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Re: Eddie's Airwolf YFR066 Build Thread
Cool! I've been following this thread with the greatest interest, as that bike is pretty much all in my Aliexpress cart (airwolf frame, Magene power meter, Elite wheels) I even put that same saddle on my Triban today All in all, as of today, would you advise to buy or to look for something else? January 13, 2024, 09:48:33 AM |
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Re: Eddie's Airwolf YFR066 Build Thread
That's really disappointing, do you think you'll have to try out a different headset/fork? Or will you be able to make it work? Your bike looks great, so at least you have that going for you! For the fork and integrated handlebars, I have it lined up with only 2 spacers and it looks a little better with some pressure applied. Plan on finishing the build enough this week to ride it a little, hoping the 2 spacers are enough or that I can even remove one for my fit, then I'll cut the fork and brakes lines down and finish it up. So far I've routed the brake lines and the di2 cables and battery, which was easy. Installed levers, bottom bracket, crank, crankset, brakes, etc. All of that has been easy and quality has been good on those tolerances on the frame. Synced the di2. Just need to throw on the wheelset and bleed the brakes so I can play with the headset spacers. Quote from: jeffrey Cool! I've been following this thread with the greatest interest, as that bike is pretty much all in my Aliexpress cart (airwolf frame, Magene power meter, Elite wheels) Will let you know my report on it soon, but probably would have been happier spending $200 more for something with higher quality. January 13, 2024, 11:06:41 PM |
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Re: Eddie's Airwolf YFR066 Build Thread
Thank you both very much, that's a shame as this frame ticked so many boxes in what I would want from an allrounder bike. Will look for something similar, starting from that Carbonda January 14, 2024, 05:22:34 AM |
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Re: Eddie's Airwolf YFR066 Build Thread
Finally got my first short ride in with the bike fully assembled (Seattle and the rainy weather bleh). Bike is very agile, frame is not totally noodley for me, but could be stiffer. If I were to do it again, still would consider throwing a couple hundred more on a different frame. Anyways thought I'd drop a photo to share the complete build. Happy with the Di2 105 drivetrain too! Total weight clocked in at 8.1kg including pedals, tires, tape, water bottle cages... everything you see here minus the water bottle itself. Not bad! January 19, 2024, 06:30:17 PM |
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Re: Eddie's Airwolf YFR066 Build Thread
Well, my frameset turned up today. First signs weren't encouraging... However, it had been packaged well inside the box and there doesn't appear to be any damage I'm happy with the colour (Red Crystal)   The caliper mounts have been painted on the mounting faces so I'll need to sort that but the BB shell is within tolerance and round. These are the weights... Frame - Size 54, painted with derailleur mounts and bottle cage bolts 1120g Fork, uncut 440g Seatpost assembly 179g Integrated bars - 400 wide 120mm stem 414g I'm waiting for a few more bits but I'll post updates in due course. January 25, 2024, 05:37:57 AM |
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Patty's Long Rant and Guide To Affordable Frames
I’m going to be honest here: I very much miss the glory days of this forum during the pandemic years. It was a perfect storm. People were stuck at home with extra discretionary income and free-time, while major bike brands were dealing with fulfillment delays. The rise of Chinese alternatives during this time brought so much excitement to this forum. Forum members were passionate about helping each other, and the overall vibe felt like a positive community of budget-minded enthusiasts. You could easily spend hours each day reading pages upon pages of new posts. The forum was basically a party everyday. I’m lucky to have joined during COVID. Now I don’t proclaim to be perfect or infallible to constructive criticism. Quite frankly, the support of this forum is a large reason why my YouTube platform even exists. I cannot thank you all enough. Sadly, a lot of the super experienced members don’t come here as often anymore. Perhaps the negative vibes these past 12 months ran them away or just simply their needs changed. Who knows… What I do know is I plan to keep supporting the forum as long as it makes sense. I’ve started to review more mainstream bikes, but my heart will always have a place for affordable Chinese frames/wheels. It’s how I got my start (Yoeleo R6). I wanted to write up a quick guide for anyone looking to jump into the world of “cheap” Chinese bikes. While I made a video on this very topic over a year ago, a reminder never hurt anyone. PLEASE feel free to add your insight and guidance below. Step 1: Passion Project vs Functionality As a cycling reviewer, I obviously don’t have any emotional attachments to my bikes. Except for my believed T1500. To me it’s about being functional and fast. If the “best” frame for (my) price range and riding style only offers matte black…I’ll take it every time. Custom paint means nothing to me if the frame is either a noodle or destroys my back. But I’m a performance-first person. Step 2: Riding Style and Geometry Can you slam your stem? Cool for you. Do you prefer an endurance style bike? Also very cool. Geometry is critical obviously. I cannot stress seeking a professional bike fit enough. Or just comparing your current bike to your target bikes using something like Geometry Geeks. Step 3: Budget vs “True” Budget If your budget is “only $600” for a frame, ask yourself if an extra $300 will be significant to you a year from now. How about an extra $500? How about two years from now? Buy nice or buy twice. Might be worth spending the extra money if you plan to keep your bike for longer than two years. But be warned: cheap bikes are addicting. Step 4: What is your “pain” threshold for cheap bikes? Cheap bikes are cheap bikes for a reason. Sort of. The value-add for these types of bikes is you are willing to put in the work yourself to troubleshoot, should bike build problems arise. If you do however find yourself frustrated, fear not! The forum is here to help. Typically the more you spend, the less potential for problems to arise. Or the brand will be faster to rectify. Unless you’re Yoeleo…  Patty’s Brand Picks $500 - VeloBuild - Custom paint, decent customer service, and solid provided hardware. Both the VB-177 and CX002 are very solid frames for the price. Won’t be the best performing frames