If a car maker was equally incompetent, the authorities would be all over it. Specialized does it and not even the cycling press cover it.

Good vid LT! I leaked this early on the $-Works facebook group and they blocked me lol. So much for caring about fellow cyclists.

Good point. The lack of chamfer and chafing of cables is one thing (Billy Basic faculty of Engineering), the ethics not telling anyone until they've got parts in stock is another!

Proof that when mistakes are made Cayon can be trusted more than Specialized. At least they issued a stop ride and agreed compensation for those effected while they sought a solution.

"Cables aren't really designed to be a structural component to steer the bike with..." Gold.

Compromising the structural integrity of an absolutely critical component in favour of aesthetics and a marginal improvement in aerodynamic efficiency is just a crazy thing to do. One doesn't want any component on a bike to fail, but the three components you never want to fail are the bars, stem and steerer tube. The disconnect between good basic engineering practice and marketing in the bike industry is becoming really very worrying. Thanks for the good work in highlighting this Raoul - hopefully it will make those responsible start to sit up and take notice.

The whole value proposition of spending money on the significantly more expensive major western brands like specialised is that you can trust them to rectify any issues promptly. I didn't think anyone could make the canyon seatpost fiasco look good, but these guys have actually achieved it!

Thank you for the video, in my own experience Specialized/ Roval are far from a reputable company, I had a pair of Specialized Roval Alpinist handlebars that failed, technically it was the Specialized computer mount bolt that sheered off leaving a broken stud in the bars, the company said as the bars had not failed the warranty was only on the computer mount, leaving me with a pair of scrap bars costing £450! After this experience I will never purchase anything from the brand ever again, this fiasco with the forks failing and hiding vital safety information from their customer base shows exactly what the brand think of their customers!

Looks very much like how recalls are carried out in automotive industry. No big deal if one or ten drivers are hurt, as long as other hundred of thousands are not yet aware. And more importantly the investors and competitors

Next the manufacturers will discover non-integrated cockpit and charge 30% more for their innovation

Thank you for the info and making us aware. Its our safety on the road that is on the line.

Integrated cables are purely for fashion, no other reason. Nobody is losing a race because of their exposed cables.

Yes. This is the same thing that Orbea did, they built the replacement forks, THEN sent out the recall notice. You could tell based on the manufacturing date on the fork.

The bike industry needs more regulation A) These product faults are deadly I suspect thr OEM has weighed the cost of a lawsuit vs scrapping correcting and replacing the entire stock B) The ridiculous pricing of bikes due to seemingly high demand, its also because shipping companies have hiked the price of containers 4x according to my latest information "because they can" but the OEM's are passing the cost hike to the retail level and probably making bucks off it too.

Can’t agree with you more effectively speed to market in terms of marketing is resulting in critical design failures. Thanks again very insightful for any level of rider.

The recall was suppose to be announced today. By delaying it they're buying time to save a PR disaster but putting riders at risk.

Raoul, great discussion. IMO, you just summarized the problem with a number of cycling brands. The bottom line drives the product. Exactly what happens when the board room steps into the design process. Profits should come from a quality product, that drives demand, that creates margin. When you do the opposite, large margins goals, force questionable design decisions, result in a poor product. Sure fire formula to torpedo a brand. Fortunately for me, I don’t have this scale of disposable income. 😂

..."cables aren't really designed to be a structural component to steer the bike with..." - RMFAO!!!

I’ll stick with my giant tcr advanced RIM BRAKE stiff and tuff as hell!!!👌🏻💪🏻🚴🏻‍♂️

It goes to show that minimizing damages to the reputation and image of a corporation is far more important than the safety of their customers. I always thought that hidden cables and hoses (in the stem/head tube) were a catastrophe in the making. Fashion over function and safety !

To me it seems they wanted to avoid the situation where Canyon paid their customers compensation for the time they were waiting for the new Aeroad handlebar. Right here is an example of the ethically correct way to handle these situations and the Specialized way.

