Specialized SL7 Recall Update 

Wasn't expecting that ending. Most viewers would have left once the credits rolled 😉

As a non native English speaker, I enjoy your speaking speed. 😄

Luescher Teknik is "more than ideal" :)

@roaul you are too much a specialist for Specialized! Thanks for your honest opinion and willingness to help the cycling community.

I suspect Specialized Aus' have probably been advised by Legal that they don't want you to look and even more comment, and they are hoping this will all go away.. its a very kind offer btw. just for context, when you walk through the door of Carbon Bike Repair in the UK, you will see a number of specialized bikes hanging up on the right , last time is was in it was the TT frames being repaired due to the seat clamp design failing. in the UK, Insurance companies are dealing directly with repair companies to reduce liability. But here is an interesting point.. what if someone has an accident due to a fork failure, his video is now on record. i'm sure specialized must be weighing up risk vs reward..

That ending… 😆 What a cool guy.

I don't want to be a negative nancy. But I doubt you will ever hear from them. They are propably afraid for other things you'll find wrong. They rather do a big cover up.

thanks for your good work helping and saving cyclist

i suggest you should also take a second look at that compression ring thing, because it appears to rub the hydro cables which could eventually cause a leak in the hydro oil ..

Apart from the potential delamination problem, I don't think that fix addresses the second issue with the headset configuration, which is brake cables rubbing against that metal ring and ultimately failing due to loss of brake fluid.

Burst out laughing at the end! Will there be t-shirts t available with that? Love the content and ethics! Keep up the great work. Saving the planet one fork at a time!

Specialized charges $20,000 a bike. No need to offer free anything.

I remember the rhetoric for such expensive frames in the past was because you were paying for the research and development that went into the frame. With all theses failures and recalls occurring recently one would be forgiven for thinking that was just more marketing spin.

The T-Shirt says it all...............LESS THAN IDEAL.....Raul is the BOSS!

As the carbon expert what greases do you recommend for installing headset bearing races into carbon cups? And what greases should be avoided? Thanks.

My take, Specialized reply; We are currently in a recall and have evaluated the components, and are currently rolling out the new parts. If we require your assistance we will be in contact. Basically Thanks but no thanks.

I don't think they need to be x-rayed. Just a glance by a rushed bike shop employee is more than enough apparently. Kraig from Bike Society Adelaide told us on the Facebook thread I posted that 'just looking at carbon is all you need to do- If it doesn't looked cracked then its fine'. Same as concussion. If your skull isn't cracked visibly then you are good to keep playing. I counted 10 SHARP points on my SL7 REPLACEMENT compression ring that look to be able to cause damage to the carbon if the headset is a bit loose or the manhole cover was hit hard enough. I guess 10 pressure points is better than 11?

Very awesome offer you’ve made there. Can’t fathom how they wouldn’t take an expert’s free help

Kudos to you

Unfortunately where I work we have the need to do recalls occasionally. We evaluate within our own laboratory in conjunction with suppliers and it’s important all process / standards / intellectual property & results remain in house. We then provide the solution or refund or recall which is costly. They won’t be calling you unfortunately…and you should charge full whack like they do!

So it's the top ring that's cutting into the steerer? I suspect they will quietly decline your offer.

Would probably add that the policy of ‘profit before people’ Corporations is....yes you guessed it.Profit Before People !

Meanwhile my 1986 Specialized Allez Chromoly frame with Dura-Ace 7400 grouppo purrs along gracefully with nary a hitch nor worry 😬

What are you thoughts on the 2019-2020 Venge head tube design? The SL7 appears to be identical to the Venge so why isn't it recalled as well?

U the best!

I would think accepting outside help would be the same as saying " yeah it's over our heads please come help " ! But then again they did design this in the first place! Product testing after designing new equipment might need to be more extensive! Hmmmm but that's more money and bean counters dont like that.

so it should be the design of the upper bearing insert which damaged the fork? i watched a video of the latest lapierre aircode build. their upper bearing insert looks like more support of less sharp edge at all any opinion on that?

Good point for willing to help them out. However you can't start now doing tests to estimate the failure probability in this case. Based on a limited number of samples ( say 100) it's impossible to claim that if you find 3 forks with critical levels of damage that the others won't develop the same issue over time. Moreover this set can hardly be considered to represent the full population that rides this bike (pro's, cafe rides, amateur races, crit racers,...) and it can't help you determine which fork is good or not. They should have tested this more rigorously during initial development and fully check the first production bikes. Now they have to pay the price for being sloppy and recall all bikes and change everything as you don't want to have a rider injured because of a known design flaw, opposed to the, e.g., 1 in a million chance that a manufacturing issue (void) causes the frame to break, which is covered by warranty.

Why not extend the scan offer to locals with SL7 bikes? Surely that's a better indicator of ridden bikes.

There are heaps of other good brands that stick with what works and a lot cheaper

Haha! Good end! 😄

Their engineering around the fork steerer is woeful. 2nd major recall in a few years due to poor engineering. Why don’t they stick to frames and just let their Merida manufacturing partner (who own 49% of the brand) produce and engineer the forks??

The diameter/thickness of the steer tube looks very similar to the handle of a carbon fiber baseball bat. I’m surprised at that thickness the tube would snap off. Maybe they should contact a carbon fiber baseball manufacturer and change the layup of the carbon fiber steer tube?

I have an sl7 frameset in a box with the new components. What I don’t understand, why didn’t they just offer up the bonded insert like Cervelo have been doing for years? Would have been lighter and more structurally sound?

Presumably Specialized don't want any of this in the public domain and the existence of this video likely means they will decline or ignore your offer.

I guess we'll have to wait for the SL8: probably it will be 15% stiffer and 10% lighter compared to the latest incarnation, being the result of 10000 design iterations. The new flagship will be offered for 12k€. :D Specialized... I have a new company slogan: "Our solution is your problem", no thanks

Buy Giant and no more problem

"Specialized SL7 Recall" Is that a new model? xD

Update on SL7- still stupid to buy one.

that was funny

Hey @Luescher, can you add a balanced view here to the trolls jumping on the bandwagon. Obv this is “less than ideal” but are spesh any worse than other manufacturers?

It will be interesting to see if Specialized take LT up on his offer, my money is on arrogance over commonsense!

You'll hear nothing back. And even if you do, you'll be slapped with an NDA in exchange for your FOC services

hhhhhh, that ending😂😂😂but why????

"Their engineers "...the Chinese manufacturers......

Tommorow again story be Swork SL7 tarmac failure 😅 ,Swork what a joke,shame but the name are really cool

The problem with marketing towards lawyers and doctors is then they can actually afford to sue you as well.

Nah, Specialized is not going to reply. To do so is to admit less than competency on their part.

What ? and stop people riding their "special" bikes ?! Mate, c'mon ! Specialized would never, ever, send product for independent examination. That's why someone like Hambini is becoming so popular. (And very unpopular to the companies / products he reviews - unless their product is actually good !). The AUS market is tiny in comparison. Its a backwater of Specialized's sales. Furthermore, in my opinion I think that Specialized would already know what results you will find, and they would probably sign you up to an NDA, and then you would not be able to say a thing about what you find, and as such, would lose your independence. Just my thoughts :-)

Their CEO takes home hundreds of millions every year so don't give them free service. Offer your skill and negotiate a price with them for your time.

What a pos bike. Can you imagine them doing this bs 20 years ago. No one would ever buy the product. Pure trash

you don't know whether Specialized have ultrasound capability in house? Mate, you're deluded