ever, but they are “good enough.” You won’t get dropped from a race or fast group ride due to these frames. $1000 or less - Yishun/Light Carbon - No question one of the best affordable brands/frames you can buy without spending money on a Winspace. Sadly…paint options and frame availability may be questionable since (Yishun) is setup for B2B. But the quality and performance is all there. Fit and finish is really good, except for the plastic headset dust cover on my particular application. $1600 or less - Winspace - The T1500 has been talked about to death now for 4 years so there really isn’t anything left to cover. If you have the budget for it…buy it. Proven race bike. Fit and finish on par with the major brands. Wheel Brand Recognition - Elite Wheels, Winspace, and Magene - All 3 brands are great at what they do. The main thing these brands all have in common is they offer solid customer service. Each of them secretly lurk these forums, which means they are making an effort to listen to what customers want. Despite the fact Yoeleo makes solid bikes too, their customer service has been awful (again) based on customer feedback sent my way. Unfortunately my dealings with these brands for reviews does not translate to me being able to escalate customer complaints. Always remember the forum is here to help. There are no stupid questions if you’ve taken a little bit of time to research previous threads and watch a few YouTube videos. The more honest and transparent we all are with our questions, the quicker and meaningful the responses will come. Spend the love! January 25, 2024, 04:12:15 PM |
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Re: Patty's Long Rant and Guide To Affordable Frames
Influencers may have the biggest return on investment (tangible sales generated against marketing dollars spent), but probably not for the overall sales of any given brand. Especially for a large OEM factory. Winspace of course is probably one of the only exceptions here. It's an easy method to sell a few extra frames without much marketing effort. Take VeloBuild for example. What are the overhead/production costs to manufacturer a frameset? Maybe a couple of hundred dollars? So if VeloBuild sends out a "free" frame in exchange for review, and that video review generates even two frameset purchases at full price, VeloBuild is already net positive on their investment. We just don't know how much of VB's sales in it's entirety are driven specifically as a result of influencers. The whole Chiner Bike gatekeeping is interesting. I've been a huge fan of hip hop since the 1980's, so I understand the feelings of wanting to keep a sub-culture at a grassroots level versus going mainstream globally. This also reminds me of the hipster culture in late 2000s and early 2010s. We want to keep things underground even to the detriment a brand's sustainability. At the end of the day every brand/factory/agent is in the business of making money. With or without the help of influencers. So I've been making videos for over 3 years now and I live in a large metro city. I'm also very active in the cycling community here. However...I have YET to encounter any Chinese brands in the wild that I've reviewed except for Winspace. A few pairs of Hypers and a single T1500 frameset. Talk about perspective. Granted, the social pressure/marketing here to ride S-Works frames and Pas Normal kits (in my particular demographic of cyclists) is very high. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. But no Chinese Bike Dude influencer is going to usurp that. Sidenote: I've had my eye on Light Bicycle's Falcon WR65 wheels for a couple of months now. 65mm deep, 32mm external, and 25mm internal is such an obnoxious combo that I have to try it for myself. Gonna lace them to DTSwiss 240s. February 01, 2024, 10:29:31 AM |
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Re: Chinese cycling clothes
sometime ago there was some talk about long leg/thigh bibs, I've just got 2 bibs which maybe can fit whoever is looking for this.. After almost 2yrs using my YKYW bibs - which were the 'go to' for long rides - the foam started to not support as much (still good for ~3h tho), and especially that I've crashed while mtbiking with my favorite one and it scratched a little the side panel (just wore out the fabric, no opening tho) So I've decided to try some new ones... risked on a Spexcel, although I had bad experience with them 2yrs ago, and also wanted to try a Lameda one, especially after it got complimented by Jon/ChinaCycling as something like 'best chinese bib' So, this Spexcel one impressed me, quality is superb, straps are comfortable and hold well in place, the fabric is comfy too. The pad reminds the EI Paris one, is thick and for a 4-5hr ride it held really well. the leg is long, about 2-3cm longer than the ones I got from YKYW and Darevie, although the same size (EU Small, or Asia M). And even on this long ride it held well to my skin, didn't went up much, to the point that it was just about to pinch the back of my knee when pedaling. overall, liked it a lot! The green is beautiful. The Lameda Starlight I've had issues... The sizing table is a bit wrong, I saw multiple pages on Aliexpress and even the PandaPodium one, through measures and weight I'd be a EU M size, which I've ordered, but unfortunately was a bit big. What is strange is that the leg is pretty long, getting down to my knee, but the upper part and straps are comparable to the YKYW I have, bit smaller even. So I ended up passing on to a friend who's slightly bigger and to him it was perfect. In the end, if I had gone with the size I'm used to with chinese brands (EU Small, Asian M) it'd be ok. What I can say, having ridden it for 10-15 minutes, is that the fabric is really good and comfortable, the 2 panel/seamless construction is nicely done, the quality honestly impressed me. The padding seemed thick and comfortable, but was a short use so cannot vouch for it Main point is, the leg is long, similar to Spexcel, so I believe for the smaller size would be perfect. I'll order it next and see if it works Any product link that could help, with EI pad?The YKYW ones I can say are legit, I have 2 from them February 19, 2024, 08:12:31 AM |
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Re: Eddie's Airwolf YFR066 Build Thread
Right - I've pretty much finished my build and I have to say, it fought back every step of the way... As I said earlier, it was specced for the hills - hence the dinnnerplate cassette. Despite that and the GRX rear mech it came in at around 7.5kg as pictured (7.9 with SPD pedals, cages and computer mount). I'll do a 20k ride on Thursday or Friday and let you know how it went... February 27, 2024, 12:07:32 PM |
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