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Re: Lightcarbon LCG071-D Build
Wow. I would just take a deep breath and relax I bit. Yeah I agree for $660 it’s quite good. All the complaints I have, have solutions. I really just present my review of the build to provide some contrast to the overly-rosy reviews from the YouTubers. I chose this frame because I was led to believe this frame was exceptionally high quality despite the price. And while it’s not bad, (especially compared to some of the competition) it has significant flaws I hadn’t expected that need attention in the workshop. I’ve taken the bike out for its first ride, it’s a fine bike! Crank is no longer binding so much, hopefully I start feeling better about it as a whole. Oh and for the record, the mallet was not used on my bearings, I just desperately need to clean up in my workshop 
September 29, 2023, 11:53:14 PM |
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Re: Lightcarbon LCG071-D Build
I’ve been riding it, mostly on singletrack, but I’ve also gotten a bit of grass in there. Haven’t raced it yet, that’s coming this weekend. For the most part, I have a hard time distinguishing it from my 2016 Crux—the geometry is really close to that bike, bar the longer chainstays. On paper the stack is quite different, but if you overlay the models, the front end is actually very similar. So take anything I say with a grain of salt, it probably mostly in my head/confirmation bias of what I’m expecting it to feel. I think the handling feels like my Crux, but with a little “edge” taken off the handling characteristic—at times it feels more stable in corners. The handling also just feels stiffer and more predictable, maybe because of the thru-axles/142 rear spacing. I think mainly the effect of the long chainstays is it makes this bike feel less prone to snap-oversteer/has a slightly more progressive feel to the rear end grip, but also a bit less peak grip at the rear. I do feel i can push this bike harder/closer to the grip limit through corners on flat ground. Does this bike feel less nimble/agile? Sure, slightly. But I also think there’s a worthwhile tradeoff—this bike holds its line better and more confidently than a similar bike with shorter chainstays. I also feel like this bike corners better under trail-braking, where dabbing a bit more rear brake will help you swing the front-end into corners. I do feel the front-center isn’t as long as I want. The steering starts to feel a little vague/susceptible to redirection, and requires a lot of commitment when going downhill. In understeer-heavy situations, like when turning-in at high speed, on the brakes, into a downhill, tight corner, it feels hard to predict if the front will bite. Once you’re bitten-in the front end traction feels good, it just feels a little hard to predict the edge of traction on turn-in. My old crux also had a bit of this, which makes sense—both bikes’ horizontal F-C is within 2mm of each other. I don’t really get the sense that it is slower, more sluggish, or less stiff than my old crux, like some others have commented. Interestingly, it also doesn’t feel particularly more plush to me. But that’s comparing to an older Crux with QRs. Again, I acknowledge subjectivity here, I think I was expecting noodle-y and plush, and what I felt didn’t line up with that expectation. So—does this make a serviceable amateur cross bike? Absolutely! It does not feel like a yacht, or anything radically different than a typical cross bike. Maybe if you’re a super-enthusiast/semi-pro or have very traditional (or ultra-progressive) values about CX geometry, this bike will bother you—but you’d know if you fall into those categories just by looking at the geo chart. How about the gestalt? How does this bike perform according to its goals of being not just a cross bike? I think if you want to have one all-road machine—a bike that can do gravel, CX, bike packing, and even road riding, this is a solid pick. It’s light, has nods to aero, can do 1x or 2x, has a wide range of tire clearances, and the geometry is well-suited to a broad range of tire sizes. Albeit, the geometry is quite behind the times compared to most modern gravel race bikes. How do I feel about my choice? Something I also regret not considering when ordering this bike is that it’s pretty standard these days to ride 38mm tires if you’re not complying with UCI rules. With that in mind, I probably would have gone for the airwolf YFR68—my only hang up with that bike was the BB height, but it wouldn’t be a concern with larger tires. Thankfully, I have the rest of my life to buy more bikes. October 10, 2023, 07:46:10 AM |
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Re: Lightcarbon LCG071-D Build
Here's a photos of my build + an action shot! I'm currently running Pararacer EXT 38mm on the rear and Donnelly PDX 33mm (effectively 35) on the front. I've got another Panaracer ext tire coming in the mail for the front What can I say? This bike has been a fast cross bike. This bike hasn't stopped me from setting some new Strava PRs up the doubletrack climb and the toughest switchback descent at my local stomping grounds. It also hasn't stopped me from modestly outperforming my most recent crossresults-predicted race result this weekend, despite being way-down on fitness according to Garmin. I'm guessing the move to sightly wider rubber has helped, but honestly I'm riding this thing faster at my local mountain bike track than I am riding my new Cannondale Scalpel. So much to say--It's not a completely new or mind-blowing experience, but I feel very confident on this bike, it's very light, and it effectively lets me put down power. Despite my initial misgivings, I have to say I am very happy about the bike so far! October 18, 2023, 09:10:31 PM |
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Re: Best and worst overall quality/value components/tools/gear from AliExpress?
