In April, a 58-year-old Massachusetts man tragically died after crashing his Cervelo Soloist bicycle. According to police, it is believed that a failure in the steerer tube/fork most likely was to blame for the bicycle crash. Investigations are being conducted to determine if the bicycle fork was defective, including investigations by Cervelo and the attorney for the victim's family.

Following the horrific accident - which occurred on April 9 in Rehoboth, MA - an off-duty police officer encountered the victim with a grave head injury on the side of the road. According to Lt. James Trombetta, Rehoboth's acting police chief, the bicycle was found near a tree with its front wheel detached from the rest of the bike. Even though separated from the bike, the wheel remained attached to the fork blades.

Initially, detectives and a state police accident reconstruction team analyzed whether this accident could have been the result of a hit-and-run, but they soon determined this was not likely - leading to their working hypothesis that a mechanical failure in the fork contributed to the fatal accident.

Past Cervelo Bicycle Fork Recall

The most recent crash calls into question the structural integrity of Cervelo bicycle parts - namely the bicycle fork. Reminiscent of this situation was a 2008 recall of Cervelo bicycle forks.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the 2008 recall involved about 5,800 Cervelo bicycles with Wolf SL Carbon Fiber bicycle forks. According to the CPSC, the forks - which were manufactured in Guangzhou, China - had an increased risk of breaking, even during normal use. At the time of the 2008 recall, Cervelo had already received 12 reports of the forks breaking or cracking.

While it remains to be seen whether the Cervelo fork in the most recent accident was defective, there is no denying the eerie similarities between this incident and recalls in the past.

Source: Bicycle Retailer, http://www.bicycleretailer.com/news/newsDetail/6819.html, Steve Frothingham, May 21, 2012