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Here’s something you won’t find on the Specialized home page, but maybe should be there. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has worked with them to recall 12,200 bikes and framesets. The affected models include the Tarmac SL4, 2013 Crux and 2013 Secteur Disc.
They reportedly found a manufacturing issue with the fork’s carbon fiber steerer tubes, which can cause them to crack or break. There has been two incidences of fork failures documented so far, but neither resulted in major injuries, said Sean Estes, who handles global public relations for Specialized.
Chris Menicou, the director of quality at Specialized said, “We have fixed the problem at our manufacturing facilities, we have a systematic process in place to expedite the fork inspection and repair and we will do our best to ensure our customers are quite satisfied.”
If your bike is affected, you should be notified by mail to bring your recalled bike to a Specialized dealer. Dealers will send forks in for inspection to Specialized. Once inspected and, if needed, repaired, the fork will be shipped back to the dealer. Specialized said the process should take seven to 10 business days.
For your troubles, Specialized will be offering owners affected by the recall $100 store credit for Specialized merchandise.
I personally have worked for a Specialized dealer, and have worked directly with the Specialized warrant department. I can say from first-hand experience that Specialized takes their customers very seriously and will handle this as urgently and professionally as you would expect, maybe more. While this may be a huge deal, I still regard Specialized as one of the greats, as far as companies go.
As of right now, I have not been able to find anything on their website about this, and I personally would not wait for the letter. Go ahead and get into contact with your local Specialized dealer.