Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Equipment - Product Liability

I'm no lawyer so I'll let one do the talking. This relates to those two pieces by Mavic about their much-maligned R-Sys wheelset, originally recalled by Mavic. I have some thoughts on the wheels but I'll save that for another day.

The article about the post-recall wheel failure.

The response from Mavic.

Overall I thought the whole wheel thing felt, well, negative, especially from Mavic's point of view. I had no concrete idea of why it felt that way; I couldn't dissect Mavic's response in a logical way.

However, someone with some legal experience did, and he sums up the fiasco quite nicely:

Article on product liability.

1 comment:

WMdeR said...

Dear Aki,

If any well-hyped cycling product should be removed from the market with prejudice, it is the R-sys wheel. It Costs more, it is fragile, one can't pile the bikes in the back of the car for the drive, even with wheel bags. If it fails Mavic will send a bunch of folks out to tell you it is all your fault. Non-brittle spokes are good. Soft failure modes are good. I recall watching a Spinergy disintegrate under a rider in front of me. There is no reprieve--it is an immediate faceplant--and the Rsys are less overbuilt than those wheels were.

Cheers,

Will

William M. deRosset