Epic Evo Clone

[d3xophen]

I am searching for S size and no website (allstar or airwolf) available in S size. Is there other dealer who can provide S size?

[Hemacher]

I still didn’t like the original color of the frames and decided to remove the paint from it.

Looks great. I ask Airwolf for a frame without painting. Will see if possible.
To mount  a standard rear shock (Rock Shox SidLuxe RLR 190x40) I have to choose EV Shock Link?
May be somebody have more pictures of the builds it would be great
It´s possible to send direct PM to me 

[monocongo]

I will build one of these soon. The frame is on order from Airwolf. I will use the parts listed below.

Fox 130mm Performance Elite FIT4 fork
RockShox Select+ 190x45 rear shock
OneUp V2 dropper post 150mm
Full XT groupset (cranks, derailleur, shifter, chain, bottom bracket, cassette, brakes, pedals)
Airwolf carbon wheels w/DT240 36T

The budget has come to less than $3000, which is not cheap but seems like peanuts for a full-carbon XT build, especially if this frame really is close to an Epic Evo. Buying (like new) used parts from friends and buying from eBay/Aliexpress helped, especially around Black Friday.

If anyone has comments from your experiences doing this then please advise. I have only done this once before (Tantan FM078), sort of seat-of-the-pants with limited tools, etc. Last time I was really challenged with mounting the rear shock (bushings were hard to find) and routing the internal hoses/cables.

[Akamaxo]

Voting for which to choose, AWST or Airwolf?

Which one is better to buy?

[akuutti247]

Hi

This frame was the second I have built up. I made the following notices:


Rear axle was fine, put grease there (green like Shimano, but NLGI 1).

I disassembled all the pivot hardware and put grease.

The shock bushings that came with the frame were useless, because the part which goes inside the eyelet is too small. I bought new bushings. If you have no hurry you can measure the frame first.

The shock bolt hole in the rocker link may be a little too big for the bolt so keep eye on it. It is metal against metal. A thin plastic coating would help I think.

Shock mounting on the main frame is better. The paint and carbon are softer materials than the bushings so people may put something between them so the bushings won´t damage the frame. I used car wrap and grease.

The headset was easy to assemble (grease) but did not work first. The bars wouldn´t turn. The culprit was the the upper cover or plate which touched the frame (my first language is not English). I put a 2,5 millimeter thick carbon headset spacer between the upper bearing and the plate and made the headset work like a charm.

The BSA bottom bracket was easy but before that you have to route the cables through the frame.

Gear cable is the easiest.

Dropper and brake cable are harder. I had to disassemble the main pivot to route the brake cable. The hardest part was to get the last, third, cable out though the same hole in the main frame. Do this before the headset.

The dropper post was easy to assemble (used carbon paste there).

Rear derailleur and brakes were easy to do.

The bars can usually hit the main frame on Evos so check it out before crashing (saw it on LoveMTB channel). I made small frame protectors using 2,5 centimeter wide Gorilla tape where the bars made contact with the frame.

Buy a downtube protector or make one. Certain tires in certain conditions bomb this area.

During the first rides I noticed two things. The frame made big clanks on the downhills and the mud liked to use the internal brake cable port and make friends with the bottom bracket. No good..

The clanking came from the chain hitting chainstay using smallest sprockets. I had a protector there but it was too thin, so I put a dense foam like stuff above the chainstay (about 1 cm thick) and wrapped it with electrical tape.

I saw a selfmade mud protector in Carbonda-forums and made one using duct tape. It won´t last a season but is easy to replace and works. I try to put a picture of it soon.

[akuutti247]

Picture of the mud protector:

[Kactusdog]

maybe someone is ready to write a new long-term review?

suspicious silence about the operating experience of this frame

We’re too busy riding em!!! Will catch up on this thread soon and share some my experience, been great so far.

[monocongo]

My frame arrived without a hole for an internal dropper cable. Has anyone else had this happen, and/or how to handle this if I want an internal cable -- break out a drill?

[Kactusdog]

My frame arrived without a hole for an internal dropper cable. Has anyone else had this happen, and/or how to handle this if I want an internal cable -- break out a drill?