Good: - Sportspy aero socks. Aero socks are already the best drag saved per $ item, but you can get 90% of what R28 sells from sportspy for less than 1/2 the price - Ridenow TPU, in the 19g guise - XCADEY crankset with spider mounted powermeter - various carbon handlebars: integrated, drop, MTB, you name it, I've pretty much never ordered a terrible handlebar on aliex - various carbon seatposts - knockoff sunglasses of all kinds - Ardunel Mandible knockoff bottle cages. Most recently bought a pair from Yao Bin, they're dec - CCN light overshoes: if your shoe size is small enough, I quite like these - 1-piece SROAD CNC steel cassettes (SRAM x-dome knockoff). I know a lot of people shit on these, but I frankly find them to be fine and exceptionally light for the price. I've bought 4 so far I've had examples in 10, 11, and 12s. All perform great. Mid: - LTWOO hydraulic groupset: pretty alright performance but shifter broke over a pothole Bad: - Magene QED P325 powermeter crankset with integrated chainring: chainring is soft and gets out of true. Expensive. Magene has been terrible to work with on this for warranty, I'm basically screwed. The crankset isn't compatible with any other chainrings. Power meter isn't exactly accurate. Crank arm+power meter design is pretty un-aero since the strain gauge units protrude a lot. - ZRace direct mount brake calipers: they suck. Not well manufactured. Leaky. Don't bleed well. Wide/bulky, which makes them un-aero. October 19, 2023, 10:17:52 PM |
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Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!
Has anyone tried these Goldix XDR road cassettes? I'm not so concerned about the 10t cog, I like how the cog sizes are spread out differently for cadence purposes. Now only if I had an XDR freehub on my wheels... I've got one, I'm running a 10-36t with Sram Force AXS RD (rated for 33t max ) on my cyclocross bike. It's been flawless. Super light, installed easily, shifts just fine.
November 14, 2023, 03:59:56 PM |
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Re: Magene P505 PES Base Spider Powermeter
Looking at one of these myself for my gravel bike. Anything to keep in mind if setting it up 1x? Any recommendations on good Ali chainrings to pair it with? I have a 36t deckas chainring on my CX rig. It's fine, it's the cheapest narrow-wide chainring I could find for 36t. No real complaints here! November 14, 2023, 04:10:15 PM |
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Re: Chinese cycling clothes
For me this is the worst of all worlds. The main reasons I buy skinsuits is the cost savings and the aero benefit. But I suppose if your main concern is preventing the jersey from riding up, I don’t see why not! I also think any attempt of mine to competently sew shorts to a jersey would be a catastrophe
November 16, 2023, 10:43:04 AM |
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Re: Elves Falath EVO 2023
Hambini got this frame a review Despite Hambini’s gripes about “other” YouTubers, Cam Nichols’s review had similar conclusions. His “carbon expert” guy had similar remarks about the Evo’s carbon quality—its shit. What I’m really surprised is that nobody (including Hambini) is reaming the Evo for its horrendous aerodynamic properties. Rectangular tube profiles and the fattest headtube in the game. It’s so clearly a LARP of an aero bike. November 16, 2023, 10:51:55 AM |
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Re: Elves Falath EVO 2023
I don't see what makes the Evo non aero or a aero larp because it's cheap. My thesis statement on the Elves Evo's aerodynamics is that it's a bike designed and marketed as a full-on aero road bike but if you closely examine the design itself, it seems to ignore many important principles of aerodynamics and other important considerations, and does so in such a way that prioritizes the aesthetics of aerodynamics over things that actually make it aerodynamic. This is why I call it a LARP: it's trying very hard to play the part, without substantively doing so. This "aero aesthetic" compromises other important qualities, specifically comfort, stiffness-to-weight ratio, and ease of manufacture. If an aero bike is designed carelessly like the Evo appears to have been, then all this added weight and complexity is squandered as you'll find other substantially lighter and more comfortable bikes that are just as, if not more aero. You see western brands making this point. We