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Re: Speeder SC-R48
I have come to the conclusion that there are 2 possibilities: Highly doubt the latter. Yes it's more work and volumes are lower, but the margin is hugely higher and buyers are more likely to complain publicly.. Evidence is anecdotal in my personal experience but Carbonda stuff has typically been nicer quality than some of not-great OEM FlyBike stuff I've seen from the same moulds. Same goes for Speeder / WinSpace. Same goes for WorksWell and various brands that use them. Speeder are the OEM / ODM for WinSpace .. and they're not officially linked. But the ownership of a lot of these Chinese cycling groups is murky and a lot of investors are common, so there may be more than meets the eye. September 17, 2022, 10:59:52 AM |
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Deng Fu R13
Hi everyone. Longtime lurker, first time poster. I've learned a lot from the forum over the years so it's time to give back by sharing some knowledge. The first frame that I ordered directly from a Chinese manufacturer was a Hongfu FM069 in 2014. It felt a bit more like gambling then. Fewer people doing this, less knowledge about the producers, and not knowing anything about how customs would work. I was out of the game for some time because that frame lasted until spring 2022. The only trouble I had with it was due to a small design flaw. Shimano changed the front derailleur when they came out with Ultegra 6800 and the arm of the derailleur pressed on the frame, but like I wrote, it lasted for years and thousands of KM, until last spring. I noticed what looked like a slight crack on the top tube while sitting at a cafe after riding. It felt a little soft when I pushed on it, but I couldn't tell how bad it was. I road it a few more times and pushed on it, and pulled on it with my fingernail, etc. I eventually decided that I wasn't going to feel safe riding it at speed on the open road, so I dissected it the best I could around the crack. Long story short, I'm convinced that it is next to impossible to properly inspect a carbon frame without professional tools. Full stop. Sure there are visually obvious flaws, but we won't catch anything internal. The other side is just as true. I'm happy I retired that frame, but I'm not 100% that is was necessary. So I decided to order a new frame and use my existing grupo and wheels. It was spring and I needed a frame asap so I panic ordered a Rinasclta 2020 light weight rim brake road frame. They were professional, I got the frame relatively quickly, even with a custom paint job. It rides nicely and generally does what a frame should do: let you focus on riding. I had a little problem with the rear derailleur hanger. It was misaligned and there is so little carbon where it screws to the frame that I'm afraid to use a derailleur hanger adjustment tool to bend it into place. I made a shim out of thin plastic and that got it close enough that it shifts without problems. I can share photos or a tutorial if anyone has questions about what I did. I'm happy with that bike and it is now on my indoor trainer and I use it as my winter bike. I was ready to take a big step forward after putting in the training time the last few years so this autumn I started looking for a new frame to build up from scratch. My priorities were integrated cables, disc brakes, and somewhere on the aero spectrum of frames. After much lurking on the forums, I finally settled on a Deng Fu R12. The Yeoleo R12 (completely different from the Deng Fu R12) did work with me for geometry and taste. A few final contenders had BB86 bottom brackets, which don't play nicely with sram dub cranks. So the Deng Fu R12 with its BB386 was the call. Mia was helpful and answered my questions promptly. The price was nice. Everything was good until I changed my mind about the size. I wanted at 56cm frame instead of 58cm. The 56cm frame was out of stock. I was disappointed because I was ready to pull the trigger, but she got back to me to let me know that they had the new R13 in 56cm. She said it was very close to the R12, sent me a photo, but didn't have a geometry chart to share. I decided to order it anyway. It came about a month later. Mia shared a tracking number when it shipped and it arrived very well packaged in my country without incident. I tried to look at the inside of the frame the best I could without a proper insertable camera. Everything checked out. The only thing that I noticed was some latex leftover from the molding process. I built it up with sram force. The brake cable routing was easy; I didn't need anything other than tape and the plastic tubing that came pre-inserted in the