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TECH NEWS

Trek recalls some 2013 Madones

Front brake can fail - consumers advised to stop riding and take bike to dealer

 

Trek Bicycles is recalling some models of 2013 Madone bike because of problems with the front brake.

The recall involves model year 2013 Trek Madone bicycles with model numbers 5.2, 5.9, 6.2, 6.5, 7.7 or 7.9, and serial numbers starting with WTU and ending with G or H. A list of all serial numbers included in the recall is at Trek's website.

Trek’s UK media maven Chris Garrison told us that UK riders who had affected Madones “should take it into a retailer for inspection. If it's got the problem bolt, we will replace the brake for them.”

Chris added that Trek UK had already sent out notices to customers that they knew had purchased this bike via a Trek retailer.

If you have one of the affected bikes, you should stop riding it immediately. The problem affects the front brake cable clamp bolt on the brake quick-release, which could come loose. This could allow the cable clamp to detach and potentially result in the loss of use of the front brake.

Trek has received five reports of loose bolts.

Some of the recalled models are custom-ordered Project One Madones. The model number is printed on the bicycle frame. The serial number is printed on a sticker underneath the frame of the bicycle. The bicycles were sold in a variety of colors.

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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17 comments

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madhouse | 10 years ago
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Ok so Trek have a faulty part. Big deal. They're admitting the error and resolving the issue.
I have two Treks, managed to buy both of them in the right size and with the right geometry for me, I guess that's the advantage I gained from going to my LBS (who know about all this stuff) and them sticking me on the bike that was right for me - in both cases, a Trek. They're fantastic bikes and I love them.

It's a shame knightbiker had a bad experience, some of which does seem to be product related and some self-inflicted. But I'm sure we could find an unhappy cannondale/project x/pinarello/Raleigh customer in just as little time.

I'm not affected by all this - so enough of forums, I'm off out on my bike.

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KnightBiker replied to madhouse | 10 years ago
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@ madhouse -
i don't agree with 'some of it being self-inflicted' i do agree with not being serviced by my dealer as well as it should have been in the case of the last frame I got back. The case of my bottom brackets failing 3 times is by no means self-inflicted and is a failure that I have heard from more Trek-owners. (which doesn't apply to their current range as far as i know, but then still i think the current frames leave to be desired in terms of how they are designed geometry-wise and innovation wise)

that said, i agree, most big manufacturers will probably have clients with similar grievances.

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notfastenough | 10 years ago
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Re the 'sportive geometry' discussion, bear in mind that Trek do 3 different geometries for the Madone; H1, H2, H3.

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mrmo replied to notfastenough | 10 years ago
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notfastenough wrote:

Re the 'sportive geometry' discussion, bear in mind that Trek do 3 different geometries for the Madone; H1, H2, H3.

and how much does the cheapest H1 cost? That really is my point, if you don't have a lot of money you can't get the "race geometry"

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CanAmSteve | 10 years ago
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Appears to be the front brake QR attachment is possibly faulty. Seems to be the Bontrager Speed Limit integrated brakes? This would never be an issue on a fixie.

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russyparkin | 10 years ago
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i hate trek

doper bikes, co owned by the worlds biggest doper.

oh and only available in beige.

the equivelant of a yawn on two wheels

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notfastenough | 10 years ago
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Just for balance, I bought a trek a few months ago and love it. The geometry is spot on for me.

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KnightBiker | 10 years ago
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I would advice any one with a trek to stop riding it. crappy frames, bad geometry, even worse saddle pen solution on these models, and usually the worst bottom brackets that come loose of the carbon after 2 years of riding.
(only reason to by a trek might be it's lifetime warranty scheme)

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cactuscat replied to KnightBiker | 10 years ago
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KnightBiker wrote:

I would advice any one with a trek to stop riding it. crappy frames, bad geometry, even worse saddle pen solution on these models, and usually the worst bottom brackets that come loose of the carbon after 2 years of riding.
(only reason to by a trek might be it's lifetime warranty scheme)

i'm interested to know how their frames are 'crappy', exactly? just curious. sounds to me like you just don't like Trek. that's your perogative, but don't dress up your prejudices as informed comment, eh. just say, "I hate Trek"

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KnightBiker replied to cactuscat | 10 years ago
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as a reaction on cactus cat:
Well - having had 5 different trek frames of which 3 had problems with their bottom brackets after 20.000 km each and the fourth one had a geometry for it's size that needed a 45 degree downward stem to give me the same position for same frame size compaired to their previous model. Also when wanting a longer seatpost, having to pay extra for their ridiculous solution that can't be used on any other bike.
so it's definitely more then just not liking the brand, more like first hand experience.

with their warranty scheme they can afford to build crappy frames because they give you back a new crappy frame. the thing is most people will forget about the waranty, or will never make the milage needed to get the wear and tear i did or will simply be fed up with it. (Nice earning model for a company don't you think?)

