Answer
Products has issued a safety retrofit notice on several models of its Manitou suspension
and Answer BMX forks. The notice affects 2000 model-year MARS, X-Vert Super, BMX
Carbon and BMX Mag forks with alloy steerers and carbon fiber sleeves shipped after
Dec. 21, 1999. Answer is sending free aluminum inserts to retailer and fork owners
that reinforce the steerer tubes.
According to the company, under extreme loads the aluminum steerer tubes could deform
where they are press fit into the fork crown. The deformation may cause the steerer
tube to separate from the crown, resulting in a loss of control of the bike and risk
of injury to the rider. Six failures have been reported to the company. About 17,100
forks are affected.
Answer officials are recommending that the user or authorized retailer visually inspect
the forks. If a fork does not have a red or silver aluminum insert inside the crown,
the user should discontinue riding it immediately. The company also warned that if
the carbon fiber sleeve appears to be cracked or damaged, the fork owner should contact
Answer’s warranty department.
The inserts come with instructions and can be installed easily, said Joel Smith,
Answerís marketing director. “It should take about one minute. All you need
to do is flip the fork over and pound the insert into place with a mallet,”
he said. Forks shipped by Answer after Dec. 21 do not require the update. “We
began installing the aluminum inserts early, so you should be sure to check whether
the fork is even affected,” Smith said.
The forks involved in the retrofit include, MARS, MARS C, MARS CL, MARS 1, X-Vert
Super, BMX Carbon Pro, BMX Carbon Pro Cruiser and BMX Mag Pro models.
To get inserts or for information, contact your local Answer dealer. Answerís web
site includes information and installation instructions in several downloadable and
printable formats. For those, go to
Answer
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