[tbc] Cannondale Voluntarily Recalls 145 of its 2007 Road Bikes

[OKVELO at aol.com]

Cannondale Voluntarily Recalls 145 of its 2007 Road Bikes 

JANUARY 10, 2007 -- BETHEL, CT (BRAIN)--Cannondale and the U.S. Consumer 
Product Safety Commission have been working together since November to recall 
145 
of its 2007 road bikes due to brake failure.

According to the CPSC Recall Alert, the recalled road bicycles are the Six 13 

Team 1, Six 13 Team1/Compact Drive, Synapse Carbon SL1 compact Si crank and 
standard bottom bracket Dura Ace crank. Cannondale dealers sold these bikes 
from July 2006 to November 2006 for between $3,200 to $4,500.

“No one has been injured and no one has reported any failures,” said Bill 
Rudell, marketing manager for Cannondale. “This was a proactive, preventive, 
targeted, voluntary recall. It was kicked off mid-November 2006.”

According to Rudell, Cannondale’s brake vendor sent Cannondale a shipment of “

C1” brakes, but the brake-mounting bolt (pivot bolt) was 3 millimeters short. 

With the standard recessed Allen nut this error results in inadequate thread 
engagement and presents a risk that the threads could be stripped and the 
brake detach from the fork.

“The solution is a longer recessed Allen nut that gives proper thread 
engagement,” Rudell added.

Rudell said that Cannondale has determined the serial numbers of all the 
bikes that have been affected. “We sent customized letters to the dealers for 
whom 
these bikes were shipped on Nov. 17,” Rudell said. “Each letter listed the 
serial number(s) and SKU(s) shipped to that shop. We asked the dealers to 
contact customers who purchased the affected bikes, asking that the customer 
not 
ride [it] and bring the bike in for a no charge change of the recessed Allen 
nut.
” Rudell also said that Cannondale asked these shops to fit the longer 
recessed Allen nut to any unsold units in their shop. Cannondale also sent 
letters 
directly to any affected customers who had registered their purchase.

“At this time we are nearing 100 percent correction,” Rudell added. 

Rudell said Cannondale wasn’t “completely happy” with the text of yesterday’

s CPSC Recall Alert. “CPSC rules and oversimplification of the message have 
impaired accuracy,” Rudell said. “We worked with the CPSC to make the text 
more accurate, but were overruled.”

There are a few inaccuracies in the Recall Alert, according to Rudell. “
Cannondale and the retailers to whom we shipped the affected serial numbers 
have 
already made contact with the customers to whom these bikes have been sold,” 
Rudell said. “The CPSC text acknowledges this fact in one section, but in 
another 
asks that owners—no reference to a limited population to certain serial 
numbers—of these bikes contact us. This suggests that all the models listed 
are 
affected.”

Also, inaccurate, Rudell said, was the number of bikes affected as part of 
the recall. “We shipped 145 bikes that are affected to the U.S. and Canada,” 

Rudell said. “So why does the Recall Alert list a population of ‘about 700?’ 

Because the CPSC rules require that they include units never shipped, units 
in 
our warehouse—in this case, the brakes we quarantined and didn’t ship, didn’
t 
even attach to bikes.

“All dealers who have a bike affected by this recall have already been 
contacted, some several times,” Rudell said. “However, we are prepared to 
look up 
serial numbers for any dealer or customer who wishes to call.” 








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