TanTan FM10 29/27.5+

[emu26]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯  I'll guess you get the frame in good shape, but the box is going to be absolutely trashed.

That sounds about right, but they'll make you sign for it before you open it and because you signed for it, if it is trashed they'll say there is nothing you can do about it as you accepted the package. I usually take photos of the damaged box before I start opening it

Fingers crossed.

This is like Christmas morning

[GuitsBoy]

This is like Christmas morning

Brown Santa (the uniform) has yet to arrive.

[GuitsBoy]

She's here. 

Frame was delivered by UPS at 5:33pm EST, and and as of 5:39 I'm writing this post.

The box arrived in the best condition Ive ever had a frame arrive in.  A good sign.  Well packaged with 1/8 foam and tape, but no cardboard.  Regardless, it doesnt look like it bounced around too much. 

And now the fun part.  The cable exits and entrance are indeed on the bottom bracket and into the chainstays.

The shock appears to be a trunnion mount......    AND a standard mount.   Once I fit my shock on Ill be able to confirm, but as far as I can tell, they've included a handy little adapter to allow us to use a standard shock in a trunnion mount.  Saves me the hassle of having to fabricate something myself.  Awesome.  Frame comes with pressed in cups for an integrated tapered headset, though the headset was not included.  It did come with a seatpost clamp and rear axle.  I ordered two spare derailleur hangers for a few bucks more, nice to see they remembered.

So thats that...  Ill post up more once I start swapping parts over and really dig in.   

[GuitsBoy]

First minor difficulty.  I couldn't pull one of the trunnion bolts out of the plastic shock brace they use for shipping.  It just spun and spun.  Had to drill through the other side bolt hole and tap it out with a long screwdriver.  Not a huge deal, but took a while.   If that's my only hurdle, Ill be very pleased.

As for the shock hardware, it comes with two piece hardware on the shaft side (stepped ala manitou style).  Then on the air chamber side, it has two spacers so you can use the standard 22mm hardware of your choosing.  You dont need need either the 54mm or 40mm hardware kits, though the 40 is probably better than what it comes with.  I may also go for a 22mm ABI roller bearing on the air can side.  But for now, this is working.   Clearance is RAZOR thin with a 200 shock and the flip chip in the 200 position. No room for error.  Probably only 2mm clearance before the arch hits the seat tube.  But a miss by a mm is as good as a kilometer, to paraphrase the saying from freedom units.

Also, the frame came with TWO axles.  Not quite sure why, they seem to be the same.

Moving along.

[emu26]

 Frame comes with pressed in cups for an integrated tapered headset, though the headset was not included.  It did come with a seatpost clamp and rear axle.  I ordered two spare derailleur hangers for a few bucks more, nice to see they remembered.

Awesome stuff mate. I have been messaging the Seraph store on Aliexpress and they confirmed it comes with axle, seat post clamp and sent me a link to their recommended headset. I couldn't work out why there was no race included, now I understand, assuming of course that they are the same seller under different trading names on two sites.

Also good to hear about the shock hardware, I wasn't game to ask about that because that is something they rarely understand and give clear answers on.

Thanks very much, please post as much as you want, it won't bore us.

[GuitsBoy]

Frame weight was 3185 with the shock installed.  Ill weigh the shock next time I pull it, but I assume its somewhere around 300g.

Couple more quick pics.  This is with a 200 x 56 shock installed.   I dont see how you could possibly squeeze a 205 or 210 length shock in there, I dont think it will fit.

[northup]

Clearance is RAZOR thin with a 210 shock and the flip chip in the 210 position. No room for error.

Ruh roh, sounds like my 205 is not going to work here. I may get creative, or just get another shock

Pics look great, frame looks beautiful. You're making me antsy for mine to get here! I'm in Boston by the way, not sure where on the east coast you are but if you're close, it'd be fun to compare frames to see how QC is from their factory.

