Alex, the Wolf SL is made in exactly the same factory in China that makes many name-brand forks, including two of the brands you mention. And yes, none of those other companies make their own forks, they just brand them.

 Sage, the whole reason for the Wolf recall is people setting up their forks like in that picture, which is incorrect. The steerer tube should be as short as possible, without any visible above the stem. The glued insert needs to extend as far as possible below the headset top bearing. From what I've read about the SL failures and seen in photos, they ALL had excess steerer tube, which is common among sponsored racers who sell the bikes at the end of the season.

McLovin:

  The steerer tube should be as short as possible, without any visible above the stem.

FYI That is incorrect, just look at the most recent instruction from Cervelo on how to install a Wolf SL, (see link below)  also anybody getting an Easton EC90 will have steertube extending above the stem,  that is of course if they follow Easton directions.

 http://www.cervelo.com/ownersmanual/WolfSLForkInstallation.pdf

 

 You are misunderstanding the manual. You cannot exceed 80mm, and 10mm of insert must extend below the top headset bearing. This means a typical 30mm of spacers, whether they are below or above the stem doesn't matter. However, if you have 30mm spacers below the stem, then add another 20mm above the stem for no good reason, there is nothing supporting the steerer at the major stress point, the top headset bearing. It's a stupid photo in that manual  that can lead to mistakes.

The lower the insert sits on the SL, the better. The breaks are all related to sponsored riders not wanting to properly cut the steerer so they can sell the fork at season's end.

The Easton SLX manual states a 10mm spacer, MAX. Any more and the insert will not support behind the stem clamp, where it's needed. The specs for the Wolf SL and Easton SLX are not the same, and should not be confused.

 

Your statement of without any visible above the stem.  is still incorrect.  There is a max of 80mm stack height and youy can have part of that above the stem, as shown in the picture on Cervelo's instructions.

Easton states that 7-8mm MUST extend above the stem.

quote below taken from instruction posted on Eastons site of which a link is also included. 

• A carbon steerer tube must extend 7-8 mm above the top of the stem clamp and have a 10 mm spacer installed between the stem and the top cap (Figure 5)

 http://www.eastonbike.com/downloadable_files_unprotected/instal_instr/fork_07-EN.pdf

I am not trying to split hairs, but I have installed both forks and do not want people to think that if there is steer tube above their stem that it was installed wrong and that is how someone may read your statement.

 

 

 

McLovin:

 The breaks are all related to sponsored riders not wanting to properly cut the steerer so they can sell the fork at season's end.

 

This statement is also incorrect.  The breaks that have been documented on this site and on slowtwitch and roadbikereview have been of Wolf SL's with either the shorter 85mm instert or no insert at all due to incorrect installation.

My 2008 SLC-SL came with a Wolf SL fork manufactured Nov. 28, 2007.  From the factory it has 275mm of steer tube and a 125mm insert.  The fork is marked 61cm and knowing that a 61cm Cervelo has a 200mm headtube the steertube from the factory can only stick 75mm above the headtube, 5mm short of the max allowed by Cervelo. 

 Cervelo started marking forks specifically for each frame size, my guess would be maximum 75mm  longer than the headtube so that it would be impossible for a bike to be built with the compnents it was shipped with and have a steer tube that excceeded the 80mm max stack height.  That being said there is a lot of older, short insert, Wolf Sl's and and bikes that were not shipped with farme size specific forks and therefore decided to recall all Wolf SL's.

 

PS  I am not sure what your reference to "the insert" in the Easton SLX manual means as the Easton SLX does not use an insert like the Wolf / Alpha Q.

 

McLovins statement is pretty much right.

The original instructions with 80mm insert was not to have more than 80mm total stack including spacers, stem, and headset cap. You could than easily have an insert that doesn't go low enough to be below the headset bearing.

Instructions later come out which said insert should go below bearing, but they kept the 80mm total stack height instruction which most dealers followed.

If your insert is low in the fork and thus qualify the new instructions your most likely safe.

Lets not argue for the sake of arguing. 

