The president of component maker SRAM, which has been beset by a total recall of 38,000 sets of hydraulic road brakes, has appeared on YouTube to apologise to customers.
However some SRAM hydraulic road brake users are still upset. Paul Dolbear from London, who painstakingly built up an exact replica of the first bike ever to feature hydraulic rim brakes in the pro peloton – Mark Cavendish's Tour de France Specialized Venge – said his brakes have been recalled twice. "I don’t know what I'm getting and how long I'm waiting for it," the 42-year-old IT engineer told BikeRadar. "My brakes were recalled once, why didn't they fix it the first time?"
BikeRadar contacted SRAM who said they would be in touch with Dolbear personally to answer his questions.
SRAM president stan day explains the reason behind the recall and apologises to customers
Video: SRAM's Stan Day apologises to customers
In the video, released yesterday, SRAM president Stan Day said: "We believe firmly that hydraulic brakes are a better performing platform and safer way to stop your bike in all conditions.
"We apologise for the disruption caused by the product introduction and look forward to getting everyone rolling as soon as possible."
Day also explained that in October SRAM identified a problem with one of the seals in its disc brake system and issued a narrow recall. In December, cyclocros races in freezing conditions in the USA highlighted a bigger fault with seal material used in the brake levers which caused them to fail, presenting a safety risk. SRAM issued a total recall of 38,000 units after the second scare. Day estimates 19,000 bikes are affected and 5,000 sets were with consumers at the moment of recall.
The two recalls are thought to be unrelated, but Gerladine Bergeron, SRAM's European Road Tri Manager told BikeRadar the company was awaiting a full report of the second recall.
"We are still investigating the problem and the cause," she said. "We think it's two different things but until we get the final conclusions of our investigations on this new big recall we can't confirm it."