These posts are never any fun to write, but it’s important to get the word out. If you’re riding around on a 2014 Salsa Bearpaw aluminum rigid fork, it’s important that you stop riding it and head to your local Salsa dealer. That’s due to the fact that Salsa is recalling all aluminum Mukluk Bearpaw forks that would have been purchased after September 1, 2013. Affected forks are stamped with date codes 20130524, 20130710 and 20130826, with “CWI2201BAN2” underneath. An easier way of identifying problem forks is the location of the Salsa Compass – on the outside of the leg is bad, on the inside of the leg is good. The forks were included on complete Mukluk builds and framesets but were also sold aftermarket as fork only.
Like many of the fork recalls we’ve seen recently, the issue is that the steerer tube can bend or break which obviously wouldn’t be good while riding. Consumers with forks included in the recall should visit their local Salsa dealer for inspection and either a replacement or refund. Salsa is a brand owned by Quality Bicycle Products which can be reached at 1-877-774-6208.