Chinertown
Chinese Carbon MTB => 29er => Topic started by: cmh on August 14, 2015, 11:50:13 AM
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So I've been demoing bikes for a while, looking for a backup for my trusty Rumblefish. Have demo'd a bunch of really cool bikes so far:
* Scott Spark 29er with XTR
Nice bike, but something just didn't work right for me. Felt not very comfortable on it in the technical stuff.
* Giant Anthem 650b
My first experience riding XX1, where I was almost immediately sold. Funny how the 11-36 cassette used to look so huge and now it looks like a road cassette to me. Also funny I used to ride 11-32 all the time. Anyhow, the bike seemed really nice, but the place I got to demo didn't help, and I haven't had a chance to demo it on home turf.
* BMC Four Stroke
Just got to try this one out, it was nice, but like the Spark, not quite exactly what I was looking for.
* Specialized Epic World Cup
Holy hell, this is probably the best bike I've ever ridden. Wanted one almost immediately, then saw the price tag. Yikes.
Obviously what I'm looking for is a short travel, XC-style full-suspension rig.
So, with the successful sale of my little-used commuter bike (I just ride the road bike anyway) I'm looking at an 036 full suspension from Peter. He says that the bike is available in my size now, but with a BB30. BSA would be 25-35 days. Considering trekcarbonboy's wait (now, granted, that was for a gloss 3k finish which seems less common now) I'm a little worried about that. Unsure if I'm confident enough about the BB30 to just go with that to be able to get the frame quicker.
Anyone have any experience with the B7 straight handlebar with the dimples in the front vs the old style B4? Unsure what benefit that's supposed to give.
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No experience with the dimple but it makes sense. You can take a flimsy sheet of metal put a crease in it and all of a sudden you have a rigid piece that will support weight. The dimple seems like the same premise. Adds strength without adding weight.
Not sure if it would be an issue with any accessory mounts that might go there.
If you're as happy with the .036 as I am with the .057, I don't think this will be the "back up" bike.
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Not sure if it would be an issue with any accessory mounts that might go there.
No concerns there, I don't put anything on my bars! The phone records the rides since the Holux stopped working reliably.
If you're as happy with the .036 as I am with the .057, I don't think this will be the "back up" bike.
Let's hope so!
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Craig, did you go BB30 or BSA bottom bracket? Unsure if I want to wait for the BSA, but it seems that the BB30 is a bit more problematic on these frames. As it turns out, I already have a BB30 BB from back when I was going to get a Chiner road bike. Could get the adapters to use my existing cranks, too.
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BSA. It's only a month (hopefully) why not wait to get what you want. It's not like the Fish is broken and you need a replacement.
I'd mention that you know me and my shipping woes, and have him really commit to a time frame. He's ultimately at the mercy of the factory but maybe it'll help.
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BSA. It's only a month (hopefully) why not wait to get what you want. It's not like the Fish is broken and you need a replacement.
I'd mention that you know me and my shipping woes, and have him really commit to a time frame. He's ultimately at the mercy of the factory but maybe it'll help.
I spent quite a bit of time researching BB30 last night, and it seems like most folks don't like it because of the need for more special tools. Well, I've got most of those already, so that's not so much of a concern, and it sounds like assembling the bearings with LocTite 609 takes care of most of the issues. The BB30 should be slightly lighter, and opens up more possibilities for crank options. Grace has the awesome RaceFace Next SL cranks, I've been eyeballing the Turbines for myself, and the Cinch would work directly with the BB30 with a spacer kit, and in the meantime I can get a conversion kit to run my Shimano cranks. I had the impression that BB30 wasn't that good, but my research didn't really bear that out, so I'm a bit more comfortable with it now.
So I think I'm gonna go with the in-stock one and not roll the dice on getting delivery times like yours.
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Sure go for it. Most new bikes in the shops have BB30 or PF30.
I guess they are not as bad as some unlucky reports.
No problem after a year of PF30, I find the bearings easy to service with my M16 bolt.
Although I switched my SRAM PF30 cups for a bbinfinite one( Hoping for a better mud protection when it will get wet again )
I'm not sure a BSA would have protected better the bearings against the mud here.
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Not exactly the same, but I've found the BB92 on my two recent builds to be very easy to install and remove with the right tools. I'm using Shimano bb's and so far have no issues.
I was interested in those handlebars, too. I was looking at the B7 since it comes in 720 mm width, but I hadn't noticed the dimple feature. Not sure what to make of that. What I'd really like to know is the sweep and rise angle of these bars. Just hoping it's standard ~9° sweep.
