Monday, February 13, 2006

Wal Mart escapes Quick-Release danger

From Bicycleretailer.com

FEBRUARY 13, 2006 -- SAN RAFAEL, CA (BRAIN)—After nearly nine weeks of trial and about a day and a half of deliberation, a Marin County jury of eight women and four men exonerated Wal-Mart, Dynacraft and Dynacraft’s claims adjuster Carl Warren & Co. of all charges. The plaintiffs alleged that the three companies conspired to conceal that the quick-release mechanisms on Next brand full-suspension bicycles imported by Dynacraft and sold by Wal-Mart were defective and allowed the front wheels to come off.The jury found no fault on the part of any of the defendants, and therefore offered no compensation to any of the nine plaintiffs. The decision is important to the industry because it confirms that a correctly adjusted and installed quick-release is not inherently dangerous.“We are pleased that the jury overwhelmingly agreed that every allegation in this case was unsubstantiated and reinforced that these bikes were safe and not defective,” Sarah Clark, a Wal-Mart spokesperson, said in a statement. “It is unfortunate when anyone is hurt in a bike accident, but these allegations simply had no merit.”

An additional allegation was that they were using untrained assemblers, and were not giving Owner's Manuals to new bike buyers. Not much of that is mentioned here. Rumors are that all future Wal-Mart bikes will have some sort of locking front quick-release lever, making them a slower-than-quick-release lever that will likely break easier due to the additional parts.

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