Good morning Raoul, This seems like Deja Vu.. The last time Specialized had a fork recall, it was about 1,300 pieces that were out in service. Thanks for this post. Cheeers

Good point. News comes out yesterday and parts are already at my LBS. unbelievable!

Durianrider was right. He said This months ago

The fact that Specialized blocked Durianrider is extremely telling of the attitude Specialized has towards riders. Riders who spend more than $12,000.00 on a fucking bike and they make a calculated, financial decision to put people’s life at risk! I routinely hit 40 plus miles per hour, even approaching 50 mph on a bike with a major fucking flaw! Unacceptable

Donde se puede conseguir el spacer?

Great vid. Thanks. Sharing around.

Just by looking at the pictures even a person with nothing but a little common sense can tell that metal plate is a blade which sooner or later will cut through that steerer and those cables. Can't believe no one at Specialized saw that coming when they designed that part. That's the level of the so-called "bicycle engineers". What a disgrace!

Sounds like everyone should avoid integrated cockpits, until they are engineered properly! Are any in the market engineered properly in your opinion?

Gives me so much more respect for canyon when issued the Stop Ride on the Aeroad long before the fix was ready

Durden: Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.

I have a question... how did the fork steerer completely sever like it did? Did the spacer cut all the way around the steerer? I have cut a fair number of forks and tried to destroy steerer tube bits and it is very difficult to do so... was it a matter of impact? improperly tightened headset? I can understand why unsupported steerers fail on impact above the headset, there is more leverage at that point. But this I don't get.

I wonder if Giant saw this issue arising and decided that exposed cables were a more reliable option for the TCR?

I had a similar problem with the SL6, but specialized claimed misuse. The frame was less than 1 year old. I have pictures to show

100% agree with you mate!! That's why i thought it was B.S. i said, they wouldn't sit on that info! Clearly i was wrong!

That is terrifying. I hope there is more testing and regulation for uci standards so this can be solved in design phases verses a recall down the road. That is for the video.

from specialized china web sites: Reasons for this recall: Severe frontal collisions (such as violently hitting a deep pit on the road) may cause abnormal pressure on the front headset components and may cause cracks in the steering tube of the front fork. If the damaged front fork continues to be used, it may break, causing potential risks of falling and injury.

The longer compression plug suggests to me they are not overly confident with their solution. The compression plug normally only needs to be where the stem clamps but they obviously want it to go past the point of where the breakage happens to reinforce that area. Why don't we just fill the whole steerer tube with solid alloy 🤦

Depends how the cables are routed internally. The way these manufacturers have been doing it is the cheap way, it was always going to end in tears. Doesn't surprise me one single bit that Specialized waited until they had a fix before issuing a stop riding announcement - they're a marketing company after all.

Hello sir, I am planning to buy Gusto Cobra Sport. Do you have any review from experience or encounter any model of a Gusto bikes brand. Thank you.😃

Dear Sir, can you make a review of the van rysel rcr 900 carbon bikes by decathlon, seems to be a great deal vs other high price bikes with similar components

The fault is the steerer isn’t strong enough for disc brake leverage that works against it. Compare the leverage of a disc brake on the steerer as opposed to the short distance of rim brakes.

Wow. Just. Wow.

I've had the same with coil shocks breaking on Kenovo e bikes and am still waiting for a air shock but ended up buying a coil from Fox and broke that 4 times and all I got was a voucher for Specialized items. Broke Roval wheels 3 times, seat posts once.

I didn't check my SL7 but i call to retailer about that problem and recall. For now i don't ride that bike until retailer is inspected the fork and replaced the parts. These integrated cockpits seems to be bad idea for now.

That part looks like a pipe cutter. Fear not next frame they priced at 6.5 k$ so probably legal fees are already covered with the frame itself. Constant frame price increase (much higher than the inflation and not proportional to the R&D they've put into new products) is just covering exponentiall growth of insurance risk 🤣

That's really really Bad. So, fully integrated front end is not good enough yet full stop across the board, I shall not be going with any of that yet. Blimey. Many thanks for that very important information.

