Originally Posted by
Salamandrine
Nice. The Calfees are the one carbon bike I'd consider, if I had room and money for more expensive bikes. The 25 year warranty on many of their models is reassuring. I get the idea that they use the best available aerospace materials. I don't get that feeling with the mass market companies' bikes. Also, they are made near my hometown, which is kind of cool.
In general though, I wouldn't expect many carbon bikes to last that long. It isn't the carbon that breaks down, it's the resin.
I lived a few miles from the factory. Test rode Trek, Aegis, Kestrel and many others. Didn't ride a Colnago. It was clear at the time that the carbon tubed bikes had a significantly different road feel than monocoque frames that absorbed too much road vibration - the 'dead feel' or the 'wooden feel'. Craig was/is such a good human - let me demo bikes, showed me his first carbon tandem (to ride with his daughter), got to ride (briefly) an early bamboo prototype, etc. Took me 2 years to convince myself carbon wasn't a fad and pull the trigger on the Tetra with Ti bits over the Luna with Al bits.