SRAM issues voluntary recall for Force front brake calipers

By James Huang

SRAM has discovered that certain Force front brake calipers may have been equipped with defective titanium mounting bolts and has issued a voluntary recall in response. According to SRAM officials, only a handful of brakes have failed in the field, and all failures occurred during installation. Regardless, affected brakes may separate from the fork during use and should be replaced immediately. Please note that rear brakes are not affected by the recall.

Brakes subject to the recall can be identified through the date code stamped on the back of the caliper and will include one of the following:

• No date code at all (indicates early production).
• Original date code range: 01JUN06 through 15SEP06.
• Current date code range: 35T6XXXXXXX through 39T6XXXXXXX.

Affected brake calipers must be replaced as a complete unit as the mounting bolts are not replaceable. Corrective action will be taken as follows:

SRAM sales representatives will contact OEM clients directly to set up a replacement plan for bicycles currently in inventory as well as those that have already been delivered. Distributors are asked to please contact dealers who have purchased Force road brake sets and/or complete groups to arrange for replacement of front brake calipers. Dealers will be contacted either directly by SRAM or a SRAM distributor with a corrective action plan. Dealers are asked to compile a list of customers who may be affected by the recall. Affected consumers should contact the retail outlet from which the brake was purchased or their local dealer to arrange for replacement.

All affected front brake assemblies should be contained and returned to a SRAM distributor or regional SRAM sales office. In all cases, SRAM has reported that replacement front brake assemblies are currently in stock and have already begun shipping to end users in order to minimize down time.