This is a good argument for integrated and hidden cables. They may be all that is left holding your stem and handlebar onto the bike.😅

The venge has the same integrated cockpit design, same compression ring. How come there haven't been any failures on the venge model?

Not the first for Specialized, I remember they had the same problem with one of previous gen SL frame before.

The pics show the compression ring but it's a two-piece design. There seems to be missing the very thin inner ring that centers the steerer into the compression ring. If that small ring is missing, then the fork can actually rock. No wonder the steerer would break at some point. That also means: wrong installation

Wouldn't a laminated cardboard steerer be a better choice? Cheaper, strong enough and in case of failure no one would ask why did it happen. Cardboard eventually just fails, no questions, no regrets.

Just checked my sl7. There seems to be gashes on the steerer tube. Hope they replace me with a brand new fork.

I was just told by my LBS that they were investigating if any SL7s they sold were part of the recall and so far only one is. This is contrary to what I've read, where every SL7 is to be recalled. Any thoughts?

Specialised don't have a good track record with steerers. Had another steerer problem recall in 2019 that recalled around 4500 bikes in Australia alone. It was instigated by ACCC.

Watching here... Fan of sworks

something ive noticed is that the 4 most prominent youtubers who call out bike industry for their bullshit are commonwealth country of origin people LT (australia) DR (australia) Hambini (UK) Peak Torque (UK), wonder why that is....

This is why I steer clear of the companies engaged in this "race to the bottom" with regard to weight. Canyon, spesh all making questionable design decisions just to make a 20 gram weight savings.

For anyone curious about the grim calculations Specialized made. Go watch the recall calculation scene from fight club.

*LT* ... is the apparent multi year "legal gaming" behavior trend of Specialized common with other large industry players, e.g., Giant, Look, Trek, Cervelo, etc? Thank you

tcr everyone

Lol durianrider from KZfaq has been saying for a long long time

That design was really curious. As a non engineer it just looks ridiculously obvious that this design wouldn’t work. I hate carbon forks. I have one on a gravel bike and I think about it every time I descend.

I get the concern and frustration with the lack of early communication. Hazarding a guess here - Probability wise - you’re more likely to be hit by a car or falling of you’re bike while riding than have this failure occur. To be clear it doesn’t discount the communication issue, it just puts into perspective the actual risk.

It seems like the bike industry is regarded as the producer of hobby products. And if it goes wrong we'll... As the industry has moved into carbon with each manufacturer coming up with novel solutions the wheels are coming off. LT, Hambini and Peak Torque regularly highlight significant failings in design and use of materials. How many serious injuries or deaths must there be before proper regulation is introduced? You guys help by creating awareness and scaring the bejesus out of us. But it's necessary. Thank you.

AURUM bikes (by Basso & Contador) have the same problem.

Aesthetics over safety is just stupid. I dont give a damn about where a cable is as long as its working. Specialized deserves any lawsuits coming their way.

I still don't understand what's wrong with external routing? Shifts great, easy to maintain for the layman mechanic, gets a bit grubby but just give it a wash and wipe occasionally. "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" - Leonardo Da Vinci

I’m not a lawyer, so I know nothing about the serpentine strategies and gameplays companies might go through, as to whether / when to make announcements for recall etc, but one comes to mind I hadn’t considered before is the statistics / probability of numbers of bikes “successfully” produced, out in the wild, not shearing at the steerer, despite crashes, for example, versus the number of cases of shearing reported. The more bikes sold, arguably reduces the significance of the number of reported cases. I don’t believe it does, but in the event of a legal battle, no doubt the statistical comparison would be one point argued. And as others have mentioned, comparisons with problems in other industries etc. Was it Nissan who had a series of cases where the accelerator pedal would jam in the full gas position? I’m vague as to the details, but there were a (surprising) number of fatal crashes as result before the recall, and in that case, as this, I can’t imagine there weren’t more instances occurred, (fatalities?) before people cottoned on to it being a pattern. One thing I feel has a higher chance of being true though, is they’ll have talked everything through with lawyers, early doors, for their own protection? And this delay between perception/comprehension of a problem being present, on the one hand, and a public announcement stinks.