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So I took a closer look at the BB30 BB that I had on hand from my aborted Chiner road bike project from a while back, and found this inside:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-K-gYoV08heo/Vc9RHqRN39I/AAAAAAAAhRM/HCtvp4TqUjY/s720-Ic42/IMG_20150815_103802877.jpg)
I even picked up the adapter kit for Shimano cranks. How fortuitous of me! :D
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My IP-036 has become my primary bike with my IP-057 now my backup bike.
Unfortunately, on my last ride I noticed my Fox CTD Boost Valve shock is not holding any air. I ordered the service kit for the air sleeve/cylinder since the rebuild looks fairly easy. Fox recommends servicing the shock every 40 hours of riding, I estimate I've ridden about 70 hours on this bike since I built it so we'll see. Hopefully all the shock needs is a rebuild.
I really like the geometry of my IP-057 and wish my IP-036 was a little closer geometry-wise to the IP-057 but such is life. The IP-036 is just a little different but different enough.
Cmh, if you didn't like the Scott Spark, I'm not sure you will like the IP-036 as the geometry is very similar unless you do something different like go with a 120mm fork, maybe different stem and bars. Hopefully your get it setup the way you like it.
Oh, and like you, I saw the XX1 drivetrain (but a couple years ago) and said that's exactly what I want on my next bike. So when I built both my IP-057 and IP-036, I went with XX1 and never looked back.
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Not exactly the same, but I've found the BB92 on my two recent builds to be very easy to install and remove with the right tools. I'm using Shimano bb's and so far have no issues.
Yeah, I like the BB92. Have it on the wife's Scale as well, and -- I think -- my Rumblefish, although Trek does have some of their own standards. BB92 is a bit more like PF30 in that the bearings are in plastic holders, where BB30 is pressed directly into the frame.
I was interested in those handlebars, too. I was looking at the B7 since it comes in 720 mm width, but I hadn't noticed the dimple feature. Not sure what to make of that. What I'd really like to know is the sweep and rise angle of these bars. Just hoping it's standard ~9° sweep.
Yeah, the 720 of the B7 caught my attention as well, I've got 700 on the Rumblefish right now and wanted to try just a little bit wider. Our one local trail has some tight spots so don't wanna go too ridiculous.
At this point, I think I'm going to get a B7 and a B4 so I can compare them, we've been talking about getting wider bars for Grace's bike anyway.
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My IP-036 has become my primary bike with my IP-057 now my backup bike.
Unfortunately, on my last ride I noticed my Fox CTD Boost Valve shock is not holding any air. I ordered the service kit for the air sleeve/cylinder since the rebuild looks fairly easy. Fox recommends servicing the shock every 40 hours of riding, I estimate I've ridden about 70 hours on this bike since I built it so we'll see. Hopefully all the shock needs is a rebuild.
Bummer. I've got a RockShox rear shock on hand that I'll be using because it's not only the right 6.5" size, it's got the right size bushings in it. If the bike seems good, I may update to a Fox CTD.
Cmh, if you didn't like the Scott Spark, I'm not sure you will like the IP-036 as the geometry is very similar unless you do something different like go with a 120mm fork, maybe different stem and bars. Hopefully your get it setup the way you like it.
Part of the problem with the Scott was that even though I could have gotten it for half of retail (had been a demo bike, we know the Scott rep) it was still $4k, and at that level, I wanted it to be damned perfect. Also, the biggest shortcoming with the bike was in really technical terrain, and since I've got the Rumblefish for that, I'm not too concerned. I'll see, I don't promise that you won't see a 21" 036 on the classifieds section in a couple months.
I also have a G2 fork which might help things.
Oh, and like you, I saw the XX1 drivetrain (but a couple years ago) and said that's exactly what I want on my next bike. So when I built both my IP-057 and IP-036, I went with XX1 and never looked back.
Yeah, that shit is awesome - but I think it's going to have to wait, it'll be XT 1x10 for me to start, and the fat bike is going to be losing a bunch of nice parts for this project. :)
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Rode a Spark this weekend at a local demo and damn it felt nice. Makes me want to get a 036 as well. Trying to resist the urge but I may have a 057 up in the classifieds
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Welp, I was days away from pulling the trigger and starting this project, and I happened to notice that Specialized had released their 2016 bikes. The one I was particularly interested in dropped by $700 while getting nicer parts. You just can't argue with that! The Epic is the bike that I absolutely fell in love with earlier this summer, so I was unable to resist and ordered it up, hoping to have it next week.
So, this is like the fourth time that I've gotten very close to getting a Chiner frame, starting with a road bike that I had actually ordered before I discovered chinertown... that was killed by crappy communication and I wound up cancelling the order.
Then, almost ordered a 057, almost ordered a fat bike frame, and now almost ordered an 036. Have ordered fat bike rims, seatpost, handlebars, and won those sweet 42mm rims which I'll be building up.
I understand if there's a collective vote to kick my ass off the boards for getting a big-brand bike, but the Epic and I got along _so_ well, it was really the only option, limited by cost.
