Quoted message said:Post script: I e-mailed Kestrel on the off-chance of a warranty
claim, but after they assured me that this "could not happen," they
blew me off because I had purchased the bar on e-bay (new in box) and
of course had dumped all the paperwork. Nothing against Kestrel and
not that I expected anything from them.
Oh, and I immediately went online and purchased another carbon bar on
e-bay, though no Kestrels were available. Don't know about the rest
of you, but virtually EVERY part (except chain, cables, and housing)
on all my bikes (2 road, 2 mountain) have been e-bay purchases, and
this cracked bar is the only issue I've had in the past 4 or 5
years.exceptt
Your post points out one potentially-significant issue with ebay purchases.
Many manufacturers do *not* warrant components purchased through eBay,
including Shimano and, apparently, Kestrel. No big deal with Shimano, as
there are few components they make which, if they failed, could cause
extremely-serious injury (sure, you hear about a crank once in a while, but
it's very rare). With such components as forks and handlebars, where a
failure could be pretty nasty, it's a good idea to have some deep-pockets
standing behind the product. Lawyers will seize upon any possible reason to
not be liable for a claim, and goods purchased through unauthorized channels
is most definitely one of them. Just something to consider. On the other
hand, if it's a major manufacturer and they have no issues with gray-market
stuff, no problem. Just check out their warranty policies on their website.
--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com
"Doug Taylor" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:Mike Jacoubowsky said:Quoted message said:So I'm zipping along in a paceline last evening, and sometimes when
folks are hammering they don't see things well, or at all. The rider
in front of me had no time to point at a pot hole, so I rode right
over it with zero warning. Result: pinch flat front, pinch flat
rear; huge dent in rear rim (brand new Ritchey), not to mention
whacked way out of true; Kestrel EMS Pro carbon bar cracked and now
trash.
That (the broken bar) concerns me. Is it possible the bars may have been
damaged previously from excessive torque on the fixing bolts?
This was a widely discussed topic in our club after the incident. To
respond to an earlier post, that there was a crack and not a scratch
was obvious before removing the bar tape because of the visible flex
in the bar when any weight was put on it. The crack was clearly
somewhere between the first bend in the bar and the brifter (left
side). More than one person opined that I must have over torqued the
bolt when attaching the brifter, thus scoring and weakeninging the
carbon at that point in the bar.
I rode back to the parking lot with hands on top of the bar, which was
intact. After removing the tape, the crack was revealed to be on the
bottom side of the bar at the first bend - well above the brifter - in
a place nowhere near any fixing bolt
Post script: I e-mailed Kestrel on the off-chance of a warranty
claim, but after they assured me that this "could not happen," they
blew me off because I had purchased the bar on e-bay (new in box) and
of course had dumped all the paperwork. Nothing against Kestrel and
not that I expected anything from them.
Oh, and I immediately went online and purchased another carbon bar on
e-bay, though no Kestrels were available. Don't know about the rest
of you, but virtually EVERY part (except chain, cables, and housing)
on all my bikes (2 road, 2 mountain) have been e-bay purchases, and
this cracked bar is the only issue I've had in the past 4 or 5
years.exceptt
