From: ehouse@Apple.COM (Eric House)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles
Subject: Carbon frame life, Kestrel, and warranties
Keywords: Kestrel, carbon fiber, warranty
Date: 13 Aug 92 21:26:58 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA

People were wondering about the longevity of carbon fiber bikes a while back,
and about whether they can be repaired.  Well, one of the guys I ride with
has a Kestrel and recently had a bad experience with it.  He doesn't have access
to the net, but I asked him if he'd write it up.  Here's his response.

<beginning of my friend's statement>

Here is the story on the Kestrel 200 EMS,  you can
paraphrase as much as you like.
 
The Beginning........
 
I purchased the bike about 2 and a half years ago.  Approximately 8 months later
I was involved in a pretty bad crash during a criterium.  The frame had visible
cracks on the downtube near the shifters. No other areas showed any visible
problems.   I had the bike stripped down and sent back to Kestrel.  Kestrel
informed me that the bike was repairable and that they would need to replace
the forks as well.  We agreed that Kestrel was not at fault and
that I would pay approximately $300 dollars for stripping the bike down to the
core, re-laying the fiber, painting it, and new forks.  At the time this seemed
fairly reasonable given that I thought the bike was a total loss.  They told me
that the bike was basically as good as new, and was still covered under
warranty.  Still, I came to the conclusion that this bike was not suitable 
for bicycle racing because of its propensity to crack under the types of 
crashes that might occur.  The bike shop that I dealt with agreed.  Thus
I invested another $1600 dollars in a steel Lemond.
 
....More Recently
 
I currently use the Lemond almost 100% of the time.  Recently (February) I
started using the Kestrel for some solo rides.  At that time the bottom bracket
felt loose.  I brought the bike to the shop and they indicated that Kestrels
often spin their bottom brackets [ie the threaded aluminum BB insert rotates 
independently of the rest of the frame].  They tore the bike down and found that
this was the case.  They sent the bike back to Kestrel.  Five weeks later the
Kestrel rep indicated that, though the spinning BB was their fault, it was
obvious that I had been in a wreck and or ridden the bike very hard and that
Kestrel wouldn't fix the frame because there was other damage to the forks and
frame for which they weren't responsible.  Given that I had not been in
a wreck and had not ridden the bike more that 3 - 4K miles since the accident 
I obviously disagreed.  They had not even taken the time to check their past
records on the frame -- so either they didn't find all the structural problems
when they repaired it after the accident or the bike was a lemon.  After
several minutes of calling each other liers I asked the rep what the bottom
line was.  He indicated that they would be willing to provide me with a new
frame and fork of my choosing for approximately $500.  I was not very happy
...but after yelling at each other for another couple of minutes I told him
to do it and that I would never recommend or purchase another Kestrel again.
 
My experience was not good and I do not believe this to be a good bike frame
for racing or for someone that can't afford to shell out a lot of money.

<end of my friend's statement>

Draw your own conclusions.  Mine are that either 1) Kestrels are so
difficult to repair once crashed that even the manufacturer can't do
a competent job of it (and won't admit it); or 2) the frames self
destruct after a fairly minimal amount of riding (though that amount
is in excess of the 5000 miles I once heard a Kestrel employee estimate
the typical owner puts on his bike.)  In either case it doesn't seem
that Kestrel is honoring its commitments to this particular owner
(though that particular problem wouldn't be likely to apply to Trek's
bikes, as Trek has an excellent reputation for warranty service.)
-- 
****************************************************************************
Eric House			"My employer doesn't share its opinions with
			   	 me, so I can share only mine with you"