My FM 196 build

[Reppik]

Thanks guys......for small fee i could build you one too!

[Reppik]

Fork arrived today and now have most of the parts to build it.

[Molothi]

bad news on my side 
the head tube low bearing support cracked recently and that made me fall heavily - that damage even more the frame, but I can say I'm lucky becaue except some painful bruises - I had nothing serious
this happened end of may and I was expecting a more or less quick change, but as there was no stock.... I've to wait till september 
the good nes is that the warranty is taken into account andI'll get a spare frame, but it takes so long....
that's because for my first "no name"purchase I wanted to go through a reseller to avoid customs issues (it's frequent here) and having an easiest exchange/reaction in case of problem...
with this experience... I've learnt something: next time I'll buy directly from chiner resellers such as Peter
so now... I have to wait, even more than when I purchase the frame
fortunately here we have some new builds to follow ...
I'll give some nes when I'll get it back
that will like my second build ;- )

[Carbon_Dude]

Molothi, glad your not hurt.  That's probably the first catastrophic failure I've read about on a Chinese frame.  Usually there is a small crack or something else noticeable that requires the frame to be replaced or repaired.

Sorry to hear the seller you purchased from will not be able to send a replacement quickly.  So far it's hard to beat Peter (now at Carbonspeed.com) for good service and pricing.

[Reppik]

Glad your not hurt too! Sorry to hear, that totally sucks. Lets see some images if you can for informational porpuses.  I will keep checking mine for stresses. I have been riding for about a month now with no issues and crushing my strava times.

This is not something i like hearing about, failures that is. The fear that is always in the back of my mind. Let us know how the return goes and in the mean time here is the latest image of my buddies build.

[Molothi]

thank you guys
hopefully I'm fine - that's the most important thing
if I new that it would have lasted so long.... I'd have called Peter to get another frame quicker
but my reseller was less and less sharp about the new frame delivery... and finaly said that it's going to be delivered for September
3 long months to wait....
worst than for my first purchase 

concerning the failure I want to stay positive if it's the real first one failure like this (and even I was not lucky... because  unfortunatly it happened to me... that's life )
one out of several samples... that remains maybe a law %
...
last night I met a guy who's best friend  is doing some repair on carbon stuff including some frames - pure hazard but a very good and interesting meet ;-)
I learnt from him that he already repaired several Specialized Stumpjumper HT frames - issues with the BB - aloy part does not remain fixed with the carbon around it....
never  heard about it before... and never seen such issue with Chiner frames either.....

so even if I met another kind of failure on mine... on statistics point of vue... we can say that they are as good as other well known brands... or could even be better on some poitn of views
(I hope I'll keep this way of thinking after too :-) )

now, I'm just looking forward receiving mine.... but I need to stay patient... very patient
as soon as I get news, I'll update you on that
cu

[Reppik]

Here they both are. The one with the red ie pink seat post was finished today. it was built for a buddy.  It had a few small issues. 1. Frame dropouts were a little off center when the back wheel was put on. 2. The rear tire was to big and rubbed on the frame.  It was a 2.5. I switched it with my 2.25 front and problem solved. The latest build has a 1x11 gear set and oh is it nice. It has XTR down hill as apposed to my XTR. The 11 speed and derailer are Shimano 9000 with a 32 tooth sram front gear on Fsa carbon cranks.  Mine has the 1x10

[carbonazza]

Nice pair of bikes!
What do you mean by XTR down hill vs. XTR ?

[Reppik]

I guess there is an m9000 race vs m9000 trail. I have the race on mine and the trail on the pink seat post bike. The trail brakes have more adjustment at the lever and finned heat dissipaters. Over all the pink seat post bike has a few things I wish I had put on mine. Not that I am not 100% stoked on my bike I just learned some stuff as I built. The pink seat post bike comes in at 20 lbs with tubes. Mine is close to 18. I think if my buddy gets rid of the tubes and maybe a composite seat post he will have me beat.

[Molothi]

hello guys
after 4 long.... very long month the new frame arrived today
I should be very happy but it's the opposite - the frame size is not the correct one 
I 'm really disapointed 
using a local reseller was a bad idea .... a lot of wasted time 
I've to see how this reseller can refund me and I'll find another solution
I hope to give some other better news soon

[Molothi]

hi
here is the next step
I dealt to get a refund from the local reseller for that wrong size frame, and then stop the story with them

now, it's a new story.... and I can change the title of this thread because it's gonna be a CS-196 frame  ;-)
just placed an order to Peter this morning
I'll have some more news very soon... looking forward receiving the frame :-)
I'll keep you posted

[Molothi]

Hi, some updates about the frame
it 's been blocked at custom for 2 days, but it should be released for tomorrow
I expected to receive it for this week and then be able to build it... but I think it 's to tight, I'll need to wait begining of next week :-(
I remain positive... I should be able to ride it next week-end :-)
I post some pics about the build

[Molothi]

Fortunately the frame has arrived middle of last week after a week.. .blocked in Customs for document process/treatment, and I could build it to ride it this week-end
a crazy sunny with 20 degres ... incredible for 1rst of November

I really like that bike... I forgot how light a bike could be 
I'll post some pics later

a big "thank you" to Peter for his help and very good communication (even better than local dealers - they really have something to learn from him)

 

[Molothi]

Hi All

I' m finally back
time goes fast and does not let me enough opportunities to ride, at least as much as I would like, but that' s life 

I could have titled this post "My Christmas ride  " as the following pics were taken that 25th of December
still the same pleasure to ride this bike in my region despite a frequent creaking noise around the rear derailleur - I had a look on everything, followed advise given in a separate post talking about a similar problem, but no way to fix it 
only  1 last thing I need to do is to change the space between the front ring and the BB so as to change a little bit the chain line (as the noise comes up only for the 5 last gears).... but I' m not sure about that as I took everything from my last build and the new build is identical to the previous one ... we' ll see...)

anyway, that was a good ride of a december day which does not really look like a december day (Almost 10 degres above what it should be  )







After I returned at home, I cleaned the bike and .... maybe found the origine of the creacking noise, at leat maybe a part of it
I lost 1 screw of the right dropout, and the 2 others from the left side were not totally screwed     

I need to find the same kind of screw before being able to ride again - I don' t want to have a bad surprise by losing the second screw - the result could be dramatic

is anybody has this type of screw reference?

 

[Reppik]

Bike is looking good. Sorry about the creeking. I know youll get it sorted out. Cheers and happy riding. P.S. Both bikes I have have been holding strong...