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Re: Stiff, Aero, Crit Bike My LT268 looks quite similar to the Hygge you're considering. I'm super happy with it. I'm a tad shorter, a tad heavier, and i can't sprint beyond 1000W, so for all intended purposes, i suck, but i'm extremely happy with the bike. i bought the cockpit from Airwolf, it's super stiff (allegedly it's full T1000). I got a medium and run a 36cmx80mm cockpit.
The geometry is relatively relaxed, which helps because i have long legs and a short torso, so i dont have to fold in 2 to touch the bars.
When I sprint (which means 800-100W on a good day, mind you), the only things i feel flexing are the tyres (I run 30 & 32C) & the spokes (I went with steel for comfort, was afraid the bike would rattle my teeth with carbon everything).
Would be awesome if you got the same frame and bars, would love to hear your thoughts on ride quality.
They do custom painting, i just chose glossy finish and got decals cut locally (fancy car vinyl). It works remarkably well & i can change my mind every week if i want.
March 21, 2024, 08:54:57 AM 		2
Re: VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame I dont remember on which bikes i did it, but i 3d printed some thin (c.1mm) half moon-ish spacers to go above the C ring (it was a C ring with 1 position knob sticking out) so that the 1st plastic thing sitting on top of the tube wouldn't rub on the frame. I had to do that using bars i didn't buy from whomever sold me the frame, but my point is, if that plastic / metal rubs on the frame because the C ring isn't high enough / the bearing isn't tall enough, you can get away with a basic 3d printed spacer (i did 2-3 prototypes, the whole thing probably took me 2h across design, iterating and printing), that avoids having to sand / machine / lathe the bit that sits on top of the frame.
I also used spacers on the drive side of cranksets, BB tools (tightening & extraction), saddle bottle cage mount, garmin mount for aerobars... It's a great resource to have.
March 22, 2024, 05:26:36 AM 		1
Re: More Aero frame in direction of Merida Reacto? I have nothing of value to say about bearings. i know ceramic ones make no sense for cycling. I know Hambini feels strongly about them. I know my ZTTO BB spins so well without load you'd almost want to post it on insta. Beyond that...

I am very pleased with my er9. When it's charged (it doesnt work if it's not charged, and that is not trivial, i am an imbecile after all, the thing died on me twice already because i thought it was charged, and wasn't (my fault entirely)), it's really great. Now, assuming you maintain your drivetrain and set it up properly, mechanical works super well. I think the biggest difference is front derailleur shifting. One cute trick i found with electronic is shifting the front & rear up or down at the same time. It's flawless and makes shifting the front smoother than usual. Doesn't work if you're already at the end of the cassette, but it's not something i would ever do on mechanical. I also find myself shifting much more on electronic because it's effortless and instant. Front shifting on mechanical does require quite a hand movement, electronic is just a click.
So, do you need it? no. Is it nice? yes. For c.400 usd (if not less) for the er9, i think it's super compelling. I also like the gear protection option (you can't cross chain the last 2 cogs), and, super important, you can change from 7 to 12s in app. The last batch of 4 bikes i built, i bought a mix of 11 and 12 components for various reasons, it's incredibly helpful to install whatever on the bike and just change it in the app (I'm thinking large cassettes especially that exist in 11 but not 12s, for example, like 11-36 superlight).

Now, if the groups start dying on us, i'll do a 180 degree on my opinion, but for now, we all love our groups. I have an older friend who's got several s works, ultegra & dura ace (not the latest). He says the er9 is faster, smoother and more silent than his ultegra. Having ridden behind guys on ulegra di2 (not the latest), Ultegra has a distinct sound which the er9 barely has, it at all. Arguably you can sneak out on friends that way, like if you shift intelligently, you can outsprint them and they wouldnt hear it coming.
I havent ridden in the rain, i know some people have reported problems. That does worry me. I bought liquid eletric tape but i need to 3d print some narrow applicator cap thing because i currently have zero precision to seal the connector on the RD. Afaik, people who sealed that port have fixed any problems they had with waterproofing. At which point, i think the thing just works.
But again, only time will tell. So far so good, but we've ridden probably 2-2.5k km total, which really isnt much.

Last, my bias. I think most of SRAM innovations in recent years are an insult to engineering, and i think most of what Shimano's been doing in years is patent trolling. So i vote with my money as well. I'm a contrarian, and i have little interest in funding the marketing budgets of big brands. As far as I'm concerned, Jumbo visma can buy their own groups, just like i'm not paying for the shoes that OM or PSG football players are using.

Rant over.
March 22, 2024, 05:45:00 AM 		1
Re: My TanTan TT912 build Looks awesome, well done!
The whole thing looks stiff indeed. That seatpost is scary, i dont see how anything can deflect, so good thing you have fat tyres and steel spokes and not carbon ones. Make sure you follow recommended PSI and dont go italian by putting 100psi in 32C tyres. I have italian friends, i stopped trying to explain to them that it makes no sense to over inflate big tyres. Good, big tyres at the right PSI completely change a bike.
Such a chonly boi will never be light, if you check out triathlon forums, you will see people's bikes are super heavy, comes with the territory.
The bike looks like a sail, for sure it's going to be awful in cross winds :) Be careful when you see trucks, you can get pushed or sucked in hard on something like that, try not to die.

