Newbie questions about Kestrel forks

[Hazmat]

Hi kids, I'm new here and hopefully I'll keep my **** together enough to stay, but i have a questions about the Kestrel EMS Pro Carbon fork. I am not new to cycling, I have had two cannondales I loved, wrecked one, sold the other, but almost a decade has gone by since I sat on a bike, so I have been out of the loop. I wanted to get back in with some entry level stuff, but I found a great deal on this Kestrel fork (since I couldn't seem to find an al fork to save my life). I got it from Nashbar along with one of their road frames (NOT impressed AT ALL) cause it was so cheap, hey $220 fork for $75, seems fair to me.

My concern is this, when metal gives way, you (well, if you inspect your bike regularly and aren't missing several million brain cells) will know it, cracking flex, etc will let you know early if only seconds early. Carbon, eeehhh, not so much. From what I have seen, it is instant, with no warning, and is as someone else said in my searches to see if this question had been answered, invariably catastrophic.

Ima big boy, 6'4" and about 250#, yeah, I've been slacking. Am I going to exert too much load or be so close to the threshold that failure is a genuine risk? I took a header years ago when I was racing, got in a wreck, and the fork failed minutes later. It put me in the hospital for 2 days, I would rather not repeat said event. Kestrel has still not gotten back to me and who knows if they ever will.

If anyone has insight into this I would really appreciate it or even a link to someplace where I could buy a metal fork if the concensus is bad. Does Cannondale even make metal forks anymore??


any input is welcome!

 

[sam218]

I read one review where someone said their kestrel fork failed suddenly and even had a picture, but as long as this doesn't happen to you , there was an article in velonews (technical letters section) where carbon fork manufacturers said fatigue life was very high, almost unlimited life. (they do their own tests) Also look at this article: bike.com
Kestrel has been in business for a very long time and their forks are heavier than others which seem to be good for heavier riders. As far as I know, there's no weight limit although you can contact kestrel for weight/warranty information.

 

[artmichalek]

The problem with carbon is that it does fatigue gradually, but it does so through interlaminar matrix fracturing, which can't be detected visually. In a bike fork, it takes a pretty high impulse load to initiate this. Unless you're pounding over cobblestones every day, you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[Hazmat]

well, I guess I am goijng to stay with it. The things that gave me pause, for the most part, were that it was made in China, I thought it was an american product, and the fact that the fit and finish didn't seem too hot; sloppy gel coat, cheap looking dropouts, but from what I have read, Kestrel seems fairly well respected. Since cobblestones aren't in my future, I should be fine I spose