Dutch AC036 built, update 27June broken rear chain stay connection

[gj-070]

After reading through this forum i finally decided to buy a China Carbon 036 frame, since I couldn’t find any real big quality issues lately.
Thanks for all the good info ! Now it is time for me to add some experiences.

Some background, my current bike is a Rose Dr.Z, a aluminum fully 29” from 2012, no issues on this bike, I was ready for something new after 4 years good service.

Decided to start with requesting quotations from different 036 suppliers, had fast response and good contact with ICAN so decided to purchase there. I went for a full Chinese Carbon parts package: Frame + Seat post + Seat + Steer + Stem + Headset Spacers + Seat tube clamp + Rear Shaft.

The start of the projects wasn’t so smooth, the box arrived but there was a big carton tear in the center of the box. We had to accept the package and pay taxes before we would be allowed to check the if the frame was damaged, so decided to refuse the box. The tricky part is if you accept the package, it will be difficult to get warranty replacement and if you get free replacement you still have to pay taxes again. Policy if box is refused and not picked up within 2 weeks from depot it will be shipped back to the sender. After a few days I went to the depot, asked if I could check if the frame was damaged, luckily I was allowed to go into the box with my hand, felt that everything was well packed and I could not feel any damage so I decided to accept the box. At home unpacked everything and everything looked in good condition.

The built:
- First thing I bought was the front suspension, new from a USA 2014 stock clearance sale. Recently changed from remote to manual, unfortunately no trail adjust in this fork.
- A long search for Rims and Hubs selection, wanted Chinese Carbon rims, but comparing price and weight made the decision to go for a factory wheels set, DT Swiss 240s with Ryde Trace rims.
- The Shimano M8000 was in a full drivetrain with brakes set, pricewise a easy decision, sold the 180mm discs and mounted 160mm discs. 
- The rear suspension was a quite long search to find one for a fair price.
- The smaller parts was straight forward, no issues there.   
- Started with tubeless Latex, I wasn’t really impressed, so went back to Latex inner tubes.   
- Made frame stickers, gloss black “Chiner”
 
The ride:
- First ride immediately went for a 100 Km ride (50km XCl / 50km concrete), no issues on the bike, only the full Carbon saddle, it is only 96 gram, but comfort is 0,0. So immediately replaced that one. The stem I original purchased didn’t feel as solid as I am used to, also it was too long, so I replaced it for a shorter aluminum version.
- Rides after that were a bit more rough, some jumps, faster through the corners, climbing some hills, got more confidence in the bike, not disappointed so far.
- Last ride got some sounds in rear suspension, opened all joints, checked all bearings, couldn’t find any abnormality’s, think main issue was Fox hinge bush grease.

Bearing sizes:
4x Outer 19mm x Inner 8mm x width 6mm
2x Outer 24mm x Inner 12m x width 6mm
Question, the retaining rings to hold the bearings in position are a thin version (not standard), 24mmx1 and 19mmx0,6, anybody has found where i can buy them ?

Current specifications:
Description   
Frame type, AC036, BB30, 21", 142x12mm,ICAN
Seat post, SP006, 31,6mm, 400mm, ICAN
Steer, 680mm, HB001, ICAN
Stem, aluminium, 90mm, 0 degrees, Bike Discount
Headset spacers, SC02, ICAN
Bottle cage, BC02, ICAN
Selle Royal saddle, Bought second hand from a Demo bike.
Headset, 1-1/8", 1-1/2", H373, ICAN
Seat tube clamp, SCS04,   ICAN
Rear shaft, TH142, 12x142mm, ICAN
Fox Front shox, 32mm, Float, 2014, 100mm, Kashima, Ebay
SPD Pedals, Shimano, XTR, PD-M980, Cycle Klein
Wheelset, DT Swiss 240s Disc IS / Ryde Trace-XC 29", Bike Discount
Fox Shox Float DPS, SV, 6.5" x 1.5" Kashima 165x38, Ebay
Fox Hinge bush, 22,2mm long, inner diameter 8mm, Ebay
Fox Hingebush, 22,86mm long, inner diameter 8mm, Ebay
Shimano M8000, 1x11 Groupset + Brakes, Bike Discount, this contained below parts.
XT 11-speed Crank FC-M8000-1 32 175mm
XT Hollowtech II Bottom Bracket BB-MT800
XT 11-speed Rapidfire PLUS SL-M8000 I-Spec II right
Gear wire 2050mm and Gear cable SIS OT-SP41
XT 11-speed Rear Derailleur RD-M8000 SGS Shadow RD+
XT 11-speed Cassette CS-M8000 11-42T incl. Lock Ring
HG-X 11-speed Chain CN-HG701, 116 linkst
XT Disc Brake BR-M8000, G02A Resin, Front
XT Disc Brake BR-M8000, G02A Resin,. Rear
XT Disc Rotors SM-RT86M2 160mm 6-hole (was 180mm original)
XT Disc Rotors SM-RT86M2 160mm 6-hole (was 180mm original)
Tube Michelin C4 Aircomp Latex, 47/57-559 SV 40 mm,   Bike Components
Schwalbe Racing Ralph Evolution LiteSkin PaceStar Set 29",Bike Components
NoTubes Stan's Yellow Rim Tape, 21mm, Bike Components
Handle bar grips, Aliexpress

[Carbon_Dude]

Very nice post, thanks of sharing.  Glad your frame was not damaged and you did not need to refuse the shipment in the end.