frame. I'm not 100% happy with how the headset spacers are fitting into the integrated bar/stem. The spaces have a little dot that fits into a corresponding hole in the spacer above and then the stem. The space match up perfectly, but the carbon stem is tightened around the steerer tube, which changes its diameter, making this last interface slightly misaligned. It's about 99% there, just not perfect. Certainly not a safety issue. I have zero other comments other than it was easy to build. I used a Token thread together ninja bb. Besides having to find their tool in stock to buy, it was easy and tolerances checked out the best I could tell with calipers. The other part of the project was building wheels. I bought light carbon rims (Hi everyone. Longtime lurker, first time poster. I've learned a lot from the forum over the years so it's time to give back by sharing some knowledge. The first frame that I ordered directly from a Chinese manufacturer was a Hongfu FM069 in 2014. It felt a bit more like gambling then. Fewer people doing this, less knowledge about the producers, and not knowing anything about how customs would work. I was out of the game for some time because that frame lasted until spring 2022. The only trouble I had with it was due to a small design flaw. Shimano changed the front derailleur when they came out with Ultegra 6800 and the arm of the derailleur pressed on the frame, but like I wrote, it lasted for years and thousands of KM, until last spring. I noticed what looked like a slight crack on the top tube while sitting at a cafe after riding. It felt a little soft when I pushed on it, but I couldn't tell how bad it was. I road it a few more times and pushed on it, and pulled on it with my fingernail, etc. I eventually decided that I wasn't going to feel safe riding it at speed on the open road, so I dissected it the best I could around the crack. Long story short, I'm convinced that it is next to impossible to properly inspect a carbon frame without professional tools. Full stop. Sure there are visually obvious flaws, but we won't catch anything internal. The other side is just as true. I'm happy I retired that frame, but I'm not 100% that is was necessary. So I decided to order a new frame and use my existing grupo and wheels. It was spring and I needed a frame asap so I panic ordered a Rinasclta 2020 light weight rim brake road frame. They were professional, I got the frame relatively quickly, even with a custom paint job. It rides nicely and generally does what a frame should do: let you focus on riding. I had a little problem with the rear derailleur hanger. It was misaligned and there is so little carbon where it screws to the frame that I'm afraid to use a derailleur hanger adjustment tool to bend it into place. I made a shim out of thin plastic and that got it close enough that it shifts without problems. I can share photos or a tutorial if anyone has questions about what I did. I'm happy with that bike and it is now on my indoor trainer and I use it as my winter bike. I was ready to take a big step forward after putting in the training time the last few years so this autumn I started looking for a new frame to build up from scratch. My priorities were integrated cables, disc brakes, and somewhere on the aero spectrum of frames. After much lurking on the forums, I finally settled on a Deng Fu R12. The Yeoleo R12 (completely different from the Deng Fu R12) did work with me for geometry and taste. A few final contenders had BB86 bottom brackets, which don't play nicely with sram dub cranks. So the Deng Fu R12 with its BB386 was the call. Mia was helpful and answered my questions promptly. The price was nice. Everything was good until I changed my mind about the size. I wanted at 56cm frame instead of 58cm. The 56cm frame was out of stock. I was disappointed because I was ready to pull the trigger, but she got back to me to let me know that they had the new R13 in 56cm. She said it was very close to the R12, sent me a photo, but didn't have a geometry chart to share. I decided to order it anyway. It came about a month later. Mia shared a tracking number when it shipped and it arrived very well packaged in my country without incident. I tried to look at the inside of the frame the best I could without a proper insertable camera. Everything checked out. The only thing that I noticed was some latex leftover from the molding process. I built it up with sram force. The brake cable routing was easy; I didn't need anything other than tape and the plastic tubing that came pre-inserted in the frame. I'm not 100% happy with how the headset spacers are fitting into the integrated bar/stem. The spaces have a little dot that fits