemed more like a ACA or Today Tonight
beatup. It was saying one of the bolts holding the
brakes on was susceptible to coming loose and hence a
brake failure. They had a couple of interviews with LBS
owners. I assumed that rather than a brand of bike the
problem is with a brand of brake. But like I said they
were really thin on specifics, just saying you should go
to the LBS. Dave B.

Sounds like they've picked up on the quick release loosening
under heavy braking loads when using disk brakes. Which is
either a beat-up or a serious issue being ignored by the
manufacturers depending on who you talk to.

Rob

I,ve been told that a girl had an accident racing in Melbourne a few months back, and the cause had supposedly been tracked down to the bolt marrying the brakes to the fork being too small. According to my LBS, the bolt supplied by some bikes coming out of Taiwan is only long enough for the nut to pick up about 3 threads, and as any apprentice rocket scientist should know, not good. But as my LBS explained, the problem then falls into the hands of the mechanic putting the bike together. If, when installing the brake, he/she comes across the bolt in question...it is their responsibility to reject the supplied bolt and re-supply one that's a bit longer and adequelty accommodates the nut. I was told to check mine, although I know that my mech's wouldn't have passed it on if it wasn't right. I was told that they have replaced a few now.

I didn't see the thing on the tele. The '..all bikes under $2000' sounds like the kind of [censored] that channel nine is famous for.

~j~

Sorry..'..over $2000' - (lactic acid on brain perhaps)

~j~

"Parbs" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"DaveB" wrote in message

Quoted message said:

John Tserkezis said:

DaveB wrote:

> Did anyone else see the Channel 9 news about the bike
> recall on brakes. I only caught part of the story.
> Basically they said any new bike in the past 4 years
> worth more than $2000 has a potential fault with the
> brakes. They also said the fault could only be
> recognised by your LBS (obviously some black art
> associated with this knowledge and probably a secret
> handshake in there too).

"any new bike in the past 4 years worth more than
$2000" is a VERY

broad

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

statement, are you sure they said exactly that?

I just did a search on ninemsn, and couldn't find
anything under

their

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

news or ACA entries.

Yeah they defintiely said that. It was a bit strange for
a news article, seemed more like a ACA or Today Tonight
beatup. It was saying one of the bolts holding the
brakes on was susceptible to coming loose and hence a
brake failure. They had a couple of interviews with LBS
owners. I assumed that rather than a brand of bike the
problem is with a brand of brake. But like I said they
were really thin on specifics, just saying you should go
to the LBS. Dave B.

Sounds like they've picked up on the quick release
loosening under heavy

braking loads when using disk brakes. Which is either a

Quoted message said:

beat-up or a serious issue being ignored by the
manufacturers depending on

who you talk to.

Quoted message said:

Rob

Was not related to disc brakes. They said it was "the pivot
nut" that holds the brakes to the fork. They also seemed to
imply it was related to carbon forks (and hence the "over
$2000" reference??). They showed the Shimano Integra front
brake. Not sure whether this was just an example....or it's
the groupset involved.

Typical Channel 9.....all it was missing was "if you've lost
your front brake and mangled yourself email us at ......".

David

Can't find any product recall anywhere, a small story in Saturdays Age was generally...vague. No mention of groupsets etc.

Keep a eye on these sites;
http://www.bikeoz.com/news.php
http://www.recalls.gov.au/

Article in Saturda Age

"Cyclists warned on brake fault"

Victorian racing cyclists have been urged to have their bikes checked for safety after a serious brake fault was detected in Melbourne this month.

Retail Cycle Traders Australia has issued a warning about a faulty pivot bolt in the front caliper brakes of "high end" road bikes, valued at more than $2000, made in the past three years. The warning has been sent to more than 200 bicycle stores, manufacturers and riders' associations in Victoria. RCTA executive officer Graham Bradshaw said the defective bolt appeared in about 1 per cent of all makes of high-end road bikes, usually used by triathletes and racing cyclists. He said there were 10,000 high-end road bikes in Australia and the defect was likely to affect only a small number of people in Victoria. RCTA was alerted to the fault after a cyclist had a heavy fall when her brakes failed in Mebourne this month"

(apologies if any typing errors)

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by wassupdawg
Article in Saturda Age

"Cyclists warned on brake fault"

Victorian racing cyclists have been urged to have their bikes checked for safety after a serious brake fault was detected in Melbourne this month.

Retail Cycle Traders Australia has issued a warning about a faulty pivot bolt in the front caliper brakes of "high end" road bikes, valued at more than $2000, made in the past three years. The warning has been sent to more than 200 bicycle stores, manufacturers and riders' associations in Victoria. RCTA executive officer Graham Bradshaw said the defective bolt appeared in about 1 per cent of all makes of high-end road bikes, usually used by triathletes and racing cyclists. He said there were 10,000 high-end road bikes in Australia and the defect was likely to affect only a small number of people in Victoria. RCTA was alerted to the fault after a cyclist had a heavy fall when her brakes failed in Mebourne this month"

(apologies if any typing errors)

Sadly very vague.

10,000 high end road bikes in Australia. I would a thawt closer to 100,000. especially if 'only' over $2,000.

Tis price bracket would tend to suggest something like perhaps Shimano 105, Ultegra or one of the third party replacements some maufacturers use to keep costs down (Tektro etc).

