Chinertown
Chinese Carbon Road Bikes => Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components => Topic started by: pbass on April 09, 2017, 02:56:55 PM
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Ok, so I broke down and bought a Chinese carbon fiber frame and fork from Tideace which is actually Haideli bikes. The model is an FM-R09, its a Ridley knock off I believe. I bought it out of sheer curiosity and figured if its good, its good and if not then I'm only out a few hundred dollars. It showed up, looking all sexy and sweet and I got excited. But then I looked into the steerer tube and I got a flat. The carbon looks to be frayed at the top of the tube where it meets the cup. Then upon further inspection theres a "flap" of carbon that seems to delaminating from the section where the top tube meets the steerer tube section. I can't tell if this is critical stuff or just slack finishing technique. Heres a few photos, I hope they are clear. Thanks in advance for any info!
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Did you ride this frame , and if yes , how it holds ?
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What happened? Did you end up building/riding the bike? Getting a replacement? Not riding it? These FM-R09 Tideace/Haideli frames have popped up all over eBay, and quite cheap too.
The carbon looks to be frayed at the top of the tube where it meets the cup. Then upon further inspection theres a "flap" of carbon that seems to delaminating from the section where the top tube meets the steerer tube section. I can't tell if this is critical stuff or just slack finishing technique.
My (Giant made) carbon Trek had less than stellar finish quality on the inside. My (made in Wisconsin) Trek OCLVs from 12, 13 and 15 years ago had even worse quality finish on the inside.
At least eBay + PayPal offers some short-term protection. IMO, if a road frame is going to break anytime soon, it's probably going to do it within the first several weeks due to manufacturing error, as carbon has pretty good fatigue life. I would thrash the bike to hell for the first couple weeks, and if it stands up, then the probability of breaking in the short-term future drops-off dramatically. To be honest, what I'd be concerned about are the things we don't think about: Does the seatpost constantly slip? Do the cables rattle inside the frame? Are derailleur hangers easy to find? Is BB fit good? etc.
That said, just looking at their eBay photos, they didn't even have the pride to bother hiding the atrocious finish quality around cables.
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...Do the cables rattle inside the frame?...
I never thought about how this could indeed be dangerous.
Will put some more foam in mine :)
That said, just looking at their eBay photos, they didn't even have the pride to bother hiding the atrocious finish quality around cables.
From my experience the Tideace frames are relatively well finished( the M009's I saw ).
Peter's frame too.
And the best I saw so far is the interior and edges of the Carbonda gravel.
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Interestingly, these frames are also being sold under the "Thrust" brand on eBay, except the Thrust ones are advertising T1000 carbon, whereas the TideAce frames are advertised as T800.
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Are you sure these are the same? They look similar, but have different geometries and the Tideace you can only get in a pressfit BB.
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Have you showed the pics to Tideace or the seller, or at least ask them about it? If they think it's bad, perhaps they would replace it at their cost.