Anyone here going to keep using the WOLF? It seems that the failures were due to not using the insert, not cementing it correctly or by using so much stack that the insert did not pass into the headtube below the upper bearings ( why someone would ride a race bike like this with that much stack is beyond me). In each case it is easy to see how the fork may fail. However, I cut my own tube, sanded the inner carbon and then wiped completely clean the dust, glued the insert in myself and let it cure for 24+ hours before finishing the assembly. I also race cross and use an Alpha Q CX fork with the same thin steer tube and insert and have never once had 1 problem in 4+ years of using it. My insert (not sure if it was 80 or 125) - even at 80mm easily goes 2cm past the upper bearing and down into the headtube. Seems like it would be very unlikely to fail given the combo of aluminum/carbon going past the point of maximum leverage. Not sure if I'll send in for the new 3T as I really like the aesthetics and performance of the WOLF SL. Just my take on it.

The concern is much appreciated.  Since it takes only 10-15 minutes to change it out, I decided to put the Wolf back on to see if I could tell a difference.  I can't really other than what I mentioned before.....lots of climbing, fast twisty descents.  I do like the looks of the Wolf better!  I am not certain I want to get rid of the Wolf if I installed it correctly.

Anyway, as for the install of the two forks.  The first pic is with the Wolf.  I have never had a spacer on top before or after trying the Easton. The steerer is 2-3 mm shorter to allow for the cap inside.  The 80 mm insert extends 10 mm below the bearing which is the minimum as per the instruction I have.  Pretty easy to measure since the bearing leaves a small mark on the steer tube.

    

The second picture is the Easton again.  Their directions require the 10 mm spacer above the stem along with a 2-3  mm shorter steer tube to allow  room for the cap inside.  I am pretty sure as I look at both sets of instructions that I did it right.   I too have installed lots of forks, have all the tools, follow all the care required with preventing splinters and most importantly I always eye-ball it three times before cutting!  :)  :)

 

Anyway, if someone still sees a problem with either installation I would like to know......sincerely....I am not interested in breaking any fork.

 

 

hi .i have a r3sl .is it possible to replace my wolf sl with a easton slx fork  

My Wolf SL steerer tube snapped July 08 after less than 12 months use. It was on a Soloist Carbon, used for a few sportives and time trials. It was my 'best bike' so had only done summer miles and was treated carefully. The steerer snapped in half when powering away from traffic lights and I ended up on the deck in front of a car in the middle of the junction. Luckily I received only bruising and abrasions. It happened on the way to a sporting time trial with 50 mph descents and you can't help but think 'what if?', so my confidence took a knock.

The fork was replaced with a T3 in only a week, thanks to my LBS and the UK distributor. Lucky in the meatime I had a fork from my old Trek that I could use. There was some minor damage to bars and computer which Cervelo agreed to "support the LBS on" (presumably this means they will refund the LBS for replacing the damaged items), although I haven't bothered with this.

I spent some time on the web trying to find clues as to why the steerer had failed and if there were any other failures. I concluded that the failure was due, at least in part to the insert not being installed properly. It should have been +10mm below the top headset bearing but it didn't even reach the top headset race. I suspect it was bonded in before the steerer was cut to length, leaving insuffient remaining length. The carbon steerer tube snapped at the bottom of the insert which coincided with the top of the headset cap. Having discussed it with my LBS and taking into account postings on various forums I suspect that the instructions issued at the time of supply were at best not clear. After mine was supplied, Cervelo had started to supply with a longer pre-bonded insert, therefore ensuring that it was of sufficient length.

Of course I will never know whether the forks would have endured long term use with a correctly installed insert. I also don't know whether any of the other 11 failures occurred on correctly installed forks. I would be interested to know under what test conditions Cervelo have recreated the failures. I have a high degree of mechanical sympathy and my bike has been treated with care. I am not in the habit of over-tightening anything and I found nothing over-tightened by my LBS.

I was angered to find that this was a known issue since 2007. I felt that something should have been done by Cervelo to alert dealers/LBS to check that previous installations were correct - mainly to ensure the insert extended below the head set race and that the stack height is not too high (the higher the stack height, the more leverage). Not doing so I feel was irresponsible, regardless of product recall legislation. Clearly a company should take the most responsible action at all times, even if only as an interim measure pending recall investigation and process.

I discussed this at length with Chris at Cervelo by email but my view was not shared. In fact I didn't get a reply to my last email which was cc'd to Gerard Vroomen. Well I guess they had nothing more to add.

