1.5 million bikes recalled due to quick release issues

Seventeen bike brands have announced a joint recall of over 1.5 million bikes. The recall affects disc-braked bikes and the problem is the front quick release skewer, which can enter the disc rotor when fully opened.

The brands issuing the recall are:

• Access
• Breezer
• Cannondale
• Civia
• Diamondback
• Felt
• Fuji
• Giant
• GT
• Haro
• Jamis
• Novara
• Norco
• Raleigh
• Ridley
• SE Bikes
• Specialized

A catch-all website has been set up at quickreleaserecall.com which gives full details of the issue. It affects bikes that have disc brakes and use a standard internal cam quick release lever; these are likely to be bikes at the cheaper end of the various brands' product ranges.

The internal cam lever, when open, will rotate far enough for it to enter the disc rotor. Were it to accidentally open while riding, this could cause the front wheel to lock, with unsavoury consequences. There's no issue if the quick release is correctly closed.

The website suggests a pencil test to check for the issue: with the front quick release fully open and rotated as far towards the disc as possible, the should still be a pencil's width of space between the two. Any closer than that and you need to replace your quick release with an external cam design which won't rotate as far when open. The brands listed above will be supplying quick releases free of charge for affected bikes, although the website isn't currently clear whether that's worldwide or just in the US.

If this all sounds familiar, that's because it is: Trek Bikes identified the problem and issued a recall back in April after three riders suffered injuries from quick releases working loose. There are still other brands using the same quick release design that are yet to publish a recall.