noodle soup

I'm not trying to make this a big flame thread, just a PSA.

Specialized Issue Product Safety Recall For Select Roubaix, Ruby, Diverge, and Sirrus Models - Bicycling Australia

Campag4life

I have been an outspoken critic of the Future Shock. I believe it was an unnecessary gamble for Specialized in an effort to separate themselves from the competition in the endurance category. I am somewhat biased because I own a Roubaix SL3 Pro I bought back in late 2011 and it has been the best overall bike I have ever owned. The bike doesn't need a shock. The design of the bike attenuates road shock measurably without the downside of a g-dam pogo stick on the front of the bike sullying its design. If you need a mountain bike, buy one....rigid or with shocks with high volume tires and then you can go off 3 foot cliffs. Unlike many who denigrate Specialized, I am a fan of their company and their tech in particular and own two of their bikes and a few products they sell like their shoes and saddles.

And of course the Future shock has been criticized on this forum for its questionable reliability. Some if not much of this is rooted in improper set up and lack of maintenance. In some ways Future shock which has indeed lived up to its name of being a future shock to owners...future shock is really the press fit BB of headsets. Some would say a problem in pursuit of a solution. My view. Of course I have ridden countless miles off road on big tired rigid mountain bikes including gravel crunching and I know how effective larger tires with lower pressure are to reducing road assault. Anybody who has ever struggled with a shock on a bike knows if you can do without, best to, as most shocks are a PITA...and a lot of added complexity and best to avoid if possible.

But that is the industry today. Companies like Specialized will take that risk. Why we have press fit. I was at the Cervelo dealer having a long talk with the head mechanic yesterday and he said that BB30 has been such a scourge in the industry and entirely needless. Who can argue.

Now to credit Specialized. Why do we buy an expensive bike like a Specialized? For precisely this reason. They stick to their work. They mind the store. Why? Because as industry leaders, they have a whole lot to lose. Not so much rooted in altruism but rather survival. Hurting people causes a lot of lost revenue including a lot of lost sales.

But credit where credit is do. Specialized spoke up. Recalls are a huge black eye and very expensive to a company like Specialized. A last resort of sorts. But, if they don't and headsets fail, they have even a greater problem on their hands. So why they do it and we are all glad they do.

Point is, if you work in similar industry, mistakes are made every hour of every day. Designs get out in the field that prematurely fail. This occurs for a couple of reasons. A, either the design is improperly vetted which is common, design verification testing doesn't replicate real world conditions because it is a simulation and not real time and second, testing is based upon a given tolerance and material property baseline that gets violated in production. This nexus many times spawns unexpected issues.

Just stands to reason when you have a relatively complex widget like a future shock cartridge taking hits on a bicycle in the rain over time that could be adjusted better, it may fail...either now or later. Without a future shock aka conventional headset, fewer failures. No free lunch.

In summary, credit Specialized for speaking out. As with their fork recall, no company is immune to shipping discrepant and less than robust products to their customers. In fact, Specialized should have recalled all of their carbon OSBB S-works bikes because they couldn't tame that crappy bottom bracket design they continued to change until they discontinued it. But they didn't. Credit them for addressing...or trying to...this future shock issue.

Thanks noodle soup for posting this.

PS: another instance of greater complexity on a bike creating an issue...obtusely related but noteworthy even though the exception as I am sure Future shock failures are in the minority as many have attested that own a FS bike here:

https://forums.roadbikereview.com/ge...il-366914.html

Jazzguitar

FlashBazbo

"...future shock is really the press fit BB of headsets."

Sadly, it seems that the marketing department's goal of product differentiation is the root of most mechanical and safety issues with new bikes. (Okay, the non-standard BB was borne of a cost savings per bike, so we can't necessarily blame that on the marketeers.) Non-standard BB's, poorly functioning concealed seatpost clamps (and other "integrated" gimmicks), various shock absorbing gimmicks, . . . the list goes on. They don't ALL malfunction, but enough novel "innovations" fail to make their purchase unnecessarily risky. I cringe now anytime a manufacturer touts new levels of "integration." C'mon, manufacturers! Cut it out!

noodle soup

Cool story bro.

