It looks like quite a few of you have never ordered a Chinese carbon frame before, let alone in the middle of a global pandemic. There's not as much info as buying a frame from the US or UK, etc. You largely have to base your purchase on other users' reviews. Or in this case, since its a new frame, largely based on the manufacturers previous track record.
I urge you guys to look up Chinese Carbon Frame Manufacturing on youtube. Theres a good video showing how road frames are built. I dont want to post a direct link since it showcases a competitor to Haideli, but needless to say, an awful lot of design and development work goes into creating these molds and frames. Its not something that just happens in a couple of weeks. Once a prototype has been built (I assume we are at this stage) then tooling for mass production begins. Enormously heavy blocks of metal need to be milled out to perfect specs to create the molds. Templates for the hundreds of shapes and lengths of carbon fiber material have to be created and cataloged so the same pieces can be cut over and over again. Air bladders need to be produced for the various sections. All those hundreds of carbon fiber strips need to be assembled around the air bladder, put in the mold, and that needs to go in the kiln, baked, and then cooled just to produce the sub components. Then the sub pieces need to be assembled. Rear triangle, front triangle, bottom bracket section, etc. Then those pieces need to be epoxied together. Then finally the frames need to be filled, surfaced and painted. Hopefully some testing is done somewhere along the line too.
Suffice it to say, there's a lot that goes into it. The virus has set factories back considerably, and a 55 order group purchase is probably the factory's smallest order. They are likely producing hundreds or even thousands of frames for bike companies that are clamoring to get more inventory after selling out in the US. The virus has caused a huge back log, and work is further hindered by protective measures to keep workers safe, and to keep the virus from re-surging. Development of this new frame likely has to be juggled and fit in between keeping the big customers happy. Unfortunately all this is par for the course, and is the price you pay for getting a frame for one sixth what you might usually spend on a name brand.
Have patience. Once tooling is completed, I'm sure we will get some additional detailed photos, and all the final specs / measurements / cable routing details, etc.
