Formula has not launched a new product, instead it wants your existing fork and brakes to go on working for longer

Danny Milner

The Italian suspension and brake brand pledges to keep making spares and supporting products for at least 10 years.

While we’re all accustomed to seeing new mountain bike products launched on an almost daily basis, it’s rare that a brand announces a scheme designed to help you avoid buying the latest kit. But Italian brand Formula, best known for making some of the best MTB brakes and best suspension forks, is taking a big step towards a more sustainable future with its new pledge to offer spares and product support for at least a decade.

Formula 10 year spares pledge

The Formula 10 Year Support Promise will help customers sleep soundly at night.

In the press release, it explains the importance of longevity for the brand; “We know the value of reliability and repairability. Every product we make will have parts, spares and support available for at least ten years. So, the Formula products that riders enjoy today can be used and loved a decade from now.”

And this commitment doesn’t just apply from 2024 going forwards. If you have a product made after 2017, the scheme will also cover it.

Formula 10 year spares pledge

Formula’s 10 year pledge covers suspension components as well as brakes.

Formula is unexpectedly open about part of its motivation for this move. While sustainability is obviously an important responsibility for brands to embrace, Formula has learned the hard way that mistakes do happen in product development, and this can have lasting effects on your reputation. The way you fix problems and support customers when things go wrong is vital for the long term health of a brand. Such is the story of Formula’s Cura brakes, in the brand’s own words:

Orange Switch 6 Team

The Formula Cura brake was a curse and a blessing for the Italian brand

“We make things. That includes mistakes.
 
In 2016 we launched our Cura brakes. They marked a change in the way we engineered our products. Powerful, adaptable and reliable, they were an improvement in every way over their predecessor.
 
They needed to be. The brakes they replaced had issues with reliability. They didn’t meet the expectations of ourselves or our customers. As a result, our reputation suffered, and riders turned to other brands.
 
It was hard to admit we’d made a mistake, but doing so was the first step in winning back the trust of riders. We went back to the drawing board, did more testing and improved quality control. The result was a brake we were truly proud of. 
 
When we named our new brakes, we were up-front about the issues we’d experienced; Cura means ‘cure’ in Italian. This was a product designed to remedy previous issues.
 
What we learned from this experience informs the way we think and work today. Our 10 year support promise is another message to riders that we truly believe in our products, and they can too.”