I ordered a Markhor from Anto Bike Store on Ali 2 years ago and as far as I could tell it was legit, it's still going strong.

Which chains are you comparing to?  SRAM X1 11 speed and KMC 11 are both $27 on Jenson.  ZTTO is $21.30. 

The GXP crank that is currently in a PF92 GPX BB will fit just fine in a BSA BB in a 73mm frame.

Hi Quentin, thanks for all those graphics and don't want to deviate the thread, but even when the saddle/handlebar distance is the same, the pedaling position it is not. In this example you are much more over the BB which I don't want to change from my actual bike as I train on three different bikes and have it dialed in terms of power and comfort, this is why I think it would be easier for me to get that position on a M frame. I would like to keep the same saddle to BB height/offset and distance to the handlebar. Maybe it would not be possible on a L as the reach is much longer.

Just curious, what are your other 2 bikes?  Here's some potential perspective.  Take the example that you get a bike fit on a road bike, the fit is done on a stationary trainer.  There will be an ideal saddle height, set back, and tilt to maximize power and minimize discomfort.  This is important because you are always seated in the same position and grades are not as steep as MTB trails.  For an MTB, the "perfect" pedal position is less important in general because you're constantly moving around and shifting your weight, therefore the best position is a balance between good fit and weight balance.  Now what if you redid your bike fit, but you lifted the front tire up enough to match a 5 or 10% grade?  You'd push the saddle forward to compensate, since the STA gets slacker.  It's true that when you go back to flat ground, it's a compromised position, but if your trails are constant up and down, does that matter?  Take this with a grain of salt, the new style geometry isn't for everyone.  I'd bet that a bike with a 69 deg HTA and 73 deg STA would be faster on flatter XC trails than the newer bikes with 66 deg HTA and 76 deg STA, especially tight courses.  But if that's what your trails are like and you want the perfect pedaling position on flat ground, then this likely isn't the bike for you.  If you downsize and push the saddle back, you'll just end up with a rearward weight balance, it'll be hard to weight the front tire in corners and won't feel right.  The slack HTA, steep STA, long reach, and long wheelbase all play together.

I've got some built up with i25 SpeedSafe Ultralight rims.  Final weight of 1340g without tape or valves.  I've been happy with the engagement and sound over about 250 miles.  I'll give an update when they have a ton of miles on them or if anything happens.  Not much to comment on other than high perceived quality and machining work.

Quote from: acedeuce802 on August 16, 2020, 10:22:45 AM

Do you think there's enough room to run a second bottle cage using a universal clamp on cage hanging from the top tube?  Hard to tell from the pictures with those who have bottle cages on the downtube.

I am going to experiment with the Wolftooth system and see if I can get two 20oz bottles on the down tube.

Awesome, I'll be curious to see if you can fit that.  Unfortunately I think I'd go with a medium (I'm right in between medium and large) so there's likely not a whole lot of room in there.  I guess I could always do clamp on mounts under the downtube with a bottle with a covered nozzle.

What are your guys go-to for straight pull spokes?  I just ordered these ZTTO hubs but haven't built straight pull before.  I originally was going to go with Sapim Lasers, but now I'm reading horror stories about non-bladed spokes straight pull spokes, at least when needed to service them they just spin and it takes a ton of clamping force to hold the round spoke.

I wanted an aggressive gravel bike that's able to fit MTB tires.  Trying to copy a Salsa Cutthroat with a Chiner frame.  I basically wanted ~70mm BB drop, clearance for 29x2.25, chainring clearance for 36t+, and modern XC geometry (100mm fork geo, ~69 deg headtube, etc).  I usually ride large MTB's (I'm 5'10.5") so I ordered a medium FM199 frame from Serpah on Aliexpress.  It arrived in 9 days from ordering and was packaged very well!

-Serpah FM199 Chinese Carbon 29er MTB Frame
-SRAM Rival HRD 1x w/ 38t and 10-42
-Teravail Sparwood Tires on ARC27's laced to Novatec hubs (my first wheel build!)
-Niner Boost RDO Fork
-Tranzx Dropper actuated with left shift lever
-Ritchey VentureMax bars

The main setback on the build was routing the rear derailleur cable.  This frame is intended to run bare cable through the frame, but I like to run full housing so I drilled through the frame fittings.  The DS chainstay is THIN inside, I had to grease up the housing and use a bit of force to get the housing through.  With Jagwire 1.1mm cable there's no issue with stiction.  Other than that the build was super straight forward, the BB was solid and the PF BB went in no problem, no creaking yet!  Headset area was solid, the rest of the cable routing was easy, everything else went together in one night.  This frame is weird that the rear caliper is set up flat mount, but they include an adapter.  Luckily I'm running a road groupset so I actually am running flat mount in the rear and post mount in the front.  Since there's only clearance for 29x2.3 tires and it's boost spacing, the DS chainstay runs parallel to the centerline a ways past the chainring, I'm sure I could fit a 40t or 42t no problem.

It weighs 21.9 lbs as it sits in the pictures.  I also have carbon road wheels that will get the weight down to 20.5 or so.  I could drop another pound or so off the gravel weight if I went carbon with some lighter spokes, but I'm pretty happy as is.  The wheels are 1840g without tape or valves.  I found a nice gravel two-track trail that leads into a tight single-track trail and then leads to a long dirt road, this bike was perfect for that!  I want to get it out on some longer single-track trails to see how it does.