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Messages - Midwest-MTBer

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46
Vendor Discussion & Reviews / Re: A rather negative experience with XMIplay
« on: January 06, 2017, 01:27:24 AM »
Wow, that's a really rough experience! I agree with Ned. Chinese vendors should be held to certain standards with their products and quite frankly you've been more than patient enough. I'd dispute the case for sure. I hope you can at the very least get a replacement frame! I'm very happy with my 036. Good luck with it all! Keep us posted.

47
29er / Re: Midwest's 036 Build
« on: December 28, 2016, 09:24:24 AM »
This being my second full suspension bike and without much experience with them before, I'd say that I don't feel any flex when I ride it. When I have it in a work stand and try to shift the rear triangle from side to side I have very little play. It could be I got lucky with my frame, but I also tore the whole thing apart before building to grease and re-torque the suspension bolts. It's worth noting that my friend who has the 2016 Trek Remedy rode it this summer on some pretty challenging terrain. He didn't mention anything about the stiffness at all. So no, I don't feel any flex in my rear triangle when I ride. When I lock out the rear suspension and climb it really is awesome. Not quite a hardtail, but definitely a vast improvement from my previous FS bike.

48
29er / Re: Help! XC Full Suspension build frame choice
« on: December 23, 2016, 08:49:24 AM »
+1 to buying the 036 from Peter. If you can afford it I'd suggest carbon rims too. It's insane the difference having a light wheelset makes for climbing and accelerating. If money is no object I'd go with DT Swiss 350 hubs and get the 36 tooth star ratchet upgrade. I'm a huge fan of my 036! It's not a super cheap build, but you get a much better bike than what you would at that price from a big brand.

49
Vendor Discussion & Reviews / Re: My experience with Peter and xmcarbonspeed
« on: December 15, 2016, 08:30:10 AM »
Not sure if you guys are friends with Peter on Facebook, but he just posted a link to some pictures of a new frame going through testing. I wasn't surprised to see them, but I do think Peter should really highlight the fact that his frames are rigorously tested on his new site. When I tell people that I ride a Chinese frame, most say it's really sketchy and risky. I think that's not the case at all and it'd be great marketing for Peter if with every frame or set of rims he showed some testing pictures. Just a thought! Link below to the post.

https://www.facebook.com/carbonspeedbikes/posts/1727010464294171

50
After The Ride / Re: Where is everyone from?
« on: December 06, 2016, 02:24:11 AM »
Quote from: iman316 on December 05, 2016, 08:57:02 AM
Central MN,USA

Western WI here  8)

51
After The Ride / Other Steeds: A Thread To Show Our Non-Chinese Bikes!
« on: November 05, 2016, 11:40:07 PM »
Haven't stumbled across an organized thread on this forum yet of other (non-Chinese) bikes people have purchased or have laying around. I guess I'm curious to see what everyone else rides when their Chiner is at home!

To start things off... Bought this bike a few weeks ago from a guy who is selling all his stuff to move to Alaska. I've wanted a road bike for awhile because their easier to get out and ride where I live and go to school. Obviously, I didn't get a road bike.. I went to a shop to find my fit for some different frames, but was attracted to the aerodynamic qualities of the tri bikes. I didn't mind the more forward geometry and since I would primarily be riding alone so I didn't need to worry about drafting and quick braking. Going from the road bike to the tri bike was a huge difference. I could rip on the tri bike. So I started pricing things out... Wow. Pretty expensive!! So I went the chinese route, got some quotes, but the tri frames were even more expensive than the CS-036 I bought. Plus, these frames are largely unreviewed, so I would've been taking a chance with components and probably have suffered from some massive headaches. Anyways, this deal popped up on craigslist locally so I sprung on it! I don't regret it at all. Really love how fast it is and how comfortable it is. I'm now going to swim and run during the winter to try and get in shape for some triathlons this summer.

Here's a handy link to people interested in a chinese tri bike...
http://www.championunited.com/home/content/how-build-your-own-time-trial-bike

And here she is! (Please forgive me for the cheap pedals.. Upgrading soon)

52
29er / Re: Midwest's 036 Build
« on: November 05, 2016, 11:21:49 PM »
Haha  :D Yeah it stays pretty clean... Until I have to work on the bikes then It looks way different!

