Kestrel Evoke

My impression of the Kestrel Evoke is good enought that I'm buying one. When I rode one at the dealer, I liked the frame better than the Lemonde or the other carbon frames I tried. Carbon frames do soak up some of the vibration and are more comfortable than steel, but I thought the Lemonde took this too far and felt like riding a mushy pillow. The Kestrel does dampen some of the rough pavement, but still feels responsive to me.

The cranksets on road bikes are a little bit forward of the seat. Some bikes more than others. I thought the Lemonde had gone too far with this, and the Kestrel got it right.

Climbing hills on my test-ride, I liked the Kestrel better.

I can't give you any hard reason to prefer this one over any other. It's strictly a "I liked this better than that" kind of thing.

I absolutely hated the seat that ships with the Evoke. No way I would leave that on the bike.

I bought my Kestrel Evoke frame off eBay. There's somebody in the Chicago area who apparently has a truckload of these things, and is selling them one at a time. They are the 2004 model. I bought one of these and it appears to be as advertized, brand new, still in the factory box as shipped from Kestrel. I got mine for about $1300. The seller turned out to be a really good, responsible guy.

The one thing I don't like about the Kestrel is the paint job, in which the brand name is stamped all over the frame many times by a very incompetent graphic designer. So as soon as I recieved the frame I shipped it off to a painter.

When it gets back from the painter I'm setting it up with a Campy Chorus group set. Again, it's a "I like this better than that" thing. No reason to believe my opinion is intrinsically better than yours on this question either.

I hope this is helpful

Thanks for the heads up it is much appreciated. I was starting to think now one cared for the evoke.
They are pretty rare here in Australia so Im going to have to buy it sight unseen