Lol! How is that possible? They surely didn’t give you a new mold cast with no port available. Feed the cable from seat tube over the bb shell, and out the triple hose port on the left.

[monocongo]

Yes, you're right. According to the product page, they all go into the same hole. I should have checked that before posting here. Seems like they'll be too bunched up, but I guess it works fine. Let's see how it goes!

[monocongo]

The adventure has begun.

I contacted Airwolf asking which mounting kit I should order for the shock I'll use (Rockshox Select+), and they assured me all the proper parts were included. But it turns out they aren't fitting so I went to a shop to find an appropriate kit.

While I was there they pointed out a few quality control issues with my frame that have me a bit concerned, and I wonder what others might think.

- The rear dropout holes aren't perfectly round, looks like someone went to town with a router a little too outside the line.

- The headtube where the headset cups go in is a bit off, not as exactly even as it probably should be. Looks like a sketchy layup.

- The bottom bracket threads are rough and should probably be finished again before inserting the bottom bracket.

I will follow up with photos later if there's any interest, but for now, I wonder how much further I should go with this build. My mechanic who spotted all this is solid and not just trying to steer me to another frame. I'm not completely against keeping it and moving ahead if I can get over these issues on my own, but it's discouraging after waiting so long and finally having the frame in my hands. Otherwise, the frame seems perfectly legit and if these issues weren't present I'd feel confident bombing down all my normal hills on it (I'm old and skinny, don't go hard, I'll never break a typical XC frame).

I'm pretty suspect at this point.

[monocongo]

A second opinion from another bike shop mechanic has me less worried about the frame's quality. I'm keeping it and forging ahead.

I have the cables internally routed now which was a bitch. It required taking the linkage bolt out at the bottom for more clearance. I added a drop of Loctite to the bolt when I put it back on but there are no torque-setting indicators so I just went really tight by hand. If anyone knows the right torque for this bolt then please advise. How would someone work that out, or does it matter too much as long as it's reasonably tight?

Airwolf advised me that the shock mounting hardware they'd send would work for my shock, but it doesn't -- you need a 8x20 and 8x14 kits from Rockshox. I anticipated this, which is why I asked so I could get ahead of it, but to no avail. Had I known this, or at least the correct dimensions, I could have saved myself some waiting around by pre-ordering the parts. On that note here's something that may save someone else some time -- if you're using a Rockshox Select+ 190x4*, which is a typical shock to pair with this frame, then you'll need these two Rockshox mounting hardware kits:

8x14 part# 11.4118.091.800
8x20 part# 11.4118.091.806

Where I live most shops don't stock any mounting kits so everyone has to order, and since they all use the same distributor it's mostly a waiting game if one is on backorder, as is the 8x14 kit now. Luckily I found one on eBay, fingers crossed it'll be here next week.

[monocongo]

Has anyone put any rubber foam around the cables to prevent rattle? I've had to do that on my previous bike and it was possible to MacGuiver it with some Nerf gun bullets, but the holes are so tight on this frame, and in such precarious spots, that it seems using that approach might be impossible. Is it something to worry about?

Maybe by accessing the cables via the headtube and/or bottom bracket I can just stuff it with something that'll keep everything from banging around? Or is that just asking for more headaches later? All it'd take is just a little bit of balled-up newspaper etc.

[Ludo]

I would do it right now, you have some downtime waiting for parts, might as well spend it cursing it out loudly in the cold garage!

[aeroskiii]

Has anyone put any rubber foam around the cables to prevent rattle? I've had to do that on my previous bike and it was possible to MacGuiver it with some Nerf gun bullets, but the holes are so tight on this frame, and in such precarious spots, that it seems using that approach might be impossible. Is it something to worry about?

Maybe by accessing the cables via the headtube and/or bottom bracket I can just stuff it with something that'll keep everything from banging around? Or is that just asking for more headaches later? All it'd take is just a little bit of balled-up newspaper etc.

I had no rattling without the rubber foam bc its lighter without it but I dont doubt that you can do it fairly easily.