Every year, around 19,000 cyclists are killed or injured in reported road accidents. When a bike breaks due to a faulty component, it is likely that it will do so while the rider is sailing across surface roads at around 10 mph, leaving him or her vulnerable to chance.
On July 17th, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalled the fleet of GT downhill mountain bicycles sold at a number of sports product retailers. Bikes were sold from February 2014 to June 2014 for the price of $4,300 to $6,000.
All 2014 GT Fury Expert and 2014 GT Fury Team bikes have front rear and disc brakes, rear shock absorbers, and front suspension forks. The wheel hubs can break and cause the brake system to fail, posing the risk of injury. Cycling Sports Group imports the bikes, and says that they have received five reports of broken hubs, though there has been no report of injury.
Broken wheel hubs mean that the wheel can loosen, or completely detach, from the bicycle frame and cause a disastrous crash.
If you are injured from a defective product, all entities involved in the product’s distribution chain can be held liable – this can mean the manufacturer, the assembler, the wholesaler, the distributor, and the retailer. Types of product defects include design defects, manufacturing defects, and marketing defects – when a company does not apply informative warning labels or communicate to the consumer any hazards inherent to the product.
The CPSC report says to stop using the bicycle immediately and return it to the nearest authorized GT dealer for a free front and rear wheel replacement.