Chinertown
Chinese Carbon MTB => 29er => Topic started by: bxcc on February 26, 2023, 11:44:42 AM
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I’ve got a couple builds to do this spring and decided on some Spcycle M016 frames. The top tube measurement seems a bit short but the stack and reach numbers look acceptable. The 67° head angle and the <440mm chainstay length should be a good mix for what I’m looking for.
Frame 1 is for me and is a 19” large in gloss pearl white. This will be replacing a Waltly titanium frame that I can’t get the seat post to stop creaking on. It’s unfortunate as I absolutely love the frame but I just can’t get past the creaking. It will be built up as a single speed and I hope to get it under 20 pounds. SRAM X0 cranks, Hulk bike rims with 27mm inner width, 350 hubs, Divine SL dropper, XTR Race brakes, and a Pike Ultimate will start the build. Depending on ride and final weight, I might for a SID Ultimate.
Frame 2 is for my daughter. It’s a 17” medium frame that’s painted matte black and matte pink. This will have a 2017 RS Revelation RLC fork set at 120mm and an 11 speed drivetrain that’s a mix of SLX and Deore. She grew out of her current 27.5 small frame so I’ll be taking most of the parts from that minus the obvious 29” wheel specific items.
I ordered the frames on February 19th and was told the frames would be painted on the 21st. So far, no more updates. To be honest though, I haven’t asked for any. I’ll update the thread as things move along.
Purchase / shipping timeline:
19 February - Ordered two painted frames
3 March - received tracking number
7 March - FedEx received the package and frames are in transit.
10 March - Frames delivered
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Thanks for posting. I'll be following along and, pending your review/thoughts, be ordering one for myself.
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I built up a size large for my son to race cross country in middle school. So far so good.
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Updated the original post to include the shipping timeline.
The frames have finally shipped. It's only been two weeks and they had to get them painted so I'm happy with that. Another nice surprise is that the $196 usd I spent on shipping was actually for FedEx shipping instead of EMS like most of the companies. In the past, FedEx shipments from China have been much quicker than EMS.
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Frames arrived on March 10th.
The weights pictured are with the axle and seat post collar installed. I’d say it’s pretty close to the 1050g advertised weight as these are both painted as well. Fit and finish is a bit rougher than my previous generic frames but considering the cost, I’m still happy. There isn’t anything that is awful or concerning, just a few details that could be better. I’ll post up more pics once they are built.
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What do you estimate the maximum rear tire clearance to be? I'm hoping some high volume 2.4's or...god willing, 2.6" could fit.
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What do you estimate the maximum rear tire clearance to be? I'm hoping some high volume 2.4's or...god willing, 2.6" could fit.
Maximum tire clearance 2.4“
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What do you estimate the maximum rear tire clearance to be? I'm hoping some high volume 2.4's or...god willing, 2.6" could fit.
Maxxis Aspen 2.25 on a 27mm inner width rim has plenty of room. Once the bike is back from the shop, I'll test the other wheels in the house to see how they fit. I believe I have one with a Bontrager XR4 2.6 on 30mm inner width rims.
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Dropping it off at the shop to get the Phil Wood EBB installed. Luckily my bike building skills are slightly better than my photography skills. 17.4 pounds as pictured, still missing the pedals, crank, chain, and BB.
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Tire clearance:
Bontrager XR4 29x2.4 at 20psi on a 30mm inner width rim.
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Looks just like the bxt 056.
I broke mine in xc a forget about warranty.
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Looks just like the bxt 056.
I broke mine in xc a forget about warranty.
That doesn't sound like fun! I looked at the BXT one as well. This one has the seat stays quite a bit higher on the seat tube than the BXT frame and the geometry is different as well.
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Little hiccup in the build process. Shimano Deore M6000 calipers will not work on the back end. I’ll order up some ZTTO banjo bolt kits and swap the caliper with some XT calipers that’s on another bike.
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Little hiccup in the build process. Shimano Deore M6000 calipers will not work on the back end. I’ll order up some ZTTO banjo bolt kits and swap the caliper with some XT calipers that’s on another bike.
These kind of glitches show to me the experience of the frame designers.
Each time I tried some less known frame builders, I got some similar surprises.