into a corresponding hole in the spacer above and then the stem. The space match up perfectly, but the carbon stem is tightened around the steerer tube, which changes its diameter, making this last interface slightly misaligned. It's about 99% there, just not perfect. Certainly not a safety issue. I have zero other comments other than it was easy to build. I used a Token thread together ninja bb. Besides having to find their tool in stock to buy, it was easy and tolerances checked out the best I could tell with calipers. The only difference that I can see between the R12 photos I've seen online and my R13 is in the seat stays. The R12 has slightly flared seat stays that are separate when they leave the seat tube. The seat stays on the R13 come off of the seat stay as a single, joined piece that then separates to each side. The other part of the project was building wheels. I bought rims from Light Carbon (https://www.lightcarbon.com/super-aero-undulating-rim-depth-700c-disc-brake-carbon-clincher-rims_p207.html). Super easy to deal with. Prompt emails. Answered questions. Shipped with a tracking number and I'm completely satisfied and enjoyed building the wheels. Last, I used a matte 2k clear coat on the frame and semigloss on the rims. I had more elaborate painting plans, but not a place to warm and dry to realize them in the winter. January 19, 2023, 09:38:30 AM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: New LCR017-D (or Yishun R1058-D)
Coincidentally, I had this brand's advertisement pop up on my Instagram feed earlier today. Never heard of them. $7000 USD for a 105 Di2 equipped bike. Does this frame not look like some sort of Yishun/LC variant? https://alcavibikes.com/collections/bikes/products/alcavi-v1-shimano-105 What annoys about micro-brands like this one (besides a bike costing more than a similar spec Tarmac SL8) is their marketing videos want you believe they actually spent 5 years developing a frame. Rather than simply going to an OEM factory from China to purchase a licensed frame. I really hope I'm wrong about this. October 22, 2023, 05:21:39 PM |
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Re: Consensus on replica frames ??
I built fake Factor O2 back in November 2020 to replace my heavy Merida Reacto 400. I've been riding a custom painted disc version of this frame, also since 2020. Did several bike trips with it including some speedy descents in the Swiss alps. Mileage is around 15.000km until now, zero complaints, the frameset is solid! November 25, 2023, 04:08:58 PM |
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Re: Consensus on replica frames ??
I have a Colnago Concept disc replica from Taobao, 2000 miles and it is still completely fine. I even crashed once and went for checking for the frame in my LBS and they said there is no problem and not accepting any payment from me because there's simply no issue found. Funny thing is I got a friend who has a real Colnago Concept, we switched and tested our ride and we can't feel any major difference between the real and the replica, only feel a bit more sluggish when accelerating in the replica because it is around 500g heavier. The paintjob is 8/10, it is definitely not perfect, place the real thing right next to it you can tell there's some difference, but if you don't compare it like this or know where to look I am pretty sure 95% people can't see the difference. There will be some paint scratches but it won't be spotted so easily. The frame + integrated carbon handlebar is like 500 USD, both are replica, one thing to note is that the accessories they provide are kind of trash and expect to get yourself some titanium bolts for replacements, but other than that I can safe to say I will buy replica again if I want a new bike because the real thing is like 3000 USD+ and I simply don't find it worth the price. December 01, 2023, 10:32:45 PM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: New LCR017-D (or Yishun R1058-D)
Me too. From my emails with them, they offered these in size 52: - 366 at 1130g, US$620 for frame and fork only (seat post is extra but it's standard 27.2) - 316 light at 950g, US$890 for frame, fork, seat post - 316 standard at 1100g, I didn't get a price because I wasn't interested in this frame It just so happens that the Taipei Bike Show is happening this weekend, and I will go check it out. I know Longteng has a booth, and likely other Chinese OEMs as well. I'll report back on anything interesting. (Let me know if anyone has any specific requests or questions in my DMs ... but I won't take requests for Hambini hairdresser pics, sorry....) March 06, 2024, 01:43:31 AM |
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