There are still a bunch of things that I want, though, I keep eyeballing the cyclocross frames since my wife is getting into 'cross racing this year... but we'll see. I hope I get to stay, though, because this is by far the best bike forum I've ever spent some time on. I checked MTBR for info on the 2016 Specialized bikes the other day, and the three-page forum post was mostly arguments about color schemes. There were maybe 3-4 actually useful posts. This place is so, so much better. :)
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Congrats cmh! I'm super jealous; the Epic is one of my dream bikes. Amazing rides and I see a ton of them at the races. I was actually reading your post on the Epic bikes on MTBR recently.
Which model/paint scheme are you getting? Will it be 1x11? Have that crazy new RS fork? I want to demo one, but I'm afraid trying leads to buying...
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Congrats cmh! I'm super jealous; the Epic is one of my dream bikes. Amazing rides and I see a ton of them at the races. I was actually reading your post on the Epic bikes on MTBR recently.
Thanks! I demo'd one back when I wound up buying the Rumblefish, but wasn't terribly impressed. Same with the Stumpjumper. At this last demo day, though, I was blown away by both. Since the Stumpjumper FSR is a long travel trail bike, like the Rumblefish, it was the Epic which really got my attention. It was crazy fast, but comfortable, and within moments of hopping on it, I set a PR on a trail where I go when I want to ride fast. That's pretty damn telling.
Which model/paint scheme are you getting? Will it be 1x11? Have that crazy new RS fork? I want to demo one, but I'm afraid trying leads to buying...
* Epic Elite Carbon 29 World Cup (http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/epic/epic-elite-carbon-29-world-cup). I've realized that my bikes have a theme when it comes to names:
Strange names: Rumblefish
Long names: Epic Elite Carbon 29 World Cup
Strange, long names: Boris the Evil Brute Sprung
* Definitely 1x11 - the one that I demo'd had the XX1 which I've ridden on several bikes now and am fairly convinced is the best drivetrain out there right now. However, that bike was $10k - uh, yeah, no... so mine will have the X1, two levels down.
* No RockShox RS-1 fork - that's on the $10k and $12k models - see above. :D This one is the SID with the Brain valving. Actually the same one on the 2015 that I demo'd.
* Yeah, I would warn caution when it comes to demoing the Specialized. Nobody warned me, and look where I wound up. :D
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Yep, congrats CMH! The Epic is one of those bikes I wouldn't mind having in my garage next to my Chiner. Before I build my 057 I came really close to buying an Epic 29er frame on eBay and doing my build from there. I test road an Expert Carbon Epic and the Epic World Cup, I preferred the geometry of the Expert Carbon Epic as the WC felt like it had a shorter wheelbase and steeper HT angle.
If I want'ed to buy a big name bike tomorrow, the Epic would be near the top of my list. I also have owned 26" Epic and really liked that bike as well so moving up to the 29er a few years ago, it was a logical choice to go for the Epic until I saw the price tag. I wanted the SRAM XX1 drivetrain and in order to get that, the price was around $7k. Specialized is very proud of their bikes.
Which model Epic did you order and what was the cost, if you don't mind me asking?
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Yep, congrats CMH! The Epic is one of those bikes I wouldn't mind having in my garage next to my Chiner. Before I build my 057 I came really close to buying an Epic 29er frame on eBay and doing my build from there. I test road an Expert Carbon Epic and the Epic World Cup, I preferred the geometry of the Expert Carbon Epic as the WC felt like it had a shorter wheelbase and steeper HT angle.
Yep, and that's exactly what made me love the World Cup. Many of the trails that I ride don't need the long travel and slower handling of the Rumblefish, so I'd been wanting something more XC agressive and I think there are few bikes the deliver that quite so well. :)
If I want'ed to buy a big name bike tomorrow, the Epic would be near the top of my list. I also have owned 26" Epic and really liked that bike as well so moving up to the 29er a few years ago, it was a logical choice to go for the Epic until I saw the price tag. I wanted the SRAM XX1 drivetrain and in order to get that, the price was around $7k. Specialized is very proud of their bikes.
Which model Epic did you order and what was the cost, if you don't mind me asking?
I got the Epic Elite Carbon 29 World Cup (http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/epic/epic-elite-carbon-29-world-cup) - and although the shop that sponsors our team is a Specialized dealer, they got all weird when I contacted them to try and buy from them, so I went local and paid full price.
I had been looking at used ones on eBay, and it was the proximity in price between some of the used XX1 bikes and the brand new X1 bike that convinced Grace and I to go new. Only a little bit more for a bike with a full warranty. Four years into owning the Rumblefish I discovered the swingarm had cracked, brought it to the dealer and got it replaced no problem, no charge. Hard to argue with that.