have bikes like the Cannondale Supersix Evo 4 and the Tarmac SL8, which are "all-round" frames that compromise the aero aesthetic, but nonetheless are just as (if not more) aero than the full-aero frames produced by the same brand (see Tour Magazin tests thread on WW). To me this is a clear signal that the most substantial aero gains are to be made not in deep section tubes, but instead through careful implementation of aero design focused on surfaces that meet clean air. I'll get into what these features are in the next paragraph, but I'll make the point now that I doubt the Elves Falath Evo is substantially more aero than it's predecessor, or competing frames like the ICAN A22, Seka exceed, Blize, etc. Really I have 4 big criticisms of the Elves Evo design: rectangular tube profiles, headtube and fork junction with huge cross-sectional area and bad design, enormous gaps between tires and the frame cutout, and no bottle fairing. Rectangular tube profiles: I don't really need to explain myself here. It's objectively not as optimal as tubes with round leading edges. Headtube: arguably it's the most important part for aerodynamics. Everyone else is working to make the headtube as narrow and aerofoil-shaped as possible. The Cannondale Supersix Evo 4 is a great example. Much ink was spilled over the specialized speed sniffer. We've known the headtube is important since forever ago, just look at the Specialized shiv from 09, which had a big nosecone strapped to it. In contrast the Evo has the widest headtube I've ever seen. Oversize bearings and no effort to taper the headtube between them. The headtube cross section is short and distinctly not-aerofoil-shaped. AND the fork crown is crazy thick. Cutouts: cutouts work great, but they only work if the gap is minimized. Bikes that aren't trying to optimize the cutout simply don't have a substantial one (see the latest Specialized Shiv). On the other hand, the Evo pretends to have fully-faired wheel cutouts, but then in a bid to get 32mm of clearance, spoils the party with enormous spaces between the wheels and frame. This obviates the cutout entirely. It would probably be just as aero to have little to no cutout at all in this case. But the Evo has them, because the Evo is committed to the bit and needs to look like an aero bike. Bottles: We all ride with bottles. Bike manufacturers have finally caught on to this and started fairing the bottle with the downtube instead of mounting the bottle on the trailing edge of an aerofoil like they used to, which totally spoils any aerodynamic benefit you'd get from the tube section. Elves seems to have not gotten this memo. Now, this is just me and my eyes looking at the frame. I'm sure it's more aero than other frames. I am definitely sure many frames are more aero than the Evo. And most of all, I do not think the Evo is a good bang-for-buck in terms of aero performance for the weight and money it costs. November 21, 2023, 01:23:51 PM |
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Re: Elves Falath EVO 2023
If Elves was giving me a free frame, I'd LARP the $hit out of it on this forum and make all you suckers buy one! Lol I’m a semi-serious amateur racer on a budget. Ironically in grad school—I’m just trying to race while I’m still fairly young—I’ll be making the big bucks soon! I built up my Seka at the height of price inflation last year. I did an extensive price analysis speccing different builds in a spreadsheet, and the Seka came out on top as the best value. A big factor was the handlebar spec, racing wheels, and power meter. Once you priced those in, similar spec western builds were 2x the price. I did a similar price analysis for my lightcarbon CX bike and came to similar conclusions. I really push back on the idea that Chiner bikes are unserious. There’s a lot of geeks on a budget in this sport. If you are knowledgeable about bikes and mechanics, there’s serious savings on seriously good bike parts to be had in this space. Now that the market has rapidly cooled, the value proposition of Chiner builds are definitely going down. I think a lower spec Supersix Evo 4 approaches the weight and price of my Seka build. If anything, the market adjustment underscores the importance of comparing premium-price Chiner frames (like the Elves Falath Evo) against western counterparts, because the savings are potentially slimmer than ever. November 28, 2023, 10:01:17 AM |
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