[QUOTE][i]
Tis price bracket would tend to suggest something like perhaps Shimano 105, Ultegra or one of the third party replacements some maufacturers use to keep costs down (Tektro etc). [/B][/QUOTE]

apparently NOT brand specific
( a bit hard to believe... )

going to the shed now to strip down my brakes...

More details on Retailer assoc site:

"CyberBikeSpot #88, 25th March 2004
by Graham Bradshaw Executive Officer, RCTA

Front Brake Warning

Recently a female cyclist was injured in a road accident. The front brake calliper pulled away from the front fork resulting in the rider falling off at 25kph. Inspection of the bike revealed that the front brake pivot nut was too short. It was attached to the pivot bolt by one or two threads. The issue relates to high quality road bikes only; mountain bikes, children's bikes and general purpose bikes are not affected. It is important that bikes are inspected and repaired where necessary, as there is potential for a serious crash, and we recommend that you go either to the place of purchase, or to a good quality bike shop. This is not a brand issue, as multiple brands appear to have this problem affecting models in their 2002, 2003 and 2004 ranges. Riders who have bought a good quality road racing or triathlon bike in the past 2-3 years should take care and ensure that their brakes are correctly installed."

I was going to do something about this in cyclingnews' next
tech bulletin, but in the interest of getting the word out
quickly, here are the facts as I currently understand them.

Just about all current road bike brakes use cylindrical hex-
key nuts to mount the calipers to the frame and fork. These
nuts are available in different lengths so that the right
one can be fitted to reach the threaded centre bolt of the
brake, because, of course, the thickness of the fork crown
and brake bridge varies. If a nut is used that's too short,
then it can engage the centre bolt with just one or two
threads. I might seem secure, but that's not enough thread
contact for it to be safe.

It's therefore worth examining your brakes to make sure the
nut is contacting plenty of thread on the centre bolt. A bit
of messing about with a measuring calliper that has a depth
gauge might be required.

I spoke to my LBS yesterday after seeing the story on TV (as I bought a new GIANT TCR Composite 0 in Jan.) and they told me that he was aware of the incident but could not say anymore as there was a legal case currently going through the court system.

I asked him what type of bike was involved, but they would not comment. I asked them if it was GIANT and he said NO.

It sounded to me as it was a specfic bike/brand issue rather than a generic problem.

Quoted message said:

It sounded to me as it was a specfic bike/brand issue
rather than a generic problem.

I asked my LBS to check it wasn't my bike they were talking
about and he said it was a one-off mistake by a less than
skilled "mechanic" at a large chain "bike store". You know,
McDonalds for bikes. When building the bike, he didn't fit
the correct size bolt to mount the caliper to the fork,
which meant there wasn't enough thread to even pass through
the nut completely... or something.

Essentially, one guy (probably a young, inexperienced
retail/"mechanic"😉 screwed up one bike, and as a pro-active
PR thing they're trying to make it sound like a manufacturer
problem and are doing a "safety" campaign to prepare for the
court case.

This is what I heard, anyway. The moral is: Support your
Local Bike Shop. They generally know what they're doing and
generally employ a mechanic who is worthy of the term.

PS. Anyone ride an Alchemy? Check your brakes are
correctly attached.

Cant help thinking were getting into urban-myth territory here!

sounds like the industry closingranks to make sure they dont have a bad PR situation on their hands. You could very well be right re the inexperienced mech, but the implication was the bolt was too short, not the bolt was incorrectly fitted

Anyone know who's involved in the legal case?

On 27 Mar 2004 01:20:56 GMT, John Stevenson <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I was going to do something about this in cyclingnews' next
tech bulletin, but in the interest of getting the word out
quickly, here are the facts as I currently understand them.

Just about all current road bike brakes use cylindrical hex-
key nuts to mount the calipers to the frame and fork. These
nuts are available in different lengths so that the right
one can be fitted to reach the threaded centre bolt of the
brake, because, of course, the thickness of the fork crown
and brake bridge varies. If a nut is used that's too short,
then it can engage the centre bolt with just one or two
threads. I might seem secure, but that's not enough thread
contact for it to be safe.

It's therefore worth examining your brakes to make sure the
nut is contacting plenty of thread on the centre bolt. A
bit of messing about with a measuring calliper that has a
depth gauge might be required.

I would have thought if if it still on after six turns to
undo it, then there is enough thread. You could play with
expensive tools, but why?

Steve

You could very well be right re the

Quoted message said:

inexperienced mech, but the implication was the bolt was
too short, not the bolt was incorrectly fitted

Yeah, guy said there are some spacers that can come out if
that's the case. I guess they weren't. Or I'm wrong
completely. Anyway, this has got to be third hand info by
the time I'm typing it, so we'll have to watch dodgy current
affairs TV to find out the truth...

Steve M <menheere@swiftdsldotcomdotau> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

John Stevenson said:

It's therefore worth examining your brakes to make sure
the nut is contacting plenty of thread on the centre bolt.
A bit of messing about with a measuring calliper that has
a depth gauge might be required.

I would have thought if if it still on after six turns to
undo it, then there is enough thread. You could play with
expensive tools, but why?

That's far too simple! 🙂