I had a Trek with carbon tubes and AL lugs. It creaked and squeaked like crazy. I remember Kestral, too. But the conversation isn't about carbon fiber bikes from 15+ years ago. Things are different now. Fortunately for some and unfortunately for others (from a business point of view), Asian manufacturers have figured out what to do and how to do it cheaper.

I recall reading an interview or either the top guy from HED or Zipp discussing how they spend millions of dollars designing, developing, and prototyping carbon fiber parts just to have an Asian knock-off shop melt/bake the resin off, expose the layup (the secret), copy the layup, and produce knock-offs within months. Knock-offs that really aren't that bad.