As many have surely noticed, the frame of U23 rider Jakob Söderqvist broke right at the beginning of the World Cup in Lenzerheide. Fortunately, he did not injure himself, but only had to end his race. Within a very short time we were able to provide him with a new frame so that he could start again the following week in Leogang.
This incident led to an extensive internal investigation. Sponsored riders, technical partners and our manufacturer were all involved. Immediately after the incident, we started extensive tests with brand-new frames, some of which we had even intentionally pre-damaged. All test results exceeded the various industry standards. We cut frames and split them using pyrolysis to find any manufacturing defects. All frames followed the correct layup plan, and no manufacturing defects were found. Finally, we also analyzed used frames. We have not been able to solve the problem ourselves, either in the field or under laboratory conditions.
Until the race in Lenzerheide, we had a single warranty case for the Evolve FS. Compared to the sales volume, this is an incredibly low number for such a lightweight product. Many frames have been raced since summer 2021 without a single incident. They have been used in World Cups, national series, 24-hour races and challenging stage races like the Swiss Epic, without a single frame failure.
For these reasons, we remain convinced that the Evolve FS is a first-class and highly reliable product. However, we understand that the incident in Lenzerheide causes uncertainty among our customers. For these reasons, ARC8 has decided to take the following actions:
1. Newly produced Evolve FS frames will be additionally reinforced in the bottom bracket area and gradually introduced to the market.
2. The warranty for all Evolve FS of this generation will be extended to 5 years from the date of purchase. In case of damage in the bottom bracket area, the entire front frame triangle will be replaced.
3. We offer all Evolve FS owners a voluntary replacement of the front frame triangle for 650 EUR as soon as they are available. The offer is valid directly at ARC8 and at any dealer.
Due to the model-specific construction, we currently exclude that this bottom bracket issue could also occur on other models of the current model generation.
We thank our customers, dealers and the media for their understanding and patience. It was important to us to comprehensively work through the issue and we therefore took the time needed to do so.
We wish all ARC8 riders further unforgettable and successful experiences on their ARC8 bikes!