Speaking of new bikes...  8) picked this baby up a few weeks ago for a price I couldn't pass up. Was thinking about building a chiner tri bike, but I couldn't get anywhere near the price that I paid for this. Now I have something to ride when the trails are too wet! But.. When my wallet allows, a deep dish chinese wheel set will have a home on her.


53
29er / Re: Welcome to Chinertown - Introduce Yourself!
« on: October 24, 2016, 12:21:19 AM »
Quote from: busted frame on October 23, 2016, 09:42:34 PM
I'm sure I'm going to have more questions, but here are a couple more:

I'm trying to find the difference between BB30 & BSA.  My current bottom bracket is a shimano SM-BB70.  Planning to reuse everything on my existing bike, so is this BB30 or BSA?

I see different letters in front of the 057, like IP, FM, CS - do these mean anything?  The one on xmcarbonspeed is a CS-057.

Thanks

BSA is an external bottom bracket that threads into the frame. BB30 needs to be installed by a press. Not sure what BB70 is, but I assume it's similar. Google image search for a sheet shwing them all. There's loads of information on bb's.

It's going to be tough to reuse everything. Make sure to look for adapters too. Perhaps there's something that'll make it work. In my opinion it might just be worth the upgrade to go BSA for the easy servicing and part availability.

The letters signify the seller of the frame. An IP-036 is the same as the CS-036. Marginal difference in quality between vendors. Stick with the vendors that take care of you. Peter has been great.

54
Vendor Discussion & Reviews / QBP Tour (Quality Bicycle Products)
« on: October 21, 2016, 10:42:06 PM »
So I had the opportunity to tour QBP's Minnesota headquarters the other week to see the inner workings of their company and specifically their design team. It was fascinating to see massive warehouse rooms filled with bike stuff... Eagle drivetrains everywhere and test bikes all over. It was an awesome tour, but why would I post about it? Well we had a meeting with one of the Industrial Designers who told us that QBP doesn't patent their frame designs. I was shocked! If QBP frames aren't patented why aren't the Chinese making "inspired" frame designs around more current geometry and bike technologies? QBP owns Surly, Salsa, Heller, Foundry Cycles, etc. I just wonder why they aren't making more current designs. Granted cutting molds at each size is probably $10,000+ per mold...

Anyways. Just thought it was interesting.

55
29er / Re: Midwest's 036 Build
« on: October 21, 2016, 10:31:49 PM »
@Carbonazza: So the damage to the wheel.. I took my bike to some pretty aggressive trails after a week with no use and started hitting it hard right away. I neglected to realize that during the week the rear tire had actually lost a lot of air pressure. Going through some small jumps and rock gardens was just too much. the rear wheel came down hard and I heard it snap. The tire just couldn't hold up to that direct of a hit with low pressure. The tubeless worked fine and all was well.

@SportingGoods: I don't have a clear coat on. I know that it will get damaged and I've kind of accepted that.. I'm going to cut out a few more decal sheets to replace worn ones in the future. I'm also considering pulling everything off and putting a coat of matte black automotive paint on the frame. The unfinished layup would be better looking in 3k vs the UD.

So I've been riding for a few months now, and this bike kicks ass. I know it's not the latest and greatest technology, but this is enough bike for what I want right now. Everyone asks about it and when I tell them the price of it their shocked. I've had a few people turn their nose up to the "chinese" part of it, but I don't care. This bike has gone through everything I expect a normal branded bike to go through. Plus by building one I have all the tools and expertise to now service this bike and other bikes like it. Overall a really great experience. I would highly recommend this bike and the aspect of building your own to anyone.

56
29er / Re: Midwest's 036 Build
« on: October 01, 2016, 12:15:52 AM »
It's been a number of weeks since my last update so I thought I'd let you all know where things are with my 036.


