Originally Posted by 79pmooney

Yup. my experience isn't with CF or modern epoxy resins. I used to build racing sailboats in the best of the old glass and polyester hand layups. The old stuff, yes, but the difference between what we did and low end mass production was radical. We built boats that were lighter and stronger with fiberglass work we did nothing to hide. No power tools between the initial gel coat spray and assembly after the boat left the glass shop. No sloppy work to grind off. And our work was not hidden later by interior panels, etc. We took pride in creating a boat where all the fiberglass had its strands pulled straight, the weaves even and natural, the edges straight and rolled down so clean we barely had to hand sand the edges.

CF on bike parts scares me. It is all done inside molds that are closed after layup and human eyes never see that layup again. It would be much easier for me to trust if I didn't know the difference between a worker's good day and his bad days. In my work, it was all open mold, so even on a bad day, I had to do work that my coworkers and bosses could see. But once the fork mold is closed for vacuum bagging and bake, nobody ever sees it. And my life is as much at stake when I ride a near 50 mph descent as those who sailed my work to Hawaii.