BBI (Barnett Bicycle Institute’s) E-News http://www.bbinstitute.com
Trek Quick-Release Recall
One of the largest recalls in the history of the bicycle industry was recently announced. The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) had Trek Bicycles recall nearly a million bicycles sold between 2002 and the present to solve a potential problem involving quick-release levers getting entangled with disc-brake rotors, causing a sudden lockup of the front wheel.
The bike must be equipped with a disc brake and the lever must be of a design that can open past the inside face of the dropout, officially described as “will open more than 180º,” but all levers actually open slightly more than 180º. The quick-release is installed on the same side of the wheel as the disc-brake rotor.
Some Shimano documents specified the quick-release mechanism should be installed opposite of the traditional orientation, lever on the right side of the bike. BBI repeated Shimano’s instruction about installing the quick-release with the lever on the right side of the bike.
CPSC has deemed this to be an inadequate solution, since the consumer… well, you know consumers 🙂
CPSC is requiring that the recalled bikes be retrofitted with quick-release that meet this criteria, “the lever will not open more than 180º”.
If the recall gets expanded to include other brands, bikes with problem mechanisms would have to be fixed by installing different quick-release mechanisms.
Shimano”s statement regarding this issue says quick-releases that have an aluminum housing… meet the new CPSC requirement, but Shimano levers with a steel housing do NOT meet the CPSC requirement. Shimano… steel-housing models are safe if installed to Shimano specifications to wit the lever should be on the opposite side of the wheel from the disc rotor. Additionally, the quick release lever must end up parallel to the dropout and that force must be encountered through the last 90º of motion before arriving at the fully-closed position.
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