Where did you buy your bike? I got mine from the Chester Specialised store and have heard nothing.

Mark - would you please confirm whether Specialized will be providing support for those of us presently registered for Ironman 70.3 Oceanside next week?

As I mentioned earlier in this thread as soon as the stop sale notice came to light I ordered a different set of aerobars as I did not want to suffer the same uncertainty that I experienced when the seat post screws failed (then, the first time I was able to ride the bike was the day before I was due to rack the bike at Ironman Austria - definitely suboptimal). Unfortunately, the different set of aerobars I ordered do not now appear to be a solution as there is a compatibility problem with my groupset.

As others have stated this is starting to be more than an inconvenience.

Per the Important Safety Notice on the Specialized website

"Please visit the Safety Notices page on Specialized.com for official information, and look for our next update on Monday, March 16, if not sooner. Thank you again for your patience and support. Specialized Road Product & Rider Care Teams"

By my calendar it is March 16th - and crickets. Patience is beginning to fail and support would be next to go. Critical training events being lost and races coming up quick. If the low-stack clamp attachment works can you not make that available for people who want to take advantage of that as a solution? I don't want to be strung along waiting for a fix that doesn't come in time and have to be trying something new on race day.

26 days until race day. I have been checking every day. Pretty upset that Specialized stated we would know something by now and they just left us hanging.

Anyone in the UK should contact Specialized customer service: Customerserviceuk@specialized.com or 020 8391 3529

I contacted them, mentioned I was racing soon, and they were really helpful and have arranged for me to have the bars changed locally.

Seems to me that communication is a bit poor because Specialized haven't issued a formal recall at this time (just a stop sale notice) due to them not having an approved fix. The LBS's and distributors can't officially contact everyone with a solution unless Specialized have issued one, which they are clearly still working on. No man's land.

This is what I don't understand, if they are dangerous then surely they should be contacting customers to tell them to stop using them, not just shops to stop selling them. I only know about this as I read this forum. I imagine a lot of customers are blissfully unaware there is a problem.

I'm not faulting my LBS, they are just relaying info at this point.

Like everything, I feel that if you registered your bike, Specialized should've emailed/mailed/called everyone affected, LBS may or may not have that info...

If it wasn't for Slowtwitch, I likely would have never heard of this...

I'll be patiently waiting for a call today, hopefully with some good news.

According to my LBS they aren't dangerous unless you like to pull the aero bars in or out while you ride. They will not take the lateral forces and eventually break. Not many people do that, I would guess, and if you have something between the bars , like a water bottle holder, that provides lateral stiffening to the bars themselves, it is even less likely.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

That makes sense. However, my concern is what would happen if I am unfortunate and the unlikely happens. Presumably the stop sale notice would allow Specialized to avoid liability for the consequences?

Just Posted

Dear Specialized Rider,
We continue to work closely with regulatory agencies throughout the world towards the objective of getting you back on your Carbon Aerobars with Aero Stem or Hydroformed Alloy Aerobars as safely and quickly as possible. We are working on a timetable to deliver our solution and are working night and day for our riders.
To reiterate our proposed permanent solution: the Shiv low-stack extension clamps with supplementary hardware are capable of placing your extensions in the same position you currently ride them for the vast majority of our riders. They are also highly compatible with most accessory mounting configurations.
Thank you again for your patience and support. Specialized Road Product & Rider Care Teams

Yes just saw that. Truly disappointed at this time. Not sure how long this will continue but will start finding my own solution soon (new bars, new bike) which will be quicker than this.

Looks low stack is the answer, unfortunately.....they are out of stock. Guessing they are waiting on the CSPC.....which is probably some government union shop who are paid by the hour and not by the amount of work they get done.

Having now given up on my LBS I decided to call Specialized directly. The person I spoke with confirmed that they are trying to work on something for Oceanside but could not tell me what nor give me any guarantee that those of us taking part will have a solution. He took my name and contact details and promised I would be the first to know / they would contact when they could. If I do not hear anything by this Friday I will be calling back. I need to pack the bike this weekend.

All communication in my case was through my LBS. They're just a local independent shop, but the deal came through their specialized rep who agreed the bar swap and the store credit. Got my bike back today with new Profile Aeria cockpit and £100 worth of free goodies for the "inconvenience"!
That's what I call a permanent solution!

It's too bad there is not a consistent and rapid answer. Some hear a response others hear nothing. Some have their handlebars replaced and others are told that they will be fixed at some point in the future but not sure when. Really interested to see if Specialized cam right the ship. Customer satisfaction and (potential customers) on the line.

