On Sunday, June 23, 2019 at 7:36:27 AM UTC-7, sms wrote:
On 6/23/2019 4:39 AM, wrote:
On Sunday, June 23, 2019 at 11:04:11 AM UTC+2, sms wrote:
On 6/22/2019 8:10 PM, jbeattie wrote:

snip

All my CF bikes have lifetime warranties, including an exceptionally light Emonda SLR.

It would be a mistake to judge the durability of a frame (of any
material), or any product for that matter, based on the presence of a
lifetime warranty. Even Harbor Freight has a lifetime warranty on its
hand tools.

Sold my first CF bike (Scott CR1) to a friend a couple of years ago. Bike is almost 12 years old now and it looks like new despite ridden hard and under all circumstances.

Unfortunately, one "for example," is not proof of anything.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2311816/carbon-fiber-bike-accidents-lawsuits


Yes, like this anecdote. And for a lawsuit counter-anecdote, I've been representing Trek and Specialized in Oregon for over 20 years. It's like being the mythical Maytag repairman. There is not an epidemic of old CF frame failures resulting in lawsuits.

It is true, though, that CF fails differently than steel and some internal damage is not apparent. When my Supersix was trashed in a roof rack incident, I had it inspected by Ruckus. https://ruckuscomp.com/inspection. They confirmed that it was indeed trashed, and in some areas I had not expected. So I got a new bike. I would have spent a similar amount repairing steel and getting a paint job -- particularly if I went with wet paint. Gads, nice paint is incredibly expensive these days. The moral of the story is that if you're worried about internal frame damage, have the frame inspected.

You can get failures in any product, and high volume products have ascertainable defect rates, generally very low with reputable manufacturers. The good news is that most bicycle failures result in warranty claims and not personal injuries. The exception is forks. Reputable manufacturers have spent lots of time and money on getting forks right -- and they police their contractors. CF forks are the standard now, even on steel and aluminum bikes. And note that steel forks are not without their problems. https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2013/Sa...-Bicycle-Forks But if CF forks are too scary, get steel. They're still available. I've been riding on CF forks since about '92 when I got first generation Kestrel forks, and I haven't looked back.

-- Jay Beattie.