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Re: Elitewheels Edge wheelset
Thank you RoadieMKD for reply.

I've contacted Elitewheels via Aliexpress app and they said if i use "Sellers Shiping method" (pay more 75,98€) then i will not pay VAT and also the delivery is faster. Yes, i have a discount code that will save 120$ on orders over 599$, so in total i'll pay 505,3$ for this 65mm wheelset (aniversary discont sale included).

About tires.. Rear i use 28mm tire, in front i have 25mm, continental gp5000 (not tubeless, i'll use RideNow TPU superlight innertubes). This Elite Edge rim width is 28mm, can i use my 25mm tire on this rim with no problems?

25mm GP5000 non TL works perfect on the edge rims. It measures 27.4mm on that rim (which would be perfered aero-wise compared to the 28mm, which might measure closer to 30 and bulge out on the rim)

mounting the GP5000 25mm is also no problem. No need for tire lever when mounting and removing (I also use TPU tubes)

March 26, 2024, 10:02:24 AM
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Re: New frame: Longteng RD301-D I'm very happy with my 268, so i'm looking at this 301, given how similar it looks.
I also compared it to the VB GF 002 (I have one) and to a supersix road and a supersix gravel.

Take-aways:
301 geo v similar to 268, 301 tad more aggressive in stack & reach, but wheelbase is a tad longer. Together, a tie?
301 definitely NOT a gravel bike.
301 very similar to a supersix, except the supersix has a much longer wheelbase (both supersix are gravel territory when it comes to wheelbase, which i find surprising).

I'm wondering how the 301 would fare with 32C front, 34C rear, as a bomb proof bike for the mountains (not freaking out about potholes, post winter dirty roads, old chunkier asphalt, and the occasional dirt segment is appealing to me, even if i don't like the idea of the extra weight from bigger rims & tyres, and higher drag from a big ass fork. There are forest roads i avoid because of road surface, cracks, dirt sections, slope, on my 25mm supersix rim brake w carbon rims. The 301 would steamroll over all of that.



March 27, 2024, 08:33:41 AM
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Re: WheelTop EDS TX Full Wireless Groupset (Chinese SRAM) This reminds me of the book factfulness by Hans Rosling.
China used to make garbage using child labor. But that was decades ago. Most people (and I mean the vast majority of people) pretty much still assume it's true to this day. Except it isn't. China has long moved forward. In fact their industrial policy has been extremely successful. They also ran out of children, mostly, the population is now ageing AND in absolute decline, which is pushing costs up a lot.

Just looking at bikes, they've been OEM manufacturers for pretty much everything for eons, and they started to innovate, with carbon spokes for example. If you want custom built super wide rims with carbon spokes, you can get them from at least 5 chinese factories, but not from Zipp, and Campagnolo has become a running joke more than anything. The software on LTWOO groupsets is better than Shimano Sram (ability to change the number of gears, gear protection). I've helped develop a new gravel frame, it took them weeks to produce a mold and a prototype for me to ride. And this year you can buy a frame from lightcarbon that weighs 910g, which is the same weight as a Look 795 blade RS 2024... In fact Look's fork is heavier by 35g...

So if it took 15y for a Chinese brand to go from A to B doesnt mean it will take them another 15y to go from B to C. Things tend to accelerate.

It's tragic in a way, because in the west we barely make stuff anymore, everybody's become a life coach or a therapist (there's also a nice book on "bullshit jobs"), everybody's become super expensive with zero real skills. Applied to Cycling, it's the farce of "paying for R&D" which really means inflated staff doing god knows what, and paying for pro cycling teams.

March 28, 2024, 08:07:54 AM
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Re: VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame Size 56
Silver Chameleon Paint
Frame (no FD hanger): 1079g - I'm going 1x. FD delete saves 15g
Fork (uncut): 406g
Seatpost (with saddle clamp): 228g
TOTAL: 1713g

I'm going to assume the 950g advertised weight for a size M was unpainted, and the 180g seatpost didn't include the actual saddle clamp. The 410g fork weight however is accurate. No complaints to be honest. Both paint and facing surfaces look good too.

For Reference...

Giant Propel Size ML
Frame: 1071g (both hangers)
Fork: 361g
Seatpost: 198g
Total: 1630g

Tavelo Attack size L
Frame: 1041g
Fork: 443g
Seatpost: 156g
Total: 1640g

March 28, 2024, 06:14:39 PM
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Re: LTWOO ER9 & ERX - Electronic groepsets Hi All
I'm a bike mechanic in Ireland, and in the last year I've built 5 customer bikes and 1 for me using eRX. And it's all been grand, couple wee hickups here are there, but overall very good, customers happy

For shipping reasons I buy without batteries which I source locally. The batteries I've been using are 14500 800mah un-protected, as the protected cells are too long to fit. Also capacites over 800mah are also too long to fit in the tube without forcing and bending it. I know to my cost, as the wee copper strip up the back of the pack is extremely fragile at the solder between the 2 batteries

Today a customer flatten his battery on a ride, when after re-charging its become apparent that the cells have been allowed to discharge below 30% and ruined them.

