Buying CFR696 From Flyxii

[twicecookedpork]

Have you bought a 696 from Flyxii on Aliexpress? How was the experience? Frame delivered okay? Order process went smoothly?

Most people I've seen online have purchased through Carbonda for the custom paint option but I feel like the price on Aliexpress for $400 is too good to pass up.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802462426945.html

[zilcho]

That is not a 696

Edit: To elaborate, it is visually different (the notch at the front of the top tube, the tire cutout in the seat tube), and the geometry charts do not match. To my knowledge Flyxii has no connection to Carbonda or FlyBike, and nothing in their frame offerings looks like a Carbonda frame. Their frame lineup appears to be old stock, nothing has modern geometry or features. Given their products and pricing I wouldn't have high expectations, but that doesn't mean its necessarily bad.

[twicecookedpork]

That is not a 696

Edit: To elaborate, it is visually different (the notch at the front of the top tube, the tire cutout in the downtube), and the geometry charts do not match. To my knowledge Flyxii has no connection to Carbonda or FlyBike, and nothing in their frame offerings looks like a Carbonda frame. Their frame lineup appears to be old stock, nothing has modern geometry or features. Given their products and pricing I wouldn't have high expectations, but that doesn't mean its necessarily bad.

this is why i come to chinertown. thank you so much.

[frnchy]

That’s an FE-02 which, as has been pointed out, is not a 696. I own this frame (pretty sure I ordered it from the exact same link) and it’s been a super solid frame for a heavy-duty gravel bike.

[mirphak]

They used to sell the flybike 696 frame under the name FE03, but they stopped like 2-3 years ago. That one is the flybike 616.

Having said that, I own that particular frame and it is quite decent. I don't regret having bought it twice (the first one was crashed in a car accident and I am trying to repair it, the second one is just perfect).

[twicecookedpork]

I read one user complain about flex. Any other issues with the frame I should be aware of?

[frnchy]

I read one user complain about flex. Any other issues with the frame I should be aware of?

I honestly haven't felt any flex; I'm not often putting down 1000+ watts, but I do a lot of punchy climbs on loose dirt where I have to rely on a rigid frame to deal with low cadence grinding in the saddle, and this frame has been totally fine there.

The main issue for me has been toe overlap with the front wheel - this was especially bad with 700c x 50mm tires but even with the 650b x 52mm ones I'm running right now there's still a few cm of toe overlap with my size 43 shoes. The other main issue has been cable routing through the driveside chainstay - it's extremely narrow, save for a channel along the bottom which is barely wide enough for shift housing, so be careful when putting anything through this area as it can easily become stuck (and I can tell you from personal experience, you don't want to spend two hours with a bent spoke trying to fish out a stuck cable...)

[FullCarbonAlchemist]

Personally I would definitely suggest the Carbonda 707 over this, in part because of that infamous toe overlap issue.