Raoul: "Cables aren't really designed to be a structural component to steer the bike with." Specialized engineer: "It depends."

Could this failure have been avoided with an extra long compression plug?

I said it in the 80’s and I’ll say it again .. Columbus/Chromoly tubing 😬👍

Please remind me why CFRP is such a great material to build bicycles with?

I don't understand why big bike uses bearings in their headsets. The Trek madone 6 used a bushing that put no pressure on the steer.

Put it this way the amount they charge for there equipment they can afford a total recall , Specialized is probably run by a bunch of Accounts & Lawyers now, not bike people 🤑

Thanks for looking out for all of us!

Spacers between the bottom of stem and headset should be aluminum to help transmit loads from the stem into the frame.

The other factor that probably exacerbated the problem is the brake calliper placement at the bottom of the fork and the leverage on the top of the steerer tube.

I have the Venge. The SL7 was originally improved and designed out of the Venge. Is this mean that the Venge will be recalled as well?

basically all high branded bikes are all overpricing for consumer, the consumers are literally paying the bills & cost sponsors for the world top proffessional race team. Peoples are willing to pay or buy these winning brands & same bikes use in the race each year.

Woke up... watched this with my coffee... great laugh to start the day. So funny. You buy this crap and you get what you get.

👏👏👍👍

Automotive manufacturers do the same thing and wait until a fix is in place before announcing a recall in 99% of cases, the exception being cases like Firestone.

are there even any modern-day, off-the-shelf, carbon fiber road bikes that DON'T have internal cable routing?

Specialized really do charge a lot of money for very average bikes and they are not that good!

Feel there is some hype here. Specialized has announced that they have no reports of anyone hurt by this weakness: "We have not received any injury reports." Would be very surprised if that's not true. Of course it needs to be addressed but comparing to car industry (mal)practice does not seem legit.

clearly profits are more important to specialized than their customers safety. Pretty disgusting imo like you say they must have known about this a while to develop a fix and said nothing. Shocking

The announcement from Special Ed came the day after the big Sea Otter race in Monterrey, Wackofornia. There's the answer to your question. They have recall parts ready to go! They were aware of it well in advance. They knew this was a recall issue yet waited. They can't just produce new parts out of thin air overnite. It doesn't work that way. Especially now!

They have ordered a recall right !

It would be nice also if these bike companies would start making bikes with realistic head tube lengths. They sell these bikes to people who want the top end model for whatever reason and then they stick 100mm of headset spacers under the stem so their out-of-shape back won't hurt. Make a longer headtube and then more people could run a slammed stem which would put less leverage on the steer tube. Or, do what Trek did and offer the same bike with a pro length HT and an average Joe length HT.

Just found out about it. One has to wonder why the same design didn't fail on the venge (2019+).

Cycling really is the wild west of product liability. How many people lost their front teeth riding on a known product fault?

Important info Raoul and thanks. And hey, I know it's your delivery style and your brain is the size of a medium roasted planet, but it took me a while [says something about my own brain volume] to get what you were on about having arrived in cold. *Not everyone is on the DR live feed.*!! I learned a long time ago in the Air Force: engage brain before hitting the transmit button.... No one is shooting, so don't change you, but please consider.

Cervélo R3 had a threaded pipe support you glued in to the fork shaft once you had the correct hight. Felt secure. Maybe this would be something for Spesch? Wonder if my Aethos S-Works is affected?

Time reinforces their steerer tubes with kevlar, and they provide a long expander plug with their frames.

I was thinking the same about putting ppl's ives t risk for profit .i willbe avoiding them

interesting australian specialized website doesn't mentioned the recall, specialized china features it, i guessed specialized china cares more about rider safety > company profits

5:30 you can see indentations on the cables/hoses.

in the middle of it what about the design of merida headset?

Yet that claim they spent milions upon milions on R&D and extent amount of time on testing to justify very high price.Your 10k USD bike is a ticking bomb and they dont even bother to inform you.Specialized SL7 is not a road bike is a an extrme sport bike nowadays.