is a 1990ish Kestrel 200 considered retro enough here ?
- Thread starter latman
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stefthehat
Retro Guru
Re: Kestrel 200
Sorry to stick my oar in so late,ive had 2 Kestrels still got 2nd waiting for me to do same bottom bracket problem I've been in composite boat bizzness last 25yrs my threaded sleeve seems to be debonded only on outer edges so was going to router out the resin 'tween carbon and sleeve and rebond,had a lot of contact with Kestrel guys b4 and after sale and rebuying of company,frames were moulded in clamshell tooling with internal balloon to push out onto tooling but foam in stays as too awkward to put balloon in there, the whole monocoque one piece technique involved so many rejected mouldings esp when they went to natural carbon finish they binned the process,ffantastic commitment and work on bottom bracket
Sorry to stick my oar in so late,ive had 2 Kestrels still got 2nd waiting for me to do same bottom bracket problem I've been in composite boat bizzness last 25yrs my threaded sleeve seems to be debonded only on outer edges so was going to router out the resin 'tween carbon and sleeve and rebond,had a lot of contact with Kestrel guys b4 and after sale and rebuying of company,frames were moulded in clamshell tooling with internal balloon to push out onto tooling but foam in stays as too awkward to put balloon in there, the whole monocoque one piece technique involved so many rejected mouldings esp when they went to natural carbon finish they binned the process,ffantastic commitment and work on bottom bracket
I originally hoped i could use capillary action and gravity to draw a low viscosity resin into the crack and rebond but once i hit the outside of the BB with the grinder the extent of the debond problem was obvious (especially after I wiggled the alloy tube out) and this is the only way to attack it IMO , I have the bits still at work so i will post a picture of them tomorrow night .(PS they use a black glue which is easily distinguished from the black carbon fibres)
If i was going to try an alternative method I would drill a hole through the carbon only in the regular drain hole area (the size that suited a syringe nozzle) and inject adhesive/resin into it in expectation that it will flow outwards as well as around , if it did not come out of the sides i would be nervous though ( this is how suspension fork sliders were bonded once i think)
If i was going to try an alternative method I would drill a hole through the carbon only in the regular drain hole area (the size that suited a syringe nozzle) and inject adhesive/resin into it in expectation that it will flow outwards as well as around , if it did not come out of the sides i would be nervous though ( this is how suspension fork sliders were bonded once i think)
stefthehat
Retro Guru
the names Bond,deBond
Many thanks,i might be ok as frame was taken out of commission v early,to get any movement out of sleeve the cranks need to be in,was on lookout as had same issue on previous one which Kestrel took back off me to do over there so always on lookout for the problem and unlike you I have dodgy work ethic iam fine doing stuff for others but after spending every working day and some evenings up to my elbows in resin the poor frame has been forgotten esp when I started sniffing around on ebay esp in States some folk are letting them go for daft cheap money,they don't know the history and influence on the industry,all they see is you can buy a 'carbon' frame for under a 1000 these days.ps did you vacuum bag it as a whole frame or just localised? Pps also too fat now to handle the lower front end of the Kestrel,Ironmen def have the work ethic!!
Many thanks,i might be ok as frame was taken out of commission v early,to get any movement out of sleeve the cranks need to be in,was on lookout as had same issue on previous one which Kestrel took back off me to do over there so always on lookout for the problem and unlike you I have dodgy work ethic iam fine doing stuff for others but after spending every working day and some evenings up to my elbows in resin the poor frame has been forgotten esp when I started sniffing around on ebay esp in States some folk are letting them go for daft cheap money,they don't know the history and influence on the industry,all they see is you can buy a 'carbon' frame for under a 1000 these days.ps did you vacuum bag it as a whole frame or just localised? Pps also too fat now to handle the lower front end of the Kestrel,Ironmen def have the work ethic!!
i just laid peel ply over the repair with tape compression over the chainstay "stub" , I was worried about the fibres losing too much resin if i bagged it (and the mechanical bond depends on resin only) certainly the 200 design was trying to be a bit "funny bike sloping" but the triathlon bars are usually higher and more comfotable and more aero
stefthehat
Retro Guru
Re: Kestrel flying again
Re: the repair obv it'll be fine but would of been total ball ache to bag up whole as you'd need a football fields worth to get enough tucks and folds and localised prob worst and might not be possible as you'd be sucking air in from your open parts of frame, just going back to my comment about their issues with doing it as a true mono they used to run fibres unbroken from dropouts under bracket around headtube then along toptube must of been fair chunk of the day b4 even closing mould up,in retrospect they were a bargain the only similar ones now are the Cipollini's which are monos made in Italy one at a time and reflected in the cost
Re: the repair obv it'll be fine but would of been total ball ache to bag up whole as you'd need a football fields worth to get enough tucks and folds and localised prob worst and might not be possible as you'd be sucking air in from your open parts of frame, just going back to my comment about their issues with doing it as a true mono they used to run fibres unbroken from dropouts under bracket around headtube then along toptube must of been fair chunk of the day b4 even closing mould up,in retrospect they were a bargain the only similar ones now are the Cipollini's which are monos made in Italy one at a time and reflected in the cost
stefthehat
Retro Guru
Re: injured Kestrel
Blimey yours was totally delaminate iam v protective of my bikes I just keep off the big ring!!
Blimey yours was totally delaminate iam v protective of my bikes I just keep off the big ring!!
As the parts come in a bit more gets done , although i do have a BB , cranks, pedals and Brake levers and profile bottle cages which are not fitted in this photo . I read on Sheldon Browns page that 8 speed shimano was 4.8mm spaced and all post '97 Sachs (ie LY 98+) freewheels are suitable , I had a 1995 model (LY 95) which is supposed to be campagnolo 8 speed (5.0mm) so I just bought a NOS LY99 (which looks the exact same width of my LY95 ?)
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stefthehat
Retro Guru
Hey that looks like a real bike again,is there anything partswise your're hunting for,also Kestrel USA will be v helpful regards paint codes though being 2k world is you're lobster, I sent one back over for the BlackBerry shell and it was redone in Mango{inside of said fruit not exterior},they will provide decals but plenty on ebay and all incl originals are fairly thick vinyl, I redid another using decals to cover spotsprays in one colour then redid wwhole frame removed them b4 clear laquer
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