Epic Evo Clone

[aeroskiii]

The AWST frame is exactly what I've been looking for. I've skimmed through this thread and seen a few complete builds with weights under 10kg. Are there any posts that break out the weight of each part(s), like wheels - x brand/ model at x grams? I've put together a list of parts and calculated out to 10.5kg with mostly lightweight parts (carbon cranks, wheels, bar, etc...), so I'm trying to see how y'all have dropped that extra kilo. Thanks for the help!

mine was sub 9kg but its a shit frame, I ride a flight attendant supercaliber now and its a better bike tbh

[Iztok]

My friend is selling me this frame for 500 EUR, it is unpacked from airwolf. Do you recommend me to go with this build? Is there any solution for weakpoints?

[JG4700]

After researching a few different frames I decided to go with the AWST Evo frame. I ordered through Ali and was able to find a $40 off code after trying a bunch. It's showing an estimated arrival date about a month out. Will post pics after it's built.

[darkening]

Hows your Airwolf going? My replacement front triangle cracked in a BB area after about 600km of riding....BB threaded insert got loose.

[akuutti247]

I have been waiting for the second warranty front triangle for 5 and half months now. Airwolf has maybe no need to hurry. Two year warranty time ends in the end of July..

My advice: Hongfu has been all the things I wanted from the Clone..

[darkening]

I have been waiting for the second warranty front triangle for 5 and half months now.

Sad to hear that. I hope that they will not ignore me completely with their warranty...

[Kactusdog]

I have been waiting for the second warranty front triangle for 5 and half months now. Airwolf has maybe no need to hurry. Two year warranty time ends in the end of July..

My advice: Hongfu has been all the things I wanted from the Clone..

SAME. I messaged them about 8 months ago now. What are we supposed to do? Why aren’t they honoring the warranty? If you message them saying ‘I want to buy one’ the respond time is quick. But you say can i have my warranty front triangle and it’s crickets.

[akuutti247]

The classic Airwolf warranty response is either "I have to ask manager" or "I have to contact tech guy", and then nothing..

I have given my contact information several times (e-mail and phone number) but it doesn´t help.

[Kactusdog]

Thats comforting, sounds like this should be a lasting fix then, thanks for that context!

I let the epoxy cure for about 16 hours and because I'm impatient I tried to unthread the BB cup that took the insert with it, and the BB unthreaded without issue. I was able to insert a new BB and torque it down to spec as well. So hopefully it holds. For some reason I have a soft spot in my heart for this stupid frame.

Hey again, how has this repair held up? I’ve just about given up waiting for the replacement triangle, and i think i’m going to try and repair the inserts myself.

Any instructions or tips you have would be super appreciated.

[akuutti247]

I am going to repair it too. It would be a spare frame if other frames crack too.

I did a search and epoxy is the way to go.

The BB surfaces and insert have to be clean.

Best alignment should be with cranks in place after putting the glue. It hardens in about 5 minutes.

If the glue works I will rebrand my Airwolf frame according to the warranty customer service..

It will be Ghostchicken 

[uberamd]

Hey again, how has this repair held up? I’ve just about given up waiting for the replacement triangle, and i think i’m going to try and repair the inserts myself.

Any instructions or tips you have would be super appreciated.

Repair is holding up great! The biggest thing you need to get right is that the repaired side needs to be in perfect alignment with the non-broken side, because if you just eyeball it and let the epoxy set and the BB inserts end up being out of alignment with one another the frame will just eat through bottom bracket bearings, or more likely put excess strain on the BB area and cause the threaded bond to fail again.

So the way I did it was:

• Clean the carbon on the side where the threaded insert came out with rubbing alcohol
• Insert the plastic sleeve onto the BB (the sleeve that sits over the spindle) because you definitely don't want to get epoxy on the crank spindle
• Mix up your 2 part epoxy and get a small tool you can use to apply it. I used toothpicks.
• Apply epoxy/jbweld to the frame where the threaded insert goes AND the BB insert that fell out but not so much that its bursting out the sides
• Slide the threaded insert into the frame, wipe off any epoxy excess that oozes out
• Install a crankset as you usually would -- the crank spindle will align the epoxy'd insert with the other side of the BB AND preloading the cranks (either using the plastic Shimano non-drive-side plastic preload cap or the SRAM preload ring) will press the threaded insert into the frame. Feel free to apply more preload than you usually would to ensure the insert is pushed in as far as it can go
• Leave it this way for 24-48h so the epoxy can cure (with the cranks installed)
• Once cured, remove the crankset and then try to remove the BB from the insert you have now epoxied back into the frame. It should come out no problem
• Reinstall the BB, torque to spec, and pat yourself on the back

Fairly straight forward. Just make sure you don't go overboard with the epoxy and end up accidentally welding the BB itself to the threaded insert you're trying to repair because obviously that wouldn't be ideal.

[ChinaCruz]

Very nice, uberamd. Thank you for writing all that. Can you share how you chose the type of epoxy?

[uberamd]

Very nice, uberamd. Thank you for writing all that. Can you share how you chose the type of epoxy?

I'll be honest, I just had a tube of j-b weld 2-part epoxy in the drawer so I went with it without a whole lot of thought knowing that j-b weld 1: epoxy and 2: known to have a lot of holding strength (4000lbs or so) once cured, which should be more than enough for this application.