Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - NB87

Pages: [1]
1
Vendor Discussion & Reviews / Workswell disaster
« on: September 28, 2023, 04:14:44 AM »
Posting this to hopefully prevent others to making the same mistake as I did.. Long story, but a lot has happened between me and Workswell...

Okt 2021 I purchased an WCB-M-299 frame from Workswell for about $1300. Which I thought was quite a lot of money when comparing to other vendors. The geometry was good for my purpose and I really liked that it had 2 bottles. Weight was heavy though with 2100 gram. Somehow (naive as I was) I thought the "premium" price stood for better quality so I decided to go for it. My first Chinese bike project.

When the frame arrived after about a month I noticed that they provided a linkage system with this frame that didn't match the industry standard size of 12.7mm for mounting the shock. The special bolt and linkage that they provided was over 13mm. After my initial frustration and wondering how they can screw up such an essential measurement I gave them that feedback and requested to send me the correct linkage.

They first suggested that I should just try to jam the bolt and that the shock slide bearing would take this difference! I couldn't believe they suggested this.  ::)

Anyway, after way to many emails back and forth with me indicating exactly which size was wrong and advising them what size it should have been they send me another linkage. I had a bike weekend coming up with friends and I really wanted to bring the new bike with me. I was able to source a slide bearing that I could temporarily use. It wasn't exactly the right dimension but as an emergency it did the job.

During the weekend the bike performed well and I had a blast on my new fully. There was just one strange problem. Two bolts of the linkage system came loose during every ride. I couldn't figure out what was causing this.

In the meantime, a few weeks later, after paying for import tax en customs clearing the new linkage arrived. I noticed that send me a linkage with exactly the same problem and they didn't take notice of my feedback (12.7mm bolt requirement)! Imagine the frustration... I did notice though that they equiped this linkage with extra bearings.

By then I figured out that with these extra bearings the problem of aforementioned two bolts that were coming loose was solved! So they are learning and improving. Just too bad that I'm (and probably others as well) are their field test bunnies. I like product development, but I didn't sign up for this! 

After again way to many emails they send me another linkage promising me that this really was the right one. Again paying for customs clearing... It was the right one.

In May 2021 I was finally riding the bike trouble free. For less than a year....

When powering up a hill I heard a loud snap! The main pivot bolt had snapped.
No warranty. It was 1,5 year after I purchased the bike. They were not taking into consideration that I couldn't actually ride the bike the first 4/5 months because all the time they sent the wrong parts. I couldn't believe my ears.

I had a bolt made locally so I could at least ride again. But I didn't accept the no warranty comment. After a lot of wining and complaining they decided to send me a new bolt. I was trying to convince them to throw in an extra mech hanger for free as some kind of compromise for all the bullshit. They didn't accept that. When the bolt arrived I had to pay for customs clearing...

For over a year I was riding the bike with a lot of joy. I did some races with it. Took it with me on holidays to the Belgium Ardennes and France. I'm a good rider and push the bike's capabilities, but nothing out of the ordinary. I ride it the same way as my friends do with their premium Orbea Oiz, Sworks Epic, etc bikes.

After a while I started to realize that my shifting was getting off. When preparing to change the shifting cable I noticed a crack in my rear triangle. At the right hand side chainstay, towards the bb. Not a place where there's a lot of tension I imagined.

No warranty said Workswell. Why? I crashed my bike. Yes I did some times and it had some scratches. But I didn't buy the bike to put it in a display cabinet. Their reaction didn't surprise me after all that has gone before, but it was still disappointing to hear.

I took the bike to a local carbon repair shop and together we noticed 4 more cracks. 3 in the rear triangle and a big one around the bb. This bike is beyond repairing and Workswell doesn't take any responsibility.

When it works it's a great bike, but as you have read. More than once it didn't work.

Don't make the same mistake as I did. Stay very far away from Workswell. IMHO they don't deserve to be in business with this shameless attitude.

Now i'm riding an Orbea Oiz OMX frame. 1700gram frame + shock. much lighter than the Workswell, much stiffer. And with all the cost I had on the Workswell bike, the price difference isn't even that much. Resale value of the Orbea is also much higher. It will be hard to justify it for myself doing another project like this.



2
29er / Workswell wcb-m-145 / wcb-m-299
« on: September 06, 2021, 02:55:47 PM »
Does anyone have experience with the Workswell bikes in general and more specifically with the wcb-m-145 or 299?

I like the frame but since I can't find any real opinions/experiences about these frames I'm not sure if I can trust them.
I also would like to know if anyone have experience with Workswell's aftersale service.. is their warranty any good or do they leave you in the dark after buying? 

3
29er / Re: WCB-M-145 info?
« on: February 02, 2021, 02:20:57 PM »
Is there not more info about this frame?
The geo seems decent. Double bottles is a plus. Anyone knows the weight of the frame?

This morning I got quoted about $900 for the frame + $215(!) for shipping.
I hope that's a typo. Especially since according to this thread the frame costed about 2/3 of that 3 years ago!

 

4
29er / Re: 29er XC Hardtail - Boost - Modern Geometry
« on: January 30, 2021, 02:47:34 PM »
Given that a 34 SC has an A-C of 530mm, and the listed geometry of the LCM908 is with a 490mm A-C, it will change significantly with either a 100mm or 120mm fork. They are using the equivalent of an 80mm 29er fork for their geo; those aren’t even in production anymore.

I.e., that 69.5 degree HTA becomes a 67.5 degree HTA with a 120 up front.

Good call, I didn't realize that.

5
29er / Re: 29er XC Hardtail - Boost - Modern Geometry
« on: January 29, 2021, 12:06:55 PM »
Did you check the FM916 ?
https://www.flybike-asia.com/product/175.html

Carbonda sells them in Super Light and Normal.

Nice one. I can't find it on the carbonda website though.

6
29er / 29er XC Hardtail - Boost - Modern Geometry
« on: January 29, 2021, 04:28:43 AM »
Hi all,

This is my first post and I'm trying to find my way in the world of open/public mold carbon frames.
I'm interested in buying a frame and building it up with good spec. My first project will be a hardtail and if that goes well i'm definitely also getting a full sus later on.

As the topic title suggests.. for my first Chiner, I'm looking for an aggressive XC hardtail that is going to be ridden hard.

It needs to be boost and have modern geometry (i.e. longish reach, slackish headangle, steepish seatangle, short chainstay. You know the deal.. it should be able to compete with other modern bikes in this category) 

I made a little comparison in key geometry numbers between some open mold models and a few big brands in the industry. See attached.

For the Chinese frames I compared the following:
LightCarbon LCM908
TanTan FM799
Trifox SDY20
Carbonda FM386

Trifox seems to have good numbers, but it's double the price compared to the others. The LightCarbon LCM908 is another contender but a slightly slacker headangle, a bit steeper seat angle and definitely a shorter chainstay would be better.

Experts of Chinertown, I kindly ask for your advice.

Is LightCarbon good quality? They gave me a price of USD 335 ex shipping which is so cheap that it worries me a bit tbh! I'm looking for a proven vendor that stands behind their products and offers good quality frames. I rather pay more if I know that the quality is good and consistent.

Is there another good contender that I'm missing in my comparison?

Thanks a lot and looking forward to the response

Pages: [1]