Faulty electric city bikes in Kuopio linked to cyclist injuries

Some electric city bikes in Kuopio have been found with hairline fractures in the welds between the frame tube and the front fork, according to reports from the city council. One such fracture has already resulted in an injury to a cyclist. On Saturday, a man riding a city bike encountered a pothole in a construction zone, causing him to fall headfirst onto the road. He was taken to Kuopio University Hospital, where it was determined that he suffered fractures in his jaw.

In response, the city of Kuopio announced that the faulty bikes will be removed from circulation. These bikes can be identified by the absence of a triangular reinforcement piece between the lower part of the frame tube and the fork. New elliptical frame tubes do not have this defect. Bikes that have been found to be faulty will be marked with warning tape and sent for repairs. Those marked with warning tape should not be used.

According to Jouni Huhtinen, the city’s development manager, around 50 problematic bikes are expected to be removed from a total of 400 in use. “The issue concerns a specific batch. A factory manufacturing the frames did not use reinforcement plates in the welds between the frame tube and the front fork,” Huhtinen stated. Freebike has since ended its partnership with this factory.

Huhtinen also attributed some damage to vandalism and misuse of the bikes, noting that incidents included multiple passengers on a single bike and even severe vandalism. He mentioned an incident two weeks ago in which bikes were thrown and jumped on.

The problematic batch of bikes has been identified earlier, with repairs undertaken in the last cycling season and winter. Huhtinen urged users to check their city bikes before use to ensure safety. He estimated that all faulty bikes would be removed from circulation by the next day. The initial report regarding the incident was published by Savon Sanomat.