BTW, your bike still might be included in the recall.

Campag4life

Exactly. And what this 'hustle' does, is put more onus on the consumer to decide if these so called innovations are worth it. A bit of a con job really to the uninitiated. Average roadbike buyers aren't guys like us. I help so many that don't know anything about bikes. Of course brand new innovation is hard to gauge if the benefit versus cost aka value is there. But that is the dynamic at play. Specialized for 'years' struggled with their 'proprietary' version of 'narrow' PF30 on their 'top of the line' flagship S-works bikes. A self induced wound born out of greed. And for what? Pure market diversity from their Pro and Elite versions of essentially the same bike. In this case the customer got 'much much less than more' A PITA to keep on the road. Specialized who couldn't keep the thing from creaking ultimately spec'ed 'Epoxy' for the BB. Then they finally relented because of all the fall out. So many unhappy customers who paid $8K for a race bike only to have it creak on every pedal stroke. What do they do now? They put the same BB in the S-works as they do the Pro and Elite. They gave up this market differentiation. In other words a S-works with one tick of carbon modulus difference and handful of grams is the same bike as the Pro and the Elite that you pay $1-2K more for.

Btw, Specialized isn't the only company guilty of this. Campy who also makes a superior product in my opinion and does the same thing. Record and SR cost much more than Chorus and most that understand the brand know that Chorus is the sweet spot by far.

So the customer has to be 'very careful' and truthfully can't possibly know what he/she is getting themselves into. Average Joe who is overweight with little core strength and too much weight on his hands takes a new FS Roubaix around the block and over some rough roads and goes gee, this thing rides like floating on a cloud. Of course the cost of ownership maybe something much different.

Jazzguitar

Way to add to the conversation. Thanks for posting info about the recall, my bike is and I'll get the collar replaced and not think another thought about it. The point of my post was to show that, contrary to what some folks here proclaim, very few people are having problems with their systems and it appears that the people who are most critical have zero experience actually with the product.

noodle soup

You could have said exactly that, instead of the story about your bike not having any issues.

FTR, 2000 miles over 18 months, is very little use.

Jazzguitar

2k miles of mostly trails. I can see that you're just looking to be a pain, I'm checking out now.

noodle soup

Bye.

FTR, I haven't said anything negative about Specialized, or the future shock design.

This is simply a PSA thread.

mstateglfr 

I just let 2 coworkers know since one has an '18 Roubaix thats affected and the other has a '19 Roubaix thats affected.
My GM was in a bit of disbelief when i said his $4200 Di2 Ultegra road bike thats less than a week old already has to go back to the shop due to a recall.

Just Mark

A shout out to Conte's Bike Shop Chesapeake for giving me a call to let me know about the recall on my 2017 Roubaix Comp. They let me know they have already ordered the parts and will call when they come in. That is service. The question is; am I going to ride it before the repair?

fastfour

So on that chart does an X denote the bike is affected or is it the gray line?

exRunner

noodle soup

great service from that shop.



I probably wouldn't, but only because I have many other bikes to ride.

Esthetic

Win some , you lose some. At the same time no lesson learned from the Silk roads.

Best thing to come out of this was the Gobbler. Looks aside, after riding on one, i'd put one on my CaadX or gravel bike.

Sy Reene

One of those instances where I wonder.. is this done because of having filled out the warranty registration, eg. link below? Isn't this the point, and/or is Specialized, thru it's dealer network or directly, sending emails or calling its warranty registrants? You'd think that failure to do so could lead to a number of potential legal issues later..

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bike

TakingMyTime

I do not have a dog in this fight and absolutely no opinion as to the reliability or implementation of the "Future Shock".

Do you think this will effect the implementation of this technology on future models?

