Carbonal Orion build thread. Aiming for 8.5kg (18.75lbs)

[jonxmack]

Just placed my order for a Carbonal Orion - http://www.carbonality.com/orion-29er-1250g.html

I'll be stripping my existing bike this evening (On-One Lurcher) but the build of that is as follows

Forks: Niner
Stem: Thomson Elite 100x0
Bars: Ritchey Carbon
Grips: ESI Chunky
Shifter: SRAM XX
Front Brake: Hope Race Evo X2
Front Wheel: Hope Pro 2 to Stans Crest
Front Tyre: Schwalbe Rocket Ron 2.25
Seatpost: Thomson Elite
Seat: Velo
Cranks: SRAM XX1 32t
Pedals: Time Atac Alium
Rear Brake: Hope Race Evo X2
Rear Wheel: Hope Pro 2 to Stans Crest
Rear Tyre: Schwalbe Rocket Ron 2.1
Rear Mech: SRAM X0
Chain: Connex 10S8
Cassette: SRAM PG1050

Not sure what the actual weight of it is since I changed the bars and rear tyre after I did my calculations and have now removed the Reverb that was fitted but with 2.1's F&R, alloy bars and a Reverb it came in at a claimed 9140g, that was measuring all the parts during the build as opposed to the actual full bike.

The weight of the existing frame is 1575 and the claimed weight of the new one is 1250g for the 19". I've ordered the 17 so I guess it'll be a little less, maybe 1200 or so. I've removed the Reverb and gone to a Thomson which is ~300g lighter, as well as gone from Answer Pro Taper alloy bars to Ritchey WCS Low Rise which are a claimed ~60g lighter, but have swapped the front tyre from a 495g 2.1 Rocket Ron to a claimed 520g 2.25 so there could be some weight gain there.

Either way it's looking like it should drop to around 8400g, depending on the weight of the new frame. I'll leave this up as a progress report since I've not seen much chat around these frames.

UPDATE: The bike is built!





The scales lack in accuracy, I weighed it three times and it came out at 8.2, 8.4 and 8.7.

[jonxmack]

First thing to note, I just had an email from "Jason" at Carbonal regarding shipment.

Re. shipment, please check if just use real value for customs, or need to declare lower value for customs? please advise.

I asked for them to declare lower value  we'll see.

Hopefully it won't get picked up, if it does I'm going to claim to be sponsored by them or some shhh like that.

[SamSkjord]

Nice looking build, you might struggle running a Sram PC1050 as a chain though 
Iirc the RoyalMail charge to pay a customs fee was more than the actual customs fee on my 'gift' of 'sporting goods', was about £25.


(And judging from your website the appropriate greeting would be, alright my luver)

[jonxmack]

Nice looking build, you might struggle running a Sram PC1050 as a chain though 
Iirc the RoyalMail charge to pay a customs fee was more than the actual customs fee on my 'gift' of 'sporting goods', was about £25.


(And judging from your website the appropriate greeting would be, alright my luver)

Have fixed that now!

I think it's £11 fixed handling fee plus VAT on the declared value? If I can get away with not paying a £70 charge for it then that would be great, if not then not a massive issue.

Hahaha dear me, I am so thankful that I'm not actually from Bristol or I'd definitely hate my own voice!

[SamSkjord]

I often wonder how anyone gets anything done if their internal monologue is in Bristolian, I'm lucky enough to live just far enough away that the English language prevails. (Yate/Sodbury area)

[Carbon_Dude]

Glad we don't need to worry about VAT here in the US.

[SamSkjord]

Instead you get to worry about going bankrupt after stubbing your toe

[JackBNimble]

Instead you get to worry about going bankrupt after stubbing your toe

Lol.. Very true!

[Carbon_Dude]

Instead you get to worry about going bankrupt after stubbing your toe

Ouch, you are right!

[carbonazza]

Carbonal seems to have by far the fastest lead time. A week!

Their website is much more professional than the others.
And the frames geometry looks quite right.

It is surprising they don't get much attention here and on mtbr.
Good find jonxmack. I'm looking forward to see your pictures.

[brmeyer135]

Over a year ago, I was set with Carbonal to get the Gaea or Orion...then the 56/57 with 142 dropout came out and I switched to that.
They haven't offered much in the 29" size(same frames from over a year) - more they look to be into the 27.5 size - if I were to go with that size I would go with Carbonal's Venture.
I guess, mainly, people are looking for the newest thing - 142 dropout or superlight frame(256)

[jonxmack]

The problem with the 256 for me was that I sold my frame this week, before I found out that the lead time was 45 days, and I can't really deal with 6 weeks off the bike in the middle of summer. Plus with a 950g frame I'd be looking at a nearly sub 8kg mtb, that's bloody scary light.

Then again since the frames are so cheap I might decide in 12 months I wanna pick up something else and I can, it's the joys of these Chinese bikes, I can afford to try a new one every few months if I really want.

[Vipassana]

The problem with the 256 for me was that I sold my frame this week, before I found out that the lead time was 45 days, and I can't really deal with 6 weeks off the bike in the middle of summer. Plus with a 950g frame I'd be looking at a nearly sub 8kg mtb, that's bloody scary light.

Then again since the frames are so cheap I might decide in 12 months I wanna pick up something else and I can, it's the joys of these Chinese bikes, I can afford to try a new one every few months if I really want.

You might want to speak with Peter at iPlay.  I know that they are starting to get some of the IP-256SL's in certain sizes and configurations in-stock and ready to ship right way.  Last I saw, the 21" BSA BB frames are in stock.

[jonxmack]

I was in talks with him yesterday, he said 35-45 days. He did then come back today and say he's got the one I was looking at available next week but I'd already placed the order with Carbonal by then.

[MTNRCKT]

Their website is much more professional than the others.
It is surprising they don't get much attention here and on mtbr.

I have to agree that Carbonal is doing a lot of things right. The website is nice. The name is very brandable, and finally, I like their frames.

But they don't get as much attention bc Iplay is kicking everyone's butts in the most important area: marketing. Being more involved on the forums, sponsoring the rim giveaway - very smart moves for Iplay. I mean, all this time I thought it was "Xmiplay" until I've been looking at that banner at the top of this forum that says " Sponsored by Iplay" for the last 20 days. I used to work in advertising a bit and people underestimate the subtle subconscious effects it has on our buying decisions. Iplay has created tons of trust by being involved in this forum early on. That's why and how advertising works. I think the banner on this forum for the rim giveaway is the very first time I have seen ANY advertising AT ALL being done by these Chinese suppliers. Big mistake. This market is soooo wide open it's not even funny.

IMO, Carbonal and Hong-Fu both need to get busy creating a presence here on Chinertown while the community is still small, or Iplay is going to mop the floor with them. This community is growing fast and is really the first of it's kind - big advantage.  This is assuming, of course, that there isn't some unknown affiliation between Chinertown and Iplay?