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Little hiccup in the build process. Shimano Deore M6000 calipers will not work on the back end. I’ll order up some ZTTO banjo bolt kits and swap the caliper with some XT calipers that’s on another bike.
Thanks for the photo : I'm looking at this frame as my next single speed. Is there a model of rear caliper (eg Shimano M8000) that you'd recommend?
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Any caliper that has a banjo bolt and doesn’t have that obnoxious bleed port of the cheaper Deore M6000 calipers would be recommended. M7000, M8000, M9020 would all work fine. The newer Deore M6100 should work as well as they seam to have moved the bleep port.
I put XTR Race M9100 brakes on mine and while it works fine, a caliper with a banjo bolt would be preferred due to the hose exit hole location on the chainstay. I found a spare XTR M9020 caliper that I forgot I had and that fits perfect so that will be the replacement.
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Thanks for the photo : I'm looking at this frame as my next single speed. Is there a model of rear caliper (eg Shimano M8000) that you'd recommend?
What’s your plan for tensioning the chain?
Another thing to note about this frame is that non-boost cranks will not work. I have a SRAM carbon GXP crank with a non-boost (6mm offset) chainring and it hits the chainstay. I’ve had this same crank on other boost frames without an issue but not this one. Definitely not a deal breaker but something to be aware of if using parts from a donor bike.
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What’s your plan for tensioning the chain?
The Phil Wood eccentric bottom bracket looks like the most bulletproof choice, but when I add up the $250 for the bottom bracket plus the $85 tool it makes a cheap frame kinda expensive :)
There is a similar product for about half the price, I don't know if you have any opinions on this? https://www.firstcomponents.com/bottom-brackets/eccentric/p237sa/ . It does look like the design has a higher risk of the set screws slipping , or stripping of the threads, but I'm no expert. The technical drawing also shows it accepts a spindle diameter of 22/24mm, which I think is GXP, and I'm not sure there's a boost option.
My other option would be a chain tensioner where a rear derailleur might go.
I tend to run either a 32x19 or a 32 x 20, a few times a year I'll race in a bigger gear if the terrain is mostly flat. How time consuming is it to change tension with the Phil Wood EBB?
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1) The Phil Wood eccentric bottom bracket looks like the most bulletproof choice, but when I add up the $250 for the bottom bracket plus the $85 tool it makes a cheap frame kinda expensive :)
2) There is a similar product for about half the price, I don't know if you have any opinions on this? https://www.firstcomponents.com/bottom-brackets/eccentric/p237sa/ . It does look like the design has a higher risk of the set screws slipping , or stripping of the threads, but I'm no expert. The technical drawing also shows it accepts a spindle diameter of 22/24mm, which I think is GXP, and I'm not sure there's a boost option.
3) How time consuming is it to change tension with the Phil Wood EBB?
1) I've had the Philcentric BB for maybe 7 years now so I've already absorbed the cost. It was cheaper back then too. It's definitely a quality product. I ordered it through my local shop and they bought the tools for them to keep at the shop so it didn't sting so bad. This will be the third frame it's going on and it's nice knowing that I can make any BSA frame into a single speed without much work.
2) The First Component EBB looks like a winner as well. My concern, like yours, would be how well those set screws hold. If you can drill and tap things yourself, adding a couple extra set screws could be an option if they tend to slip.
3) Honestly, I've only done it once so I'm a bit vague on it. Normally the shop does it for me as I feel bad asking to borrow tools, especially to work on a frame that I did not buy from them. I don't remember it being that bad, just takes a bit of trial and error. After the initial install of the cups, I'd think you could change gearing and tension in an hour or two including the time it takes to change the cog.
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I've finished building up the frame and hope to bring it out on it's first ride this weekend when things dry out a bit. There's two things that I wish I had known before ordering this frame.
1) the frame requires a crank with a 55mm chainline and is not advertised as such. This would be fine if I was purchasing a new crankset. Since I was using an existing SRAM X0 GXP crank, I had to get a new chainring with a 0mm offset to get the required chainline. Even with the 0mm offset ring, the clearance is tight with a 32t ring. More on that in item 2. For my daughters frame, I was planning on using an existing 3x SRAM Stylo GXP crank. It's a 1x drivetrain so I was able to put the ring in the large ring position which is roughly a 56mm or 57mm chainline. This set up has plenty of chain ring to frame clearance with a 32t ring. There was no chain jumping while back-pedaling in the large cog so all appears to be good.
