Chinese Carbon MTB > 29er

New Light Carbon LCSF980 XC bike

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Aradell:

--- Quote from: repoman on September 18, 2024, 05:04:19 PM ---Ok, finally got it built up and running (wheels were stuck in US customs for like 9 days).

I've never mountain biked before (If I don't count the Trek 930 I had when I was like 12 years old in the 90s that's I'd use on mostly smooth hiking paths, I've never ridden any technical stuff really save a couple times of doing cyclocross and some class 4 roads on my gravel bike that I'd usually have to hike-a-bike on) so I don't really have any worthwhile input other than the bike is fun.
There's a very good trail system about 0.5 mile from my house (which is why I built a MTB...I figured I was wasting opportunity and I get bored of gravel biking in the late summer) with a bunch of green, blue and black trails.
I just rode about 9 miles on dirt roads to see if the bike would fall apart. I was surprised at how slow pedaling a long on a MTB is (the tires I got for it probably are super slow rolling since I went with a really aggressive tread and super sticky compound), also shocked at how fast I could descend poor dirt roads, it just felt immediately natural to bomb over every feature I have to take caution with on my gravel bike. 
Rode it up to the trail system, played around with what sort of rocks I could plow over and was surprised again at just how good modern suspension is...rocks that were proud of the road surface about 4 inches I could just run right into at speed and hardly feel anything.  Took it on a green trail that had a ton of roots, rocks and switch backs, was a ton of fun on uphill rooty/rocky sections.

--- End quote ---

The bike looks great! I love the way the schock sits against the top tube.

Like you thought, the Specialized Purgatory tires are way overkill for a XC bike.
Some basic XC tire combo's I would recommend:

* Specialized Rengade 2.35" rear, Specialized Fast Trak 2.35" front. This is a good and cheap option
* Maxxis Rekon Race 2.43 front and rear. Really confidence inspiring tire, but quite heavy
* Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.35" rear, Schwalbe Racing Ray 2.35" up front. Probably more excpensive in the USOf course, there are faster combo's or option. But these tires are all really predictable and give good grip for XC riding.

repoman:
Yeah, I'll switch out the tires for something faster rolling in a bit, but I bought the sticky purgatories because it gets pretty wet/muddy here in the fall and even the easy trails are completely packed with roots and rocks. Figured it'd be good to play it safe since I'm such a MTB noob.   


The Lexon crank is pretty nice IMO. Don't have much to say about it so far since I've only used it for an hour, but it is finished well in appearance/machining. The BB that was included seems fine.
First time using an Oval ring, I can't feel any difference in stroke whatsoever compared to round. Most surprising thing was how different the gearing is compared to round. This is a 34t, but you can definitely feel the longer stroke making it equivalent to something like a 36-38t. I knew it would impact the gearing somewhat, but not nearly as much as it actually does.   

Weight for the build is 25.1 lbs, If I stuck a XTR cassette on it and used some normal XC tires the weight would be down to around 23-ish. (The tires are 1kg each, something like Thunder Burts are about 600g).

Ludo:
I have the schwalbe combo, got it on AliExpress for descent prices and I found them to have really good rolling but they suck and getting rid of the dirt if it’s a bit tacky like the clay stuff we have in Houston.
Really like this frame though, might be an option but a little concerned about the quality issues

jefflinde:
I find that ordering from R2-bike for schwalbe tires is cheaper even when shipping to the US than buying locally.  Also Merlin Cycles has good prices but their stock is very limited.  I have the Ralph ray combo and it is by far my favorite.  The cross king and race king are close seconds. I just with they made them in the 2.4 casing size. 

repoman:
2nd Ride
I've noticed there is some play in the rear linkage. Makes a knocking/rattling noise a lot and is pretty annoying. Is that normal?
Any ideas on how to fix that? Not really sure which pivot point is a bit sloppy. 
It seems like one point is the bolt that goes through the rear shock bushing is a tiny bit loose in tolerance, there might be some play in the top swing arm as well. 
Bushing in the shock is new.

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