Japanese bicycle parts maker Shimano is facing a class action lawsuit in the U.S. from bike owners, who allege the company “knowingly” marketed defective products, a report in Nikkei Asia has revealed.
The lawsuit involves Shimano cranksets manufactured between June 2012 and June 2019 by the company in Japan.
A voluntary recall of the cranksets was issued by Shimano in September 2023.
The report said that 680,000 of these parts were shipped to the US, and that the company received 4,519 incidents of cranksets separating as of September 2023.
Shimano posted a loss of 17 billion yen ($114 million) in the 2023 full year for expenses related to the free crankset inspections and replacement.
According to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California last month, Shimano as well as its major business partners – Taiwan’s Giant, and US-based makers Trek and Specialized – have been sued by 14 bike owners. They are seeking damages on grounds that the parts subject to the recall were defective from the design stage.
Shimano and others have responded by filing a written request last week to dismiss the lawsuit.
A court hearing is scheduled for early April.
