Cervélo has identified a potential safety issue involving the Wolf SL fork. This
fork is designed and manufactured by True Temper Sports of Memphis, Tennessee, using
a blade shape supplied by Cervelo. All other aspects of the structural design, development
and manufacture were done by True Temper Sports.
Under certain conditions, the fork steerer can crack and eventually break during
normal use, which may cause the rider to lose control, fall and suffer potentially
serious injuries. To date, there have been reports of injuries in the field resulting
in minor abrasions and one broken wrist.
Though the fork passes US and international standards, this particular problem was
not uncovered during those standard tests and the fork only showed this weakness
in the field, typically after being damaged. After much work, we did develop a new
test protocol that was able to replicate the same failure mode as seen in the field.
If the fork steerer is damaged by impact (eg. by a crash, a fall from a roof rack,
or another impact) then the damage may progress very quickly during use to complete
separation.
We have seen that incidence of failure on this fork is higher than on other forks,
and there is a potential for injury upon failure. True Temper Sports feels that
the fork meets the industry standards and that the fork is therefore acceptable
and no further action is required. Cervelo does not share this opinion and therefore,
is proceeding with a recall of the True Temper designed and manufactured Wolf SL
forks ourselves. True Temper Sports has declined to participate.
In order to conduct a recall one must be able to demonstrate that any replacement
product does not display the same failure mode. We have demonstrated to the authorities
that the forks we will use as a replacement - the 3T Funda Pro and the Easton EC90
SLX - pass all standard industry tests as well as the new Cervelo test that the
True Temper Wolf SL fork fails.
We have obviously discontinued all use of the True Temper Wolf SL carbon bicycle
fork. However, please note that this does not affect the Wolf CL and Wolf TT in
any way, as both have a completely different structural design (and have passed
the new Cervelo test protocol).
Although it is not usual for a third party to recall a product manufactured by another
company, we feel it is a necessary step to take care of our customer, and we will
proceed with the full recall at no cost to the retailer or consumer.
The recalled forks have a clear coating over black painted carbon fiber, with the
words “Wolf Superlite” (Figure 1) and related logo just below the crown on each
fork leg, and the words “SL” (Figure 2) on each leg above the fork blade dropouts.
There is a True Temper CRTMC logo (Figure 3) on the inside of both fork legs. The
recalled forks could have been included on the following bicycle models: R3, R3
SL, Soloist Carbon, Soloist Carbon SL, and certain P3 Carbon framesets and complete
bicycles.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3