[GuitsBoy]

Clearance is RAZOR thin with a 210 shock and the flip chip in the 210 position. No room for error.

Ruh roh, sounds like my 205 is not going to work here. I may get creative, or just get another shock

Pics look great, frame looks beautiful. You're making me antsy for mine to get here! I'm in Boston by the way, not sure where on the east coast you are but if you're close, it'd be fun to compare frames to see how QC is from their factory.

Sorry, I misspoke before.  I have a 200x56 shock stuffed in there, and I'm not sure you can fit the 205.  I spent too much time in the Hightower Group Purchase thread and got my shocks confused.  The FM10 has the 200mm eye to eye. 

If you haven't ordered yet, I'm wondering if TanTan could simply drill the air can mounting holes up 5mm for you?  Or maybe I'm simply misjudging how much wiggle room there really is.  I mean, they did claim 185-205, right?  Next time I pull  the shock, Ill make a more conscious effort to see if you can squeeze that extra 5mm, but my initial gut reaction is that it probably wont fit.

I'm down on Wrong Island, so its a good 6 hour trip to boston.  I occasionally ride upstate NY, but never really in new england.  I do have a couple buddies that have houses in NH and are always offering me a chance to ride up there, but thats not necessarily close either.  But if I happen to be up your way, Ill shoot you a message.

[emu26]

No, max shock they say is 200 x 57    "190*50mm / 190*57mm / 200*50mm /200*57mm"

GuitsBoy you must have a 200mm shock in the 200mm position. Could you use offset bushings to get you more clearance to your seat tube?  I don't think it's an issue because the minute you put weight on it it will move away from the seat tube. Of course you have to be careful not to move it so much that the other way becomes a problem, tyre hitting seat tube at full compression.

[GuitsBoy]

No, max shock they say is 200 x 57    "190*50mm / 190*57mm / 200*50mm /200*57mm"

Look at the geometry chart, it shows 185-205.   Offset bushings probably wont fit since the shock nose is so close to the rear triangle.  And even if they did fit, 205 is a trunnion size, isn't it?  You could only put offset bushings on one side.

[northup]

All that info sounds right. I've got an uncle who does carbon fiber work for sailboats, I'll talk with him about options and see if I can figure something out. Either fill and redrill trunnion mounts 5mm further forward or put something super thin and absorbent where it will hit the seat tube and try to figure out how much force that will apply. I like to tinker hack and build, so I'll have fun with it for sure. Hopefully my adventures don't end up costing more than a new 200x57 shock

Guits, thanks again for all your measurements and photos. Keep em coming, I'm living through you!

[arrkaye]

Thanks so much for the update.

So will it take a 185mm trunnion shock? I'm confused again because the geometry chart said it would, but the description only mentioned 190-200

[emu26]

No, max shock they say is 200 x 57    "190*50mm / 190*57mm / 200*50mm /200*57mm"

Look at the geometry chart, it shows 185-205.   Offset bushings probably wont fit since the shock nose is so close to the rear triangle.  And even if they did fit, 205 is a trunnion size, isn't it?  You could only put offset bushings on one side.

I can't see the geo chart on your DHGate link, all I see is the rear triangle, something funky going on with that image as all of the others are the correct size.  On the Aliexpress Seraph page it shows 200 as max, on the Tantan page in your original post it lists 185 x 50 and 185 x 57, the geo drawing does say 185 and 205 but the table attached to it only lists 185 and 200mm shocks.  I think that 205 is a mistake.  If your shock is a 200mm then I don't see a 205 fitting without the brace hitting the seat tube.  Pic of the charts and drawing on the Tantan site.

[GuitsBoy]

Going purely by the clearances I see in real life, I'm inclined to agree that 205 is probably a mistake.  The 200 is scary tight as it is.

[MX72]

Looks awesome!  I just ordered one of these frames myself and cant wait to get building.  I'll be watching your build while I wait for it to arrive.