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OPI steer tube recall

190K views 57 replies 23 participants last post by  755872 
#1 ·
#16 ·
http://forums.mtbr.com/cannondale/bad-lefty-failure-877722.html

For Cannondale to say there has been no reported failures or injuries is an outright lie. The link above happened to one of our local riders here in south florida. I have to admit that this is always in the back of mind every time the creak would start in the headset. I wonder if this wedge will prevent me from having to tear down the front end every 30-45 days and grease the shaft to get rid of the creak? I personally think the recall should have been a change to the 2016 set up. Which i was thinking of doing anyways.
 
#17 ·
^That had nothing to do with the steerer. His crown was worn through by the brake hose rubbing it. It sounds like Cannondale is concerned that the threaded portion of the steerer could develope cracks over time, then snap. Perhaps they have seen the cracks in real world use but none have snapped yet.
 
#18 ·
^Perhaps they have seen the cracks in real world use but none have snapped yet.
Maybe they did more FEA on it and that's how they came up with the 2016 design as well as finding some weak points in the old one.

Thanks to everyone for the info. Looks like 3 bikes in our house need the plug then. I hope that plug isn't heavy - obviously safety is paramount but we all spend a LOT of money building up these nice light bikes. It gets to the point where another 50g is really hard to save :(

I'm surprised they didn't just make a new steerer that's reinforced there - they've done it once already...
 
#28 ·
The 2016 system is a longer steerer tube, mounted from the bottom passing up through and emerging a semi-standard 1,5 inch tube to bolt on a stem of your choice. I chose a 110 -6 stem and mounted it reverse to give me a slight upward angle on the bars.

The OPI stem, tube and shims are all discarded with this change.
 
#35 ·
The 2016 system is a longer steerer tube, mounted from the bottom passing up through and emerging a semi-standard 1,5 inch tube to bolt on a stem of your choice. I chose a 110 -6 stem and mounted it reverse to give me a slight upward angle on the bars.

The OPI stem, tube and shims are all discarded with this change.
I was just looking at some videos of 2016 Scalpels yesterday and I saw they didn't have the OPI stem. They looked like the same thing as my 2000 SuperV stem.
 
#30 ·
Expatriot, I found some small white numbers on the bottom of the tube, visible from the outside. (RK1-134) I believe that is what the LBS is referring to and am waiting for a call back from the LBS to verify.

Just trying to not have to make an extra trip to the store.

As well, I don't quite get this recall. The information on the Cannondale web site specifically says..."OPI steerers affected by this recall have reduced fatigue life which could lead to breakage of the fork clamps or bolts over time."

If the fork clamps or bolts are already compromised, how is this wedge kit going to reverse the fatigue of these parts?
 
#31 ·
Original text copied from manual recalls

"Testing has shown that the nature of the connection between the base of the OPI stem and the top of the steering tube results in a reduced fatigue life. This could lead to fork failure, with risk of a serious accident or injury. To address this risk, all OPI equipped forks must be fitted with a special wedge kit that locks and reinforces the threaded connection between the OPI stem and the steering tube. This remedy restores appropriate fatigue life."

I don´t see any reference to the Lefty clamps or bolts.

If the OPI tube were to separate from the OPI steerer at the threaded point, my point of view would be the possibility of the lefty to break free from the bike. However this at no point is related to the lefty clamps, other than the fact that they would move freely with the broken steerer tube on the bottom and the sheered OPI stem on the top. Worst case scenario, and stated to never have happened.
 
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