Ikea recalls bikes over safety issues

By Marisa Chimprabha 
The Nation

 

Sladda bicycle

 

Home goods giant Ikea on Thursday announced a recall of its bicycles following a string of accidents caused by problems with the drive belt.

 

"Customers that have a Sladda bicycle are urged to stop using it and to return it to any Ikea store for a full refund," read Ikea Thailand company in its online statement. 

 

The company has sold some 6,000 Sladda bicycles for a starting price of 500 euros ($585) in 26 countries since launch in August 2016 -- with about a third sold in Sweden.

 

IKEA has been informed and advised by a well-established component supplier to recall the SLADDA bicycle, due to safety issues with the drive belt.

 

The drive belt can suddenly snap, which in turn can lead to falls. For this reason IKEA precautionary recalls all SLADDA bicycles and urges customers to stop using the bike. IKEA has received eleven reports of such incidents, with two minor injuries. "No incidents of injury reported in Thailand," according to the statement. 

 

SLADDA bicycle has been awarded a “Red dot award” for its design and has been sold in 26 markets since sales start, August 2016.

 

We are proud of the beauty of SLADDA and the intentions to create a sustainable urban transportation solution. We also know that many IKEA customers love their SLADDA bike, but for IKEA safety always comes first.

 

Accessories specifically designed to fit with SLADDA; front rack and rear rack will also be refunded to any IKEA stores or Pick up and order point for a full refund.

 

"According to the Revenue department of Thailand (tax office), a receipt number should be stated in the credit note when issuing a refund, so we would appreciate if you can present the receipt."

 

In case of no receipt, we will have to return in the form of an IKEA gift card. For more information, please visit www.IKEA.co.th or contact IKEA Customer Relations at +66 2 708 7999

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30346194

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-5-24

Awfully expensive.

11 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

We are proud of the beauty of SLADDA and the intentions to create a sustainable urban transportation solution. We also know that many IKEA customers love their SLADDA bike, but for IKEA safety always comes first.

Really IKEA?  The bicycle has been around over 100 years. you have merely marketed a defective, expensive machine that might appeal to well heeled city dwellers and in Bangkok, brave as well.

.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle

   

The most popular bicycle model—and most popular vehicle of any kind in the world—is the Chinese Flying Pigeon, with about 500 million produced.^[1]

 

Edited May 24, 20188 yr by ratcatcher

I'm glad I never bought one. Just assembled me a horse from a couple of packets of their meatballs.

Instead of drive belt could of just used the very reliable metal chain..
PS IKea please implement a modern day online payment service...its no good requiring your customers to physically go to your store (in Bangkok) to pay for stuff ordered online...how much business have you lost through this antiquated requirement ?

30 minutes ago, Darcula said:

I'm glad I never bought one. Just assembled me a horse from a couple of packets of their meatballs.

Gold

34 minutes ago, johng said:

Instead of drive belt could of just used the very reliable metal chain..

 

They couldn't have gotten over $500 for it then.  That's about all that differentiated it from a $75 Chinatown cruiser.  New and zoomy.

 

On my Harley Davidson motorcycle, the drive belt lasted 26 years before it snapped in half today.  (Disclaimer- I have never owned, nor coveted an HD)

 

That's an excerpt from a YouTube lead in for a video called "How Long Does A Harley Davidson Drive Belt Last?"  If they can hold together with 20-50(?) HP, and an average person puts out less than 0.2 continuous HP, it wasn't the concept that bit them in the ass.  It was the QA, starting with the size of the belt.

 

17 hours ago, Darcula said:

I'm glad I never bought one. Just assembled me a horse from a couple of packets of their meatballs.

The ol' "Tesco Special," eh?