Campag4life

No. Marketing aka convincing people something is better and they need it will always be. PT Barnum. Caveat Emptor.
Greed meet people that don't know any better. Nobody is really immune. A ton of people ride roadbikes would be better served on a Dutch style bike with more upright position for the simple reason they don't generate much power anyway. Heck I don't really need a world class road bike either because I am no world class rider...but I own a couple. The endurance genre was effectively invented to bridge this gap. This was partly created by Walter Mitty marketing. Joe six pack on a road bike. Not unlike all the guys who own a world class race bike with big drop and never use the drops.

Look at Porsche sales. Who really needs to drive a Porsche on the street. Hey, look at high heels that women wear. Now some things that aren't good for you are still worth having.
Btw, you should get a dog. I am not a fan of Pit bulls but a friend in the neighborhood has one and its really the nicest dog in the neighborhood.

Campag4life

No, more basic than that. If Joe blow who has a FS Roubaix crashes due to a headset failure, the bike shop loses a customer because dead guys don't ride bicycles. Kidding.

winston63 

I got a call from my local shop as well (Russ Hays Bicycles). They let me know the parts are on the way and will call me as soon as they get them. Like you I am debating whether or not to ride it before the repair.

Probably I won't, but I've got a ride scheduled on Sunday that the Diverge would be perfect for, but at least I do have other bikes I can choose.

sirkaos

I have on numerous occasions removed and inspected this clamp. This is not a complicated issue.
When I removed the front fork for regular service of the upper and lower headset bearings, I also cleaned and inspected every piece as common sense and the manufactures instructions show.
The clamp is to tightened to 55 inch pounds. 6.2 nm. It also specifies that a "high quality" grease be used on the areas specified as shown on the attached document. I have found the instructions straight forward and pretty easy to understand. The lubrication of the particular points of contact on this clamp are extremely important leading to the correct torqueing of the clamp on the steerer tube.
As the OP indicates, he is just posting a PSA for everyone who owns this product to be aware of and to address as necessary. I have just under 9000 miles and no issues.
All this nonsensical discussion and self serving opinions with no basis for facts is not helpful. One individual has made it his mission in life to trash the "Future Shock".

**Additional Note** - Just spoke to Specialized tech support and the reason why they are replacing this clamp with a new one is improve the corrosion resistance properties of the clamp. He didn't know if they were Cad plating the clamp or something else. I also mentioned that I would not hang my bike after riding in wet weather since the moisture could run back down into the head tube area and still potentially cause corrosion.

Campag4life

Not really my mission. As the voice of the industry, I am compelled to educate the masses. If manufacturers put a pin ball machine on a road bike there would be people who would buy them as well. I would advise to steer clear. Many have trashed the FS on the internet. I am merely agreeing with them. I am however glad you have enjoyed yours. Since many can't even figure out to assemble a future shock and even bike shops screw up adjustment, and pretty clear you understand the design or at least your maintenance efforts have not contributed to the problem, I believe at least its fair to compare FS to a press fit BB. Perhaps you don't agree with that either. Difference of opinion is what makes the world go around. I have had a lot of shocks on bicycles. I personally try to avoid them if I can...largely for maintenance but I prefer riding rigid. My body is the shock absorber on the bicycle.

For all those guys who feel they need a shock on a road bike, take a BMX class. Those guys get it:

Atlas Shrugged

tedder987

Its OK if you don't like the FS. I happen to love mine and have 10,476.9 mi (says Strava) trouble free miles on a '17 Roubaix comp that will be 2 years old on Monday. Already got the call from the shop and will get the replacement collar on Tuesday. Now the original wheels were crap but as an old-ish (51) biggish (6'3", 205lb) guy who is very bothered by handlebar vibration, I expect to have some form of micro-suspension on the front end of my bikes for the rest of my life. You (any of you) don't have to, but I don't get why the haters are so religious about the FS. If you don't want one, don't get one.

As to the recall, I also spoke to Spz and the rider care rep said that supposedly there were 5-6 instances where cracks were discovered during maintenance, but there have been no crashes or injuries. Not sure if they would admit it if there were if they didn't have to, but that is what they said. I added about 15 miles since the recall and will ride it in for the service next week weather permitting.