Thanks for taking the time to post, it's great to see Chinese TT frames.
March 22, 2024, 01:16:49 PM 		1
Re: LTWOO ER9 & ERX - Electronic groepsets I bought batteries locally, and they are crap. I have a lithium capacity tester and they tested at 300-400mah. With these in, the group dies at c.35%. I found out because at first i was using an external battery pack to charge the group, but it turns out it wasn't charging properly for several reasons. So now for simplicity, i charge using a wall charger. I am making a habit of charging very often to avoid being stuck in one gear, which really, really sucks.
Note 1: you can / may to some extent charge the group on the go with a battery pack or your phone, but that assumes you're staying on top of the battery in these things.
Note 2: the 2nd time my group died in a ride, when back home, and after charging, i had to press the RD button for several seconds to reset the cage (it was stuck). Then took me 5min to re-calibrate the gears.
Note 3: the group talks to my garmin edge: battery indicator as well as which gear i'm in. I bothered setting that up only 3 days ago. It's quite neat.
Bottom line: charge your group...
March 25, 2024, 03:37:47 AM 		1
Re: VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame
Quote from: smu55 on March 23, 2024, 04:20:21 PM
My vb-r-268 in matte black size M arrived today. Will start building it in the next days. Just waiting for the disc elite edge wheelset to arrive in a week or so.
I was a bit disapointed about the frameweight thou. I expected it to be less or around 1kg. It weighs 1102g with the rear thru axle mounted (41g). But I should have a road bike considerably less than 8kg at the end.
There were people in this thread complaining about the rear thru axle threads. So I emediatly tested it. This is what I discoverd:If you loosen the rear hanger bolt a bit, the thread works perfectly well and the thru axels goes in smoothly. When the rear hanger is tighten, then it is harder for the axle to be threaded in, and it may seem that the thread is crossed. But it is actually fine. I guess the hangermount is not perfectly alinged. A flaw I can totaly live with.
I am planing to use alloy link cables (like jagwire elite link) for the internal routing of the shifting cables, because I had very good experiences with this kind of cable housings at my previous semi internal routed frame. The shifting is more accruate, they are more flexible and they are lighter than standard housings. I already checked the bend in the stem/fork region and it should be just ok. I will keep you postet on the development of that nerdy experiment.
To relicate my bike fit I bought an extra set of spacers, which velobuild sent with the frame for $ 10. Now I am using around 4cm of spacers.

1. You plan to route 4 housings through the bars & stem using this https://jagwire.com/products/diy-cable-kits/2017road-elite-link-brake-kit? Having routed 4 VB bikes with keb-sl housing (full internal), i really dont think it's possible, so very curious to see how you manage that.

2. If i had extra spacers like that under my stem, i'd probably run an extra long plug expander to spread the forces over the widest possible area. Leverage is a thing, so if you hit a bad pothole, you're at a materially higher chance of cracking the steerer if you run tall chimneys like that. That's also going to add another sharp bend to the routing.

3. so the frame is 1060g and they advertise 950g. Did you ask if the 950 is a raw carbon weight? Primer & paint done by VB is going to add weight, idk if it adds 100g, sounds like a lot, but I'd say >50g. At which point a 50g variance is 5% of the advertised weight, i guess it's within spec? When you order rims, if it weights 460g, the seller typically says +/- 15g, and a rim is a lot less intricate than a frame.
March 25, 2024, 04:05:27 AM 		1
Re: Ltwoo ERX warranty claim Someone posted this on the forum before. Have you been through it?
The battery died on me the other day and i had to reset the RD by pressing the button for a few seconds, for example.
I really doubt your group is broken.
From my experience, and unless you're a very experienced home mechanic, one should not underestimate their own incompetence. There were many instances where i thought something was a piece of shit when it turns out i was just being incompetent. It's been humbling. Now i generally assume that there's something i missed, then i look for it and usually find it. Sometimes there are bad designs, but even then, i often find a workaround. It's a mindset though. A friend of mine is a Luddite and if it's not specialized and shimano, for him, it's garbage. Also, he's a jealous idiot.
March 25, 2024, 04:17:47 AM 		3
Re: Best TPU tube brand I think Offbondage wins, purely on a name basis. Imagine the flex of telling everyone you run offbondage tpu tubes. Five stars.
March 25, 2024, 11:33:39 AM 		5
Re: ICAN Gravel X Frame Crack
Quote from: TidyDinosaur on March 25, 2024, 05:16:00 AM
I see the crack, but I have to admit is is almost invisible in both pictures.

I wanted to call you a ninja, then ofc my brain went there:

I had another look, i still dont see any crack :)
March 25, 2024, 11:35:59 AM 		1
Re: First gravel frame (and first chinese frame) I can't remember seeing BSA BB gravel bikes. The most recent ones are on T47, which is the same idea.
I dont think i've seen anyone complain about spcycle, quite the opposite. I wouldn't spend extra on a carbonda, but i think quite a few people are happy with their carbonda as well.
On geometry, bro science dictates that more reach and less stack is more aggressive indeed. Make sure you dont buy a bike that's too long, because you can use a longer stem, but you can't chop a frame.
If you like the pinarello grevil, let me know, i can put you in contact with someone who's cloned it. i'm testing it now. It's literally a clone, with more mounting points for bike packing.
March 25, 2024, 11:46:12 AM 		2