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mrmo replied to KnightBiker | 10 years ago
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KnightBiker wrote:

as a reaction on cactus cat:
Well - having had 5 different trek frames of which 3 had problems with their bottom brackets after 20.000 km each and the fourth one had a geometry for it's size that needed a 45 degree downward stem to give me the same position for same frame size compaired to their previous model. Also when wanting a longer seatpost, having to pay extra for their ridiculous solution that can't be used on any other bike.

In contrast I have a bontrager built by trek, 15years old, I have had two Lemonds built by trek, I did manage to snap one but the warranty got me a vastly better one. I also have had two Top fuels, easy jet killed one the other is going strong.

Your stem issue, blame the "sportive" geometry thing, I wish manufacturers would just build bikes with fairly low front ends and riders just use the stem to get the height up if needed!

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roos replied to mrmo | 10 years ago
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mrmo][quote=KnightBiker wrote:

as a reaction on cactus cat:
Well - having had 5 different trek frames of which 3 had problems with their bottom brackets after 20.000 km each and the fourth one had a geometry for it's size that needed a 45 degree downward stem to give me the same position for same frame size compaired to their previous model. Also when wanting a longer seatpost, having to pay extra for their ridiculous solution that can't be used on any other bike.

Why buy Five if the experience was that bad......  3

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JonD replied to mrmo | 10 years ago
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mrmo wrote:

Your stem issue, blame the "sportive" geometry thing, I wish manufacturers would just build bikes with fairly low front ends and riders just use the stem to get the height up if needed!

a) choice of hi-rise stems -130 mm up to 170-200 effective ?
b) it looks a bit crap
c) longer headtube is probably a better engineering solution wrt to headtube and headset

To be fair, manufacturers tend to offer *other* models with non-'sportive' geometry, so it can't exactly be that difficult to get what you want. If the name offends you, just get some stickers made up  3

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mrmo replied to JonD | 10 years ago
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JonD wrote:

a) choice of hi-rise stems -130 mm up to 170-200 effective ?
b) it looks a bit crap
c) longer headtube is probably a better engineering solution wrt to headtube and headset

To be fair, manufacturers tend to offer *other* models with non-'sportive' geometry, so it can't exactly be that difficult to get what you want. If the name offends you, just get some stickers made up  3

Problem is that the cheaper bikes from the mainstream brands seem to be built along sportive lines rather than race lines. Don't get me wrong if you want a sportive bike fine, but if you don't or prefer a low front end sharper steering etc.

Could be worse I guess, cheap XC race bikes.

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cactuscat replied to KnightBiker | 10 years ago
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KnightBiker wrote:

the fourth one had a geometry for it's size that needed a 45 degree downward stem to give me the same position for same frame size compaired to their previous model. Also when wanting a longer seatpost, having to pay extra for their ridiculous solution that can't be used on any other bike.

you bought the wrong size bike, then? naughty old trek, making bikes that aren't your size.

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KnightBiker replied to cactuscat | 10 years ago
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Cactuscat wrote:
'you bought the wrong size bike, then? naughty old trek, making bikes that aren't your size.'

your'e not paying attention: needing a higher seatpost and a lower stem does not constitute the need for another frame size. i couldn't go higher because the frame would be too long for my corpus, not for my legs. but a racy position was suddenly out of the question because the frontend got 12 cm higher.
with their seat-post system the height of the seat post is limited. + i didn't buy it it was the fourth frame i got back because the previous 3 frames had the same bottom bracket failure.

As i said i they have good waranty, because i got most of them back but no frame should fail within 20.000 km of usage with no accidents. their frames dit 3 times in a row, if it would happen to you you wouldn't be happy with it either.

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JonD replied to KnightBiker | 10 years ago
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KnightBiker wrote:

as a reaction on cactus cat:
Well - having had 5 different trek frames of which 3 had problems with their bottom brackets after 20.000 km each and the fourth one had a geometry for it's size that needed a 45 degree downward stem to give me the same position for same frame size compaired to their previous model.

Bottom bracket, or bottom bracket insert ?

Not sure why you're complaining about a geometry change, they're not contractually obliged to keep it the same from year to year...didn't you check it first ?

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