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Re: Carbonda fm936 Thoughts New to the forum, but lurking a long time  ;)

Here's some pictures of my Ican S3
Posting in the FM936 thread, because the S3 isn't available anymore and as the front triangle and geometry are equal to the FM936 I wanted to express my love for this bike here  8)

Eventually bit the bullet last year based on the experiences here on Chinertown as well as the 150+ replies thread on MTB-news.de
I built mine with a XC/DC use in mind. 130mm fork (previously a Lyrik, now a 2023 Pike Ultimate). Suspension is where I've spent the money, the rest is fairly budget-minded or sourced from closeouts.

This thing rips! I also own a 2021 Specialized enduro as well as a gravel bike. So it's been built to fill the gap between the two. And I wanted a bike that could still handle the descents; and it does just that. Enduro confidence on a short travel bike.

The build:
Rockshox deluxe ultimate shock
Rockshox Pike Ultimate 130mm
Aluminum Wheels from slowbuild.de (=Newmen rims) and DT-swiss 350 hubs
Rimpact insert in the rear wheel
Wicked Will tires (Tubeless)
SLX crank with inpeak powermeter
Deckas 30t chainring
KS Lev integra dropper
Fabric Scoop flat saddle
Deore 11-speed shifting (recently changed to a ZTTO cassette)
Deore disc brakes
KMX X11-gold chain
Race Face Atlas stem
Brand-X carbon bar
ESI Chunky
Time Atac MX6 pedals






April 29, 2024, 04:23:34 AM
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Build Log - Carbonda hard tail for daughter's birthday. Well, my wonderful child has just turned 12, and having 2 parents over 6' - she has been growing like a weed.

She currently rides a Polygon Cleo 2 in XS that she got for her 8th birthday which has rapidly become too small for her.

After joining this forum, lurking and looking at AliExpress I thought it would be a good opportunity to use the collective knowledge of the forums and build my daughter a lightweight Chinese carbon bike!

My goal is pretty simple - I want to build a 29er bike that will last a good few years, and I want to to be as light (or lighter) than her current bike (XS frame, 27.5" wheels), I want it to be comfortable and capable on suburban streets, but I also want her to be able to to come riding with me on the MTB trails.

So I have started making purchases, and should hopefully have it ready to ride in a month or so.

Frame
I have gone with the Carbonda FM1306a.
I had sent an email to Wing last year enquiring about one of these frames for myself - but heard nothing back - that is when I found out that the emails had most likely ended up in my junk mail! Wing has been an absolute dream to deal with, super quick with replies, very detailed and helpful.
The frame ended up costing a bit more than I had hoped (US$230 shipping is a hard pill to swallow), and I also paid extra for the chameleon paint scheme as my daughter had requested it.

Fork
I was lucky to snap up a second hand RockShox SID off Facebook marketplace for AU$450. It was un-used, and taken off a 2024 Giant Anthem Advanced 29 3.

Wheels
I bought some EliteWheels off AliExpress - I will add more details later.

Brakes
ZTTO MTB Team Brakes in Silver and Gold.

I will update this post over the coming days with more information - been stuck busy at work...

May 02, 2024, 02:30:15 AM
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Re: Titan Hardtail 2024 I couldn't finishing get everything put onto the bike on my break and had to finish it off at the end of the day. Really happy with how the bike came out. It weights about 10.4kg in total so not unhappy with that. Sub 10kg would be possible by replacing saddle, grips and bars for carbon. In fact, I intend to get carbon bars anyway but not yet. I will also replace as many bolts with Ti as possible. I just want the bike to be as corrosion resistant as possible since I am committing this to be my last bike for some time (he says!)

The fork steerer could be trimmed a smidge. I rode the bike home and back to work today. Only about 30 miles total. I have to say everything feels great. The frame is solid and the 34.9mm ISP is not as unforgiving as I had expected it to be!

I have not ridden non-lefty suspension fork for years and its odd - my balance feels slightly off. On the second ride, I didn't have the feeling nearly as much as the first ride. The geometry was meant to be an exact copy of the Cannondale Flash but i am running a 100mm stem instead of 110mm and the axle to crown on the Flash was a little shorter than this bike so my position feels a bit different but certainly not uncomfortable.

As with all builds, I need to make a few tweeks. Saddle nose needs to come up a degree or two and the saddle needs to come back a tiny bit too. I think I could also trim another 10mm off the ISP so that I have adjustment. I cut it perfectly and with the seatpost topped bottomed out my position is correct but it means I can only increase the saddle height from here and cannot lower it at all.

I will also get a carbon rigid fork at some point. I don't ride off road nearly as much as I should and when I do, even on rigid forks, i'm alright. Plus it'll lightly the bike up a chunk for commuting and nipping around the New Forest.

I've not had good luck with bike frames. 5 of my last 6 have cracked or snapped so I am hoping for better news here. I suppose there is always a gamble when buying something which will be hard to warrant, purely based on distances involved. However, my experience with Titan have been great and hopefully the only thing that goes wrong with this bike will be due to an accident instead of workmanship.

May 03, 2024, 02:56:01 AM
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Re: Bona Ti annnnnnnd done!

Cant wait to good weather to try it out

May 05, 2024, 07:08:29 PM
1
Re: Build Log - Carbonda hard tail for daughter's birthday. Wing has just emailed through a image of the frame, the paint job looks fantastic and I can't wait to see it in the flesh!

For an idea of the timeline:

First email to Wing - 26/04
Payment made - 27/04
A couple of technical questions in emails between then.
Photos of frame sent - 11/05

I will let you all know when the frame arrives with me and ready to build!


May 10, 2024, 11:04:47 PM
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Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!
Can anyone recommend some high quality, light, with solid side entry carbon bottle cages?  Need some for MTB.

These impressed me enough that I'm using them on my road and gravel bikes: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805834827357.html

I wouldn't use them on a downhill bike with 1 liter bottles in them, but an XC bike with standard 650ml or even 750ml bottles should be fine.

Anyone have any experience with the ZTTO P3 BOOST hubs? They're 6 pawl with 72 points of engagement. Weight is just OK, but the price is good. I will confess that the main reason I am interested is because they have a lime green option.


https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803355100658.html


They promise "magical reliability" and "can be counted on to last for enough miles."

I have these hubs on my mountain bike (boost) and commuter bike (non-boost) and I also had the non-boost version on my gravel wheels until I had to swap them out to run a 12 speed road cassette. Though heavy, they're super easy to build into a wheel, well finished, and the bearings run smooth. I confess that I don't have a real long-term review of them - only about 600 miles of use on the set that used to be on the gravel bike and only about 200 miles on each of my mountain bike and commuter bike sets - but hubs don't really change over time, the bearings just wear out and the ones on the P3 hubs are completely standard and easy to source. The freehub has reasonably high engagement, I haven't wished for more on the mountain bike, and it's a bog-standard pawl system so no worries about ratchets slipping or anything. I don't know if they can offer "magical reliability" but I'm pretty sure they can be counted on to last for enough miles.

May 11, 2024, 11:16:31 AM
1