Trek recalls 1 million bikes

Zascar

http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/22/news/trek-bike-recall/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/22/trek-bicycle-recall-what-to-do/26172867/

Trek Bicycles is recalling nearly 1 million bikes for a safety issue that resulted in one rider becoming paralyzed.
The recall involves bikes with a "quick release" lever on the front wheel that can interfere with the disk brakes, causing the wheel to stop turning or separate from the bike frame, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The recall covers 900,000 Trek bikes in the United States and 98,000 in Canada.

snollup

I blame Lance

Apparently only a problem if skewers fitted incorrectly.

http://www.bikerumor.com/2015/04/21/improper-use-of-quick-releases-leads-to-trek-recall/

Lumen

How are humans not extinct with this level of stupidity?

Alek

I spotted a guy on my commute with the QR lever sticking out at 90 deg. I have stopped and showed him how to use it on my own bike, but couldn't fix his as it was tightened too much. He acknowledged and thanked me, saying he will sort it out later.

I've seen him riding this way at least two times since. :eek::mad:

laraghrider

Why even put the QR lever on the same side as the disc?

Lemming

laraghrider wrote: »

Why even put the QR lever on the same side as the disc?

It's not exactly difficult as a concept to NOT leave a QR lever open or in any way that would interfere with disc rotor or spokes. The mind boggles at some of this shiz tbh.

seamus

laraghrider wrote: »

Why even put the QR lever on the same side as the disc?

Habit? Stupid installers?

Tradition has been to have the QR levers on the left-hand side, primarily because the drivetrain is on the right, so you put your QR lever on the left side on the rear. Then to make it match, you do the same on the front.

With discs, the appropriate thing became to reverse them on the front (so the lever is on the non-disc side) and leave as-is on the back, but that doesn't mean bike shops and manufacturers will stick to this.

I guess from Trek's point of view, this is a simple fix and a relatively cheap one. Anyone who is dumb enough to allow this to happen on their bike will likely be able to sue Trek on the basis that "this is how the bike came", because they've shown themselves so stupid that they likely have done nothing to the bike since buying it.

It would be nice to believe that this is confined to regular plebs and casual commuters, but I've seen countless people in races and sportives, all done up in all the gear, with their QR levers all over the shop.

laraghrider

Oh I agree. Anyone who can't work a QR lever shouldn't be allowed near a bike. But for additional piece of mind just flip it!

Mehaffey1

I've been told for near 10 years to put the lever on the other side of a disc brake, how is this news to some silly folk .

Mr. Grieves

Ironically enough, if they'd never invented lawyer tabs this problem would never have arisen, because people ignorant of how to use a QR skewer would have learnt their lesson the first time the wheel fell out!

Lemming

You don't even need to run QR levers on the opposite side to your disc rotor. I genuinely struggle to see HOW someone could engineer such a scenario - without gross incompetence involved - whereby their QR lever is actually hitting, never mind anywhere *near* the rotor ...

I have disc rotors. I have QR skewers on the same side (left). It's really, really not difficult. At all. In any way shape or form. <---- notice the period finishing the sentence.

CramCycle

From my reading of it, TREK are recalling bikes because people are leaving their QR skewers open. The disc rotor bit aside, they are leaving their QRs open.

So either the shop handed them a bike with the skewers open, and they did not see (bike shops fault), they rider forgot to close it after fitting the wheel to the bike (i.e. after puncture or after assembling from online purchase).

Either way, unless the skewers were in some way faulty that they were prone to coming open, this is beyond idiocy.

JBokeh

How long before they start putting pie plates on the discs because someone loses a finger trying to tighten a skewer while moving.

I've the wheel release on the drive side of my bikes for this very reason, and because I used to be tempted to use the disc as a hold when tightening the lever, which would probably bend it and contaminate the pads

Cee-Jay-Cee

So why the recall? What are they going to do? Show everyone who brings their bike into LBS how to fit the QR to the non disc side???

elric

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

So why the recall? What are they going to do? Show everyone who brings their bike into LBS how to fit the QR to the non disc side???

I'd imagine they'll replace the QRs with ones that don't open so far.

tigerboon

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

So why the recall? What are they going to do? Show everyone who brings their bike into LBS how to fit the QR to the non disc side???

They're going to have a "no wheelies" policy

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

First thing I did with both my bikes was to swap out the QR bolts. I asked for this before picking up the bikes. They can be handy, but nothing a multi tool can't fix.

seamus

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

So why the recall? What are they going to do? Show everyone who brings their bike into LBS how to fit the QR to the non disc side???

The cheapo QR skewers have an L-shaped handle that this can happen with.
The standard handles that come on newer wheels have a straight handle that this can't happen with.
So they will probably swap out the skewers.