To be fair, all specialized retailers will have had the stop sale notice, and instruction to advise owners not to ride. What they do with that info isn't really specialized's control. My LBS called me but were quite relaxed, saying it's probably based on a single incident and not to worry too much. They even said to carry on training on it. It was only after I followed up a week later, and directed them to the spec site and the update which clearly states they have been deemed unsafe to ride on, and showed them info about the spec set ups at IM events to do the work on the spot, then politely but firmly made them aware that I have a race mid April, and one way or another would like this rectified by then. To be fair they were great, faultless in fact, but did need a bit of a push, which is fair enough if you ask me. They're busy too.
And can you imagine the global scale of a problem like this! Must be crazy trying to get to every set of these bars ever made and individually sort them out all over the world. Nothing less than they should do, but WOW, what a mission! I think a lot of companies would brush it under the carpet rather than standing up and being accountable. Easy to say when I've had a good result though. If my bike was off the road for my first races this year I'd be PI$$3D!

Just out of curiosity, what remedy would you expect from your LBS? New bike? Demo bike to use in the mean time?

I've seen this issue come up a couple of times and I'm just curious what people are expecting their LBS to do for them in a situation like this? This is not a loaded question, genuinely trying to understand what everyone wants.

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__________________________

I tweet!

It seems like Specialized is being more proactive in Europe around getting people new bars (at least from the stories on this thread). Has anyone in the US been successful in getting a replacement? I called both Specialized and my bike shop about this and neither seem to be that bothered by having a 2nd issue on a multi-thousand dollar bicycle that takes a least a month to fix in each case. FL 70.3 is now less than 4 weeks away and its getting to the point where it makes more sense to just buy another set of bars out of pocket (which doesn't seem right).

Well as you've replied this to my post I'll go first.

I expect a rapid and permanent fix in a timely fashion, suitable for my needs and to work around my race schedule.

Seeing as that's exactly what I got I have no complaint.

I would say the main thing I look for is some sort of empathy from the LBS and a willingness to try and find a solution for their client. Its obviously not their fault that there is a stop ride, but when they respond in a way that makes it seem like they don't want to be bothered with it, I (and I'm guessing others) start getting frustrated.

I have personally heard 2 messages from my LBS when asking about this.

1. Specialized will fix it eventually (from LBS)
2. We can sell you new handlebars and you would have to pay for the labor of installing them (no mention of discount or any concession due to the issue with the bike they sold me, from LBS)

It would make a big difference to me if my LBS had taken some initiative in finding a solution for me, or at least taken in interest in what type of solutions would mitigate the concerns of not having a useable bike heading into a race.

All,

I 100% empathize with everyone on this thread. In the northern hemisphere, this is the time of year to get the base miles in and races are already happening or rapidly approaching. We've done our best to reach our affected riders and retailers. We are working closely with the CPSC to formalize the corrective action within the United States. Please continue to follow our updates on Specialized.com under the Safety Notices section.

If you feel you need more support, please PM me and we'll make sure that your unique situation is taken care of. We don't want anyone to be missing out on key preparation for their most important events.

Mark

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Mark Cote
MITAerobike
Specialized Bicycle Components

So my local Specialized concept store is offering to replace with a profile carbon bar on my Shiv Pro, which I appreciate, so I can get back on the road. If I want to use the credit and get better bars, I can. My issue is I know very little about bars, any recommendations.

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"Don't mistake activity for achievement"
-John Wooden

The LBS is not at fault for sure however they choose to sell a brand and they should offer support by all available means. That does not mean free bars or free bike but should offer more than "I cant help, call again" like they are being inconvenienced. The big issue is for those with races nearing, then maybe, they should be offered something "above and beyond" the normal expectations.
So time will tell but can already see those taken care are happy as a clam and the others that are not are feeling stranded.

Is Specialized replacing the entire bar or just the stack angle portion? I have to say my "concept" store gave me the "we don't know.. we were told maybe April" WTF??

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Team Every Man Jack

http://www.teamemj.com

What I don't understand is why Specialized don't have a consistent policy worldwide on this. There are plenty of new bars out there, and If they just made the same offer to the many that has been made to the few, ie swap out the bars, then everyone would be happy. If they can do for some they should do for all. Same bike, same problem, same cost no matter what the currency. Spending weeks "developing" a fix that already exists that changes the set up of the bars anyway just makes the people waiting more frustrated.