2) a 32 tooth ring is probably the max that will fit comfortably. If you don't plan on going bigger than a 32t ring, or a 30t oval ring, you should be fine. I don't have an oval 30t to test fit so I can't say if that would fit or not. This is more of an issue for me as I'm trying to run the Philcentric EBB. A 0mm offset 32t ring still will not work when the EBB is in the aft most position. This will limit the amount of adjustment I have when getting the chain tension correct. Everything went together fine with the 32t / 18t gearing and the EBB has the spindle in the lower forward position. I could not get the 32t / 20t combo to fit but that is partially due to the limited adjustability of the Philcentric. This combo could work with a half link but then finding a 0mm offset ring that doesn't have a narrow wide tooth profile would be difficult.
I will say that while I was trying to work all of this out, the folks at SP-Cycle have been very responsive to my concerns on the AliExpress chat. I always expect the worst when dealing with some of these direct vendors so any type of help is appreciated. This frame definitely isn't for everyone as it does have some concerns, but those concerns will not apply to everyone. If the ride is as expected, I'll probably be ordering another one to build up for my brother. That will have gears and a new drivetrain so we purchase the correct parts in the beginning to save some hassles.
My other option would be a chain tensioner where a rear derailleur might go.
I think that would be a safer option with this frame as a single speed.
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Roughly .125 inch / 3.18mm of clearance with a round 32t 0mm offset ring mounted to a SRAM X0 GXP crankset with the Philcentric EBB in the lower forward position.
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I built up one of these SP Cycle SP-M-016 frames in medium.
Ran into the same issues that previous posters had as well.
A four piston brake (Magura MT30) did not fit in the rear due to the seatstay issue. I sourced a Shimano MT-200 2 piston Rear and that fits fine with plenty of room. The Shimano was 300g, the Magura 255g. so a weight penalty there. Pink Bike is providing me some Shimano XT 2 pistons brakes to replace the MT-200 with. Unfortunately I'll have to rerun the brake hose when the XT rear gets here, but life is hard like that.
I also tried a generic GXP crank, and ran into issues with the chainstay clearance on a 32t ring. I tried to fix with spacers and eventually sanding down the tension ring, but I couldn't get it just right on tension. Close, very close, but not good enough. Ended up putting on a 28t steel ring. That was an additional 60g weight penalty. I also tried a hollowtech style 30t and had chainstay rubbing with that as well. I will probably not pony up $80 for an absolute black 0 offset 32t chainring, but we'll see.
Running the cable damping foam back into the chainstays was the most ridiculous part of the build, but she's dead quiet, so it was worth it.
It's about 25.5lb here with the i35 AL trail wheels and tires and a 1900g fork. At some point the new rims I ordered will arrive, and it'll drop to 10.2kg.
For the amount invested in the total build this is a great value.
It fits a 27.5 x 2.8 mid-wear Terrene McFly in the rear, with plenty of space.
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This build complete.
Works amazing.
22.5 lb with a trail fork.
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Can't find info about fork travel for mentioned frame geometry...
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Can't find info about fork travel for mentioned frame geometry...
I was told 505mm axle to crown length when I was ordering mine.
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Yeah, I think it's booked for a 100mm fork on 29".
Works just fine with a 120mm fork, just a bit slacker HTA and STA.
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Any experience how does this frame hold drops?
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No worries so far, but it's used by a conservative XC rider. I'm not worried though. Send it!
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Could anyone measure the wheelbase of this and post it? I'd be using a 120 fork, but info with whatever you used would be useful.
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I have a medium. It's hanging on the wall, so not the best measurement, I got 45.5 or so. which is 1156mm. 120 fork. It's within and inch or two, which isn't very helpful probably. I'll try to grab a better one tomorrow when I have it down for a ride.
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Remeasured and got 46"
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Tire clearance:
Bontrager XR4 29x2.4 at 20psi on a 30mm inner width rim.
Did you have a chance to measure clearence with 29er 65mm(true 2,6") tyres?