When you’ve invested hundreds, or more likely thousands, in a bike or parts, you rightly expect a high standard of craftsmanship. Yet, despite the ongoing conversation in forums and on Sunday club runs – fuelled by years of changing standards, obsolescence, and constant “marginal gains” messaging designed to empty our pockets – a huge number of bikes are made and shipped to people every year without problems, and recalls are thankfully rare.
The trouble is, anything manufactured and shipped at scale is going to run into quality issues from time to time. No one bike brand is immune from it, and the effects of not taking action in a timely way can be catastrophic for both the brand’s reputation, and in the worst cases, the lives of its customers.
If you’ve been following the news on Cycling Weekly recently, you’re likely to have read about a spate of faulty products, recalled by the manufacturers. Stromer have found evidence of people actually crashing as a result of an issue, Cube have found an issue with a fork, and even the mighty Trek have issued a recall recently. Albeit due to a less serious sounding issue with some chainring bolts.
While it might appear that it’s ‘recall season’ it’s likely that we’re just witnessing an anomaly, rather than an epidemic, or an indication of declining production standards.
Made from a number of components the bicycle is a sum of its parts. And sometimes one of these parts can be faulty; it’s all part of the manufacturing process unfortunately, regardless of the industry. When known issues arrive, the manufacturer typically asks owners to stop using the product and to return it immediately. To date recalls are few and far between, especially when viewed against the huge volume of cycling products that are produced globally, month after month. But what should you do if your bike is subject to one?
What is a recall, and what does it mean?
Recalls typically fall into two categories: a faulty component or an assembly issue. The manufacturer, made aware of the problem, issues a recall of the affected product. This can be a component part of a complete bike, in this case it’s typically the complete bike that needs to be returned to a licensed dealer, or a standalone product, such as a set of wheels.
Recently we’ve seen DT Swiss recall a number of sets of wheels made in one of its third-party factories as well as Cube recalling its Agree model road bike due to an issue with the fork resin leading to cracks. In both cases the manufacturers used product numbers to enable owners to see if their wheels or bike were affected.
In the case of the Cube bike, owners, once they had confirmed the serial number of both the bike and the fork, were required to visit a registered Cube dealer to have the fork inspected and then replaced if necessary. It’s an example that demonstrates that just because an affected part has been recalled doesn’t make your entire bike a write-off.
An assembly issue – a component hasn’t been correctly fitted at the factory – also typically requires a visit to a registered dealer. A recent example, Trek recalled some 700 road bikes after reports of chainring bolts loosening on some 2026 electric Domane and Trekpoint models. After investigation Trek acknowledged that the chainrings bolts hadn’t been tightened to specification at the factory. Owners were asked to stop riding their bike immediately and return them to a registered Trek dealer to have them tightened correctly. A $20 in-store voucher was also offered to all those affected by the recall.
It’s important to note that no injuries were reported due to the loose chainring bolts. In fact, Trek says there were only three known instances of loose bolts. The decision to recall all models potentially affected is therefore reassuring and demonstrates the ‘zero tolerance’ policy taken across the industry.
What should you do?
So, what’s the procedure should you find your bike recalled by the manufacturer?
The first thing is not to panic. As shown by the example above, the issues with the bolts were quick to resolve and enabled the owners of the Trek bikes involved to carry on riding them with confidence. A recall doesn’t always mean a write-off, or point to terrible practices. In fact the opposite is often true, when a responsible brand takes action to do the right thing, and check your bike.
Next up is to ascertain if your bike or component is affected. Again, as the examples here demonstrate, recalls typically impact a specific batch rather than the entire product line. Recalls are issued with specific instructions from the manufacturer, which will include a list of the products affected. As mentioned, confirming whether your product is part of the recall is usually done by checking the serial or product number and then comparing that to the affected list. You can always visit a registered dealer if you’re unsure of where to find your serial number; to reveal the number for the Cube forks requires some disassembly, for example, so you might benefit from having the dealer do the check.
If your bike or component is affected then the next step is to follow the guidelines from the manufacturer. Typically this is straightforward; stop using the product immediately. From here it’s then a case of visiting a registered dealer to get the issue resolved, whether it’s a replacement part or mechanical fix.
Will you get compensation?
Recalls are an expensive business for a bike company, especially if it affects a number of products.
As a result, the brands are not usually very generous in their approach to compensation. If you’re lucky there’s a replacement part involved, but they’ll seldom go further. Some will give you gift vouchers to use in your LBS, or offer an upgrade to the affected part, but you won’t get much else, and sadly, there isn’t much in consumer law to tie them to more.
You also probably won’t find there’s a courtesy bike available, despite the inconvenience a recall can cause any rider if the recall happens mid-season.
Despite the size of the brands involved sometimes, the dealers don’t have the resources to administer that kind of measure, and the brands themselves could find themselves severely in the red to do anything more virtuous than offering replacement parts.
Is there any good news?
Recalls are never good news, unless you enjoy the peace of mind in knowing you should expect one when things go wrong.
What you can do to protect yourself, is either shop local with a locally produced or bespoke bike, where you can build a relationship with the dealer. Or, if you’re buying from a bigger brand, go to an authorised dealer where the brand might have a direct relationship with the store.
If you’re not going into store, or going overseas for some of the direct to consumer bargains available now, make sure you check reviews, and get comfortable with the level of dealer support available, if any. And if you’re ordering from sites like Alibaba, or directly from a factory, bear in mind that if problems do occur, you’re likely responsible for shipping the product back to the company for inspection and appraisal, and there’s no guarantees for a successful or even satisfactory outcome. Shipping one set of wheels back to Asia can cost up to £300 in shipping alone.
CW says
No one wants to be the owner of a recalled bike or component. It’s disconcerting to know that you’ve been riding something with a potential fault. It’s also extremely inconvenient. Not only does it put your bike out of action, for a while at least, it requires you to follow a set procedure that usually results in having to take your bike to a registered dealer. But it’s worth remembering that these are rare cases and when they arise are usually dealt with fairly and efficiently by the manufacturers.
