Author Topic: Longteng LTK 268-D Frame / velobuild 099  (Read 3645 times)

Irideslowly

Longteng LTK 268-D Frame / velobuild 099
« on: December 07, 2021, 02:32:58 PM »
Hi Everyone,


After spending weeks reading every forum about building a Chinese carbon bike, I pulled the trigger on the LTK 268-D

http://www.ltbikes.com/product/93.html


From what I’ve read, this bike is the same as the Velo build vb-r 099/168.

Also, I’ve been told Longteng is the same company as Seraph And Tantan.

I ordered the LTK 268 in their glossy Blue chameleon color.
 



The color looks more purple in person while it was supposed to be blue.

 The paint is not what I expected, but spectacular nonetheless.



The bike was built with

Wheels: Elite Wheels ENT disc 60mm depth. These hubs are comically loud.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000033583741.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4duPm21v


Yoeleo H9 CARBON ROAD BIKE INTEGRATED HANDLEBAR (VERSION 2) : https://www.yoeleobike.com/products/h9-carbon-road-bike-integrated-handlebar

Groupset: Sensah Empire 2x11. Purchased on eBay from 318store. He also has a aliexpress shop;

Sigeyi spider power meter from eBay.


GP 5000 tires

JUIN TECH F1 brakes

KMC x11 chain

Jagwire compressionless cables

SL7 Seatpost cover : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002182490794.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.b6bb4c4dPm3iS5

The total cost was approx. 3600$ CAD including duties.

The bike weighs around 17lbs.

Here comes the issues.

1 - Elite wheels sent my wheels without the dust cap on the drive side of the rear wheel, then tried to charge me for a replacement one.
My LBS had a spare.




.


I haven’t tried the frame on the road yet. I rode a few minutes around the parking lot. We have snow in the northeast.

I hope this can help someone out.

If you are in quebec, canada, i can refer you to a great bike shop. PM for details.

TIP HIM WELL!
« Last Edit: August 06, 2022, 06:26:27 PM by Irideslowly »



FHS

Re: Longteng LTK 268-D Frame / velobuild 099/168
« Reply #1 on: December 08, 2021, 01:31:06 PM »
Beautiful build!

As far as the routing through the handlebars goes, yeah, it seems most of the integrated bars from China are not the easiest to route. I found that the issue isn't necessarily that the cables cannot be routed without some damage to the housings. As far as I can tell from my own experience, it's all cosmetic and the internal structure of hydraulic lines or mechanical shifting remains intact and working. They just don't work great without some really precise orientation through the bars, headset, and headtube. Any deviation from your cable/hose orientation at one spot will have knock on effects every place else. It's not so much the 90 degree bends in the cables and hoses themselves that cause most of the issue. It's any of the lines crossing over through the bars, stem, headset, and even the head tube to a certain extent, that cause pinch points that collapse the lines. Those pinch points make it difficult to route through the lock ring and all those tight spaces along the course of the routing.

Luckily, it is workable and even if you had pinch points initially, once you get rid of them, the lines are still able to function as intended. Hate to say it, but it's just one of those things that has to be managed when you are dealing with open moulds.

Nickk2000

Re: Longteng LTK 268-D Frame / velobuild 099/168
« Reply #2 on: December 08, 2021, 07:24:25 PM »
If the 268 is identical to the velobuild, whyd you go with longteng over velobuild?

cramy

Re: Longteng LTK 268-D Frame / velobuild 099/168
« Reply #3 on: December 09, 2021, 02:27:29 AM »
Geometry is almost the same, you have some differences like 10-20mm in some part.

How much did you pay for the seatpost cover? I see 40USD on alx, I find it quite expensive for a little plastic part.

Irideslowly

Re: Longteng LTK 268-D Frame / velobuild 099/168
« Reply #4 on: December 09, 2021, 04:28:46 AM »
Geometry is almost the same, you have some differences like 10-20mm in some part.

How much did you pay for the seatpost cover? I see 40USD on alx, I find it quite expensive for a little plastic part.


I paid around $40 USD for the cover... Expensive, I know.

Irideslowly

Re: Longteng LTK 268-D Frame / velobuild 099/168
« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2021, 04:30:07 AM »
Beautiful build!

As far as the routing through the handlebars goes, yeah, it seems most of the integrated bars from China are not the easiest to route. I found that the issue isn't necessarily that the cables cannot be routed without some damage to the housings. As far as I can tell from my own experience, it's all cosmetic and the internal structure of hydraulic lines or mechanical shifting remains intact and working. They just don't work great without some really precise orientation through the bars, headset, and headtube. Any deviation from your cable/hose orientation at one spot will have knock on effects every place else. It's not so much the 90 degree bends in the cables and hoses themselves that cause most of the issue. It's any of the lines crossing over through the bars, stem, headset, and even the head tube to a certain extent, that cause pinch points that collapse the lines. Those pinch points make it difficult to route through the lock ring and all those tight spaces along the course of the routing.

Luckily, it is workable and even if you had pinch points initially, once you get rid of them, the lines are still able to function as intended. Hate to say it, but it's just one of those things that has to be managed when you are dealing with open moulds.

Thanks!

The Longteng bars were especially bad. My LBS could not route them. I purchased the Yoeleo handlebars to replace them. The shop had no issues with the Yoeleo bars.

Irideslowly

Re: Longteng LTK 268-D Frame / velobuild 099/168
« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2021, 04:30:43 AM »
If the 268 is identical to the velobuild, whyd you go with longteng over velobuild?

At the time, Velobuild did not have my size in stock.

hazzer19

Re: Longteng LTK 268-D Frame / velobuild 099/168
« Reply #7 on: December 09, 2021, 10:29:12 AM »
Geometry is almost the same, you have some differences like 10-20mm in some part.

How much did you pay for the seatpost cover? I see 40USD on alx, I find it quite expensive for a little plastic part.

I ordered the Specialized one from my LBS and it was under $10 (part # SL7 SEATPOST WEDGE COVER - S204900003)

Irideslowly

Re: Longteng LTK 268-D Frame / velobuild 099/168
« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2022, 06:25:11 PM »
Update after about 6 months.

Bike rides great. I replaced the Yoeleo handlebars with the original LTK-268 handlebars.
Instead of routing the cables internally, I cut the spacers and routed the 4 cables through the spacers.
The sigeyi power meter stopped working after 5 months. I had to pay 100$CAD to mail it back to the ebay seller in China. He then sent me a new one. Works great now.

I also had to add a shim to my seatpost to prevent it from slipping. I used can of soda.



Nothing else to add!

In the pictures, you can see the entire bike, the spacer/cable routing situation, and the paint/sl7 seatpost!

I hope this helps!

patliean1

Re: Longteng LTK 268-D Frame / velobuild 099/168
« Reply #9 on: August 06, 2022, 06:35:34 PM »
Instead of routing the cables internally, I cut the spacers and routed the 4 cables through the spacers.

I absolutely love this. It's intuitive thinking like this that brings me to this forum and inspires me to always build my own bikes.