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Both companies have issued recalls on the Cowchipper, Cowbell and No.9 carbon bars sold since Dec 2017 and August 2022. The Salsa bars were also fitted as OE equipment on Salsa bikes.
Edit: It's not recall just yet, it's an instruction to stop riding with them
Edit: It’s not recall just yet, it’s an instruction to stop riding with them
A company won't issue the recall notice until there's a fix in place. The stop riding note is the 1st step in a recall, it says they recognise there's product out there that can fail and cause injury and they need to minimise that risk asap.
The bars were fitted to some of the Warbird and Cutthroat bikes that had the forks recalled not that long ago (2 different models of forks).
I've contacted the shop I bought from about mine who have inturn requested:
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">there are a couple of things that are needed, some photos of the bars and information on them.</span>
Photo of the 6-digit batch code found laser-etched on the underside of the handlebar's stem-clamping area.
What controls were installed on the handlebar?
Photo of the photo or photos of the handlebar setup clearly showing the controls and the product name. For Whisky, product details will be on the "back" side of the clamping area of the bar.
They don't have a replacement solution as of yet so we are waiting for them to get back to us.
Pootling along a bridleway on Tuesday, noticed right-hand drop was floppy. Whisky no9 12f bars had just sheared above the shifter!
Update, the break was under the top shifter fastening band. There was an indentation in the same place on both sides of the bar. I know this isn't due to overtightening. Noticed on another forum someone had the same marking.
So I've bought mine from a large US shop.... Whisky want me to go through the UK distributor.... We'll see how this pans out....
@mick sounds exactly like the reason for the stop ride notice to me.
Speaking directly to Whisky today, they've now asked if I can go through a local bike shop and put a claim in to Ison - Ison have a UK market only policy, so I'm not sure how that gonna work. Also can't see my lbs being happy about it, even though I have a good relationship with them.
*Edit just had an email from Slam69 who are my lbs and amazing as they are contacting Ison for me.....
Soooooo, after quite a few emails today Ive been contacted by a rep at QBP who own whisky/Salsa. Seems that they are going with a refund or replacement policy. I've opted for the replacement - but the new stock of bars won't be around until early next year. Refunds will take place immediately and facilitated through your original retailer.
Apparently my case is 'special' as I bought from the US but live in the UK so I'm dealing direct with QBP.
Hi, updated info here: https://www.salsacycles.com/support/recalls/cowbell-cowchipper-carbon-handlebar-recall
UK stockists have all been contacted by the distributer Lyon, so if you're in the UK, contact the bike shop you got it from.
Also says if you don't have a receipt they will still sort you out at your local Salsa dealer, so presumably if you bought them abroad, just lose the receipt and don't complicate the process!
Just had an email from QBP in the US (who own whiskey and salsa), unfortunately replacement bars will not be available until early spring.