So I'm very pleased to see the recall because this will undoubtedly prevent further injury. However, I maintain my view that action should have been taken earlier.

Iain B. (UK) 

Anyone know why my nearest Cervelo dealer (in the UK) is insisting that I return not only my fork, but also my whole bike to them, and then that they must install the fork themselves? I bought the frame and forks mail order, have all necessary tools to fit the forks and have complied with whatever installation instructions were provided.

Getting my whole bike back to the shop isn't really an option. Even the nearest one is 50 miles away. I have spoken to Cervelo on the recall number, and they say that it isn't a condtion they have placed on replacing my forks.

leegil:

So they are replacing it.  What a hassle now to get that fork replaced (my bike is in Australia but I am in the UK).  I noticed that the Wolf SL weighed in at 314g (mine anyway) and the replacement is supposedly the 3t Funda Pro fork which comes in at 375g (http://www.thenew3t.com/products.aspx?i=Forks&p=funda).  That is a 61g difference. 

Why not replace it with something more comparable such as the 3T Funda Team fork, as it is more compatible?  It's like replacing an SLC-SL frame with an SLC (imagine the price difference).  It just comes down to the fact that for comparable value (and the hassle of it all and the down time) that the 3T Funda Team would be more appropriate substitution.  Just looking at the differences of frames and forks between brands of different years, the weight savings are marginal but you pay a lot more for each newer year model that is generally lighter.

As a weight weenie, I am not happy that my 48cm frame (1185g) + fork (375g) is now at 1555g.  My total setup is suppose to be getting lighter but with this change it will get up towards 7.4kg!  Bugger.

 I just replaced my Wolf SL that had a 275mm steertube and 125mm insert with the Cervelo replacement 3T Funda. 

The Wolf SL as taken off my bike 376 grams.

The 3T Funda I just installed 392 grams.

Total 12 grams difference.

The weight of your Wolf SL at 314 grams is because the headtube on a 48cm is only 100mm so your total steertube length will be less than 180mm.  I think you will find that when the 3T is cut to the same length it will be very close in weight to the Wolf SL.

And for the true weight weenies, you get to use a front brake caliper nut that is half the length than the one needed for the Wolf SL so you lose about 2 grams there! 

UKBikeboy:

Anyone know why my nearest Cervelo dealer (in the UK) is insisting that I return not only my fork, but also my whole bike to them, and then that they must install the fork themselves? I bought the frame and forks mail order, have all necessary tools to fit the forks and have complied with whatever installation instructions were provided.

Getting my whole bike back to the shop isn't really an option. Even the nearest one is 50 miles away. I have spoken to Cervelo on the recall number, and they say that it isn't a condtion they have placed on replacing my forks.

 

 

That's odd. I had this by email from Madison/Ultimate Pursuits (the UK Cervelo distributor which is handling the recall): "We are sending 3T or Easton forks (presently we only have 3T) out to any Cervélo dealer who requests them so they can carry stock. They get a credit for them when they return the cut steerer tube of the True Temper Wolf SL"

 As long as you send the SL to your Cervelo dealer, they should be prepared to send you the replacement.

Got my new 3T fork today as a replacement for the recalled Wolf SL. I'm not sure if I got the "Funda Pro" that was announced, because no where on the forks does it say "Pro", just "Funda". I've only just ridden home, about 7km, but my initial impressions are very good. I have a 2006 R3 (great bike by the way). First off I'm happy that Cervelo chose the 3T instead of the Easton for my bike. Either would have been fine with me, but I think the 3T looks better. On to first impressions. On my way home I rode on some really crappy Ottawa roads, some nice ones, did some fast, tight downhill turns, and about a 200 m 10% uphill grade. To me the 3T felt every bit as solid and sure tracking as the Wolf, the big difference is the the feel. Whereas the Wolf felt harsh on the pavement, the 3T soaks up road buzz and bumps way, way better. Of course 7km of city riding doesn't make a good test, but the 3T made a very good first impression. This weekend: Gatineau Park :-) So, thanks to Cervelo for this voluntary recall, thanks for improving my bike with the 3T, and thanks for the speed of the replacement process. Thanks also to Cyclelogik bike shop in Ottawa for the excellent service. Lloyd