Damage Assessment


Damage Assessment


Damage Assessment

First! This is the crack on my rear rim. I'd like to give Peter kudos for providing me with a product that even when I damaged it held up to a brutal beating. This rim held true and didn't get worse with even a few weeks for riding. Nevertheless, I hated feeling like my rear wheel could explode at any minute so I bought a new one.I got my replacement rim and new red nipples from Peter very quickly and packed professionally. I can't recommend him enough! I was lucky to have the correct spoke wrench laying around at home, so I got to work disassembling the cracked rim. It didn't take that long to disassemble, but since these are the spoke hole free rims I did need to take care when removing the nipples, so that they didn't get stuck in the rim channel. I bought a super strong magnet off of Amazon and that made moving them around really easy. Lacing the wheel wasn't that hard either, more just tedious and time consuming. Since the spoke nipples are aluminum I had to use a tiny piece of a spoke that I had cut and thread it into the nipple to move it into position. I didn't tension the wheels or true them, I thought taking them to a local shop would be faster. Boy was I wrong! The shop had no idea what they were doing with these type of rims. The first time I picked them up and mounted them to my bike, the front wheel was egg shaped and the rear wheel was dished so hard it was rubbing on the left chainstay. It took them over 2 weeks to get them done correctly for me. I was not so happy about that. I'm now planning on buying the tools needed for wheel work!  8)


Vinyl cut and ready to apply


Vinyl cut and ready to apply

After that was all together I shortened a brake line, applied my vinyl and took it out! The 036 is so fun to ride. I'm so happy with how my build turned out. It's definitely pleasing to ride something and know basically everything that's been done to it.








Future work:
I've ordered some longer valve stems. I really underestimated how different the rim profile would be on these rims.
I'm considering going from a 90mm stem to a 50 or 60mm stem. I feel like my arms are stretched a little too much when I ride. I've adjusted the seat position, but I feel like the better answer would be a different stem
I found a carbon repair shop that's not super far away, but I'm really not sure if this type of a crack can be fixed. I'll have to get a quote and send some images his way.


57
29er / Re: My first MTB Build know nothing need advice
« on: September 18, 2016, 10:17:48 PM »
Honestly this bike would just be a no-upgrade for me. I would clean it up nice, get it to shift well and sell it. If you really want to get a bike that your son can grow with I don't think this or carbon is the way to go. I'd recommend buying a lower end used aluminum frame bike. This years lower end Trek's sell right around $700, so you should be able to get one a couple years old for $300-$400. You'd also be able to upgrade it moderately with standard parts. I think in the end you'd save money and yourself a headache. A lot of stuff on the Giant just looks like problems waiting to happen. For example if you wanted to run a cassette and derailleur on this bike that's already bare minimum a new hub that can fit a standard cassette. I'm not even sure if the space between the dropouts would support a cassette! I would wonder about chain line and stuff too because the bike only has 3 gears to start. I'm not trying to be a pessimist and shut you down, but I really think you could get a great used mountain bike and save yourself a huge pain in the rear. If you do decide to go for it I'll be interested to see how much stuff you can get to work!

58
Sales & Classifieds / Scott twin loc remote
« on: September 08, 2016, 11:08:46 PM »
I bought a twin loc lever from a bike shop earlier this summer, but don't like how it needs to be mounted on the left side of my bars. I have a dropper lever there so I didn't want to move it. The twin loc hasn't been mounted or used. I'm asking $65 and for chinertown members I'll pay shipping. If you're international we might be able to meet in the middle. I'll post pictures later, but if you google image search you should know what it looks like..
PM me if you're interested

-Midwest

59
Component Deals & Selection / Re: What is Deore XT to SRAM equivalent?
« on: September 08, 2016, 11:04:31 PM »
If you're in the states check craigslist and eBay out. On eBay check "sold" listings out and you should be able to get an idea what stuff sells for and how often. Craigslist has been great for finding random bits that people are willing to negotiate on.

60
Component Deals & Selection / Re: SAPIM CX-Delta vs SAPIM D-Light
« on: September 08, 2016, 02:54:52 PM »
I weigh ~180-190 full gear and have no issues with the D-Light spokes. I've put them through the ringer and they've stayed true for me!

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