First ever skateboard wheel recall?
Well… not all press is good press. From the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission web site:
Loaded Boards Recalls Orangatang Skateboard Wheels; Blow-outs Pose Risk of Injury to Riders
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.
Hazard: The recalled skateboard wheel’s core can shear and blow-out causing the wheel to separate from the skateboard truck’s axle and bearings. This poses a risk of serious injury to riders.
It looks like about 1200 sets were affected. Loaded Boards has received 10 reports of wheels separating, but somehow (luckily) no injuries have been reported. If you’ve got a set affected by the recall, you’ll get a replacement for free. Visit the Orangatang Wheels web site for more information on the recall. Alternately, contact Loaded Boards Inc. toll-free at (877) 855-0708 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, e-mail the firm at coreissue@loadedboards.com.
– Thanks to Mrs GVK for the tip.
It just seems almost ‘wrong’ to see this, sure it’s good to see the company take care of it’s customers and their concern. That’s not what I’m getting at.
It’s the whole Fisher Price feeling I’m getting about this. I haven’t looked in a while, but are bearings labeled as a choking hazard? Poison control info on curb wax?
I know it’s the responsible thing for companies to do. Above and beyond the ‘cover your ass’ legal necessitation… just a byproduct of the society we’ve built. We’re ever widening as a culture of world-class pussies. Suing is the national past-time after all.
If Bridgestone can survive, so will these guys. I hear you Eric. But in this case I think it might make some sense, I’m guessing these wheels might be aimed at the downhill crowd, and that seems like a bad place to have skateboard wheel separate from it’s core. I mean, I wouldn’t want it to happen in the middle of a bowl either, but downhill can really heat up the wheel so it might be more likely to happen in a prolonged situation like that.
But seriously, with the disclaimers in advertisements and TV shows… enough already. Take responsibility for your own actions.
They’re good guys at Loaded, the likelyhood of the those batches of wheels separating were pretty small in most cases but if you’re doing slides from 45mph and putting a lot of sideways pressure between the thane and the core it was definitely nice of them to do trade-ins.
When we were down in Malibu doing a lot of high-speed shredding, two of the Loaded guys blew cores out in a single day. They were lucky not to get hurt and I think Loaded’s decision was mostly motivated by their riders, which is awesome. It’s a dangerous lifestyle, the smallest problem = you vs fast-moving asphalt. It’s also still a small community, if someone did get hurt we would all probably know them and Loaded would regret putting their friends in harms way.
Disclaimers about choking on these wheels is a whole different story…
Bones and other dual durometer wheels separate too. I’ve seen a lot of Softcores “returned” for separation where I used to work. I think the only thing surprising is a manufacturer of hard goods is honoring a warranty voluntarily.