I have an -036 and really like my bike, been riding mine for nearly 2 years now, not issues with any of the Chinese carbon parts.  So far I've been really happy with my purchase.  The -036 was my second Chiner purchase, once I built the hard tail I was confident that a full suspension bike would not take too much more effort.

I might do a few upgrades on my -036, thinking I may change the suspension travel on my Fox CTD fork from 100mm to 120mm, I tend to use nearly all the travel on the trails I'm riding and don't want to increase the air pressure and lose ride quality.

I may also move to 27.5"x40mm carbon wheels with 2.8" tires, another forum member has done this and has been really happy with the extra grip and speed he is getting from the larger volume tires.

[jja]

That's a very nice looking bike. Thanks for sharing!

Do you know the final weight?

Also, is that a second frame I see peeking into the first picture? Tell us about that one when you have time.

[gj-070]

Thanks for the reply's. To answer some questions:
I purchased only 1 frame, everybody who is interseted can buy one themselves these days, not so difficult.
I didnt weight the bike when finished yet, plan was to end below 10kg, but with pedals it is now around 11 kg in my calcultation. 

Plans on the bike:
- Place a anti rub cable guiding for the rear brake cable, to prevent wear marks at the headset.
- Since i hear sometimes a small beep at the rear shock, checked alignment of both shock hinges, found they are not 100% in line, plan to reduce the hinge spacers a bit to give shock hinges opportunity to find perfect alignment.
- Found the rear wheel spokes needed to be re-tensioned, so i re-aligned the wheel and gave spokes some tension. Still the 25mm Carbon rims are on my wish list.

[carbonazza]

Place a anti rub cable guiding for the rear brake cable, to prevent wear marks at the headset.

Is there any way we can say to "the factory", that the rear brake could enter on the left side.
And the front shifter( if any ) on the right side?

The hoses would make a nice curve, and we wouldn't need those pesky stickers.
The 062 allows it.

[gj-070]

Good question Carbonazza, but the rented and borrowed Mtb's i have ridden in Asia all had the brakes same as on their motorbike.
Like Left - Rear brake and Right - Front brake.
I assume that is reason for current routing choice.
But i agree, would be great if that was configurable or changable.
Removing the liners is something that i wouldnt do, in my previous bike the cables didnt have liners and i could hear them bouncing in the frame during a rough ride.

[gj-070]

A short update of experience so far, the bike is great !
I joined for example: Willingen (Gernamy) Bike Marathon 130km (3500 Hight meters), Groesbeek Gruwelijkste (Netherlands) 100km (1700 hight meters) etc, with a lot of fun.
 
Issues i had with the bike so far:
- The rear rim, the Ryde Trace Trail version got damaged, exchanged it for a Ryde Trace Enduro. (50 gram heavier)
- I got tired of the rear brake hose routing, i glued a cable holder on the frame, see post above, but it didn't stick. So at last i decided to drill and tap M2,5 thread and bolt a cable holder to the frame. I understand if the frames breaks now on this position i can no longer claim warranty.
- The Rear wheel shaft broke, exchanged it for a DT Swiss one. I would advice you all to exchange also to a solid shaft.


Today i changed the frame stickers from gloss black to fluorizing green, see picture.
   

[Lanz]

Damn, what a lovely bike. If it really does come in the range of 10-11 kg it's even better.

[Sitar_Ned]

Agreed.. Looks damn good. I really like the chiner sticker and the green color with the black.

[Carbon_Dude]

I liked the gloss black stickers myself.  Nice looking -036 though.  I've never seen a broken thru axle like the ICAN one you are showing.

[gj-070]

The "funny" thing is, the rear shaft broke and I found out a few kilometers later that the shaft was partly missing.
First notice was that gear change wasn't so accurate any more, but no further big issues, so I didn't expect a broken shaft.
The bike rear end was so solid that the wheel stayed in position 

In general so far only good experiences with the frame / steer / seatpost !

[gj-070]

A small update:
Lowered the front fork from 130 to 110mm, the minimal hight possible of this fork, fork was sold as 100mm but received it as 130mm.
Mounted a front fork remote, both very good improvements.
I really had great fun with the bike past year but ....

After about 14 months, i had an issue with the bottom bracket aluminium bushing, it came loose.
Arranged the repair at a carbon repair shop in The Netherlands myself, since that is cheaper then sending the frame to China for repair. 68 Euro.


Recently after about 18 months, my rear swing arm connection bar broke.
Currently ready to ship it again to a carbon repair shop in the Netherlands, price about 160 Euro

I can not understand the swing arm is breaking here, there must have been too much flex somehow in the vertical tubes to the rear shock, else i can not explain it.
Someone else similar experience with a breakage on this spot ?

I am thinking now to build myself also a hardtail, since 1 week no MTB due to repairs is feeling NOT good.