I'd presumed that the actually battery tube had a BMS at the top, now I'm not so sure.

Anyone else had issues with the batteries?

Also the manual states that a solid green LED on RD means the battery is fully charged. This isnt the case, if you open up the app you'll see it's charging and not 100%. This was the cause to the confusion for my customer, and the reason he didn't leave home with a full battery






March 29, 2024, 05:06:27 PM
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Re: Puncture proof Continental Gatorskin tyres any good? Just get a set of 35mm gp5kas and call it a day.
March 30, 2024, 01:43:21 PM
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Re: VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame
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.

My built is finally finished. At the end I opted for only twoo of largest spcers, one from my extra spacer kit (I know, its the same hight, but less hassle).
When I tried to assemble the handlebar with the 4 cables I quickly gave up the idea of using my used link cables. The thight space in the handlebar lead to gaps between the links, so I ripped it out and used the jagwire road kits instead.
I don't like how velobuild routed the cables underneath the stem. They dont run internally, inside the stem, but underneath of it in a canal. So there is a even tighter bend between the fork and the handlebar. I even had dificulties running the inner cables through the housing when reaching the bend. They got stuck, and I had to loosen the handlebar again.
It would have been better if the cables run inside the stem. They would have more space for the a bend with a biger radius.
It was a big hassle, but at the end everything is working well.
7,8 kg with Sensah Empire pro, onirii/iiipro cable/hydro disc brakes and elite edge wheels.

March 30, 2024, 03:04:56 PM
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Re: LTWOO ER9 & ERX - Electronic groepsets I was getting my ER9 groupset setup last night and I verified mine did not come with CR2032 batteries (bought from the LTwoo "Official" Choice Store). Though I had to do a quick Google search to find where the battery slot was on my shifters. I'm really impressed by the customizable options via the app. I got everything sync'ed up, so now I have to figure out which one of my road bikes will receive the conversion. Also I can see now see how water ingress can be an issue, I'm debating which sealing method would work best for me. I was thinking of just using rubber cement around the plug, because I don't see myself detaching the RD once installed.
April 02, 2024, 09:19:09 AM
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Re: VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame
Thoughts? Will it be possible to jam mechanical hydraulic Sensah or Ltwoo in this frame.... just a pain in the rear to route but ok after that or not possible at all.

Just about to pull the trigger on this frame or the lcr0x-d (timemachine copy) and was going to go ER9 but worried about all the issues.

i've built a VB168 with Sensah (4 hoses), the 268 is the same infrastructure, so yes you can run mechanical. It's a major, major pain though, and the FD shifting will probably suck.
I've installed 5 er9 groups, they're wonderful. The app is awesome, adjustments are much easier than mechanical (especially FD, i hate mechanical FD adjustments). Together, we've only put 3-3.5k km on them though, so they might turn to shit, although i dont see why they would.
I really liked the 168, the 268 should only be better. I would do er9 on 268 with nice wheels (not less than 500-650$ range before shipping), gp5000 tyres, and you will have a wonderful bike.
On the lcr0x-d, it's a bit old now; i wouldnt buy a bike that maxes out at 28C, and T700 is on the ghetto side now.

April 03, 2024, 03:34:33 PM
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Re: VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame
i've built a VB168 with Sensah (4 hoses), the 268 is the same infrastructure, so yes you can run mechanical. It's a major, major pain though, and the FD shifting will probably suck.
I've installed 5 er9 groups, they're wonderful. The app is awesome, adjustments are much easier than mechanical (especially FD, i hate mechanical FD adjustments). Together, we've only put 3-3.5k km on them though, so they might turn to shit, although i dont see why they would.
I really liked the 168, the 268 should only be better. I would do er9 on 268 with nice wheels (not less than 500-650$ range before shipping), gp5000 tyres, and you will have a wonderful bike.
On the lcr0x-d, it's a bit old now; i wouldnt buy a bike that maxes out at 28C, and T700 is on the ghetto side now.

Thanks Serge, you answered everything I had and probably every follow up question i had to boot also :) Will go with the ER9 and the 268.

Build is something like this:

Frame 268 (Racing Green) Order process is really easy and Chis's communication is great so far.
Group ER9
Magene PES cranks/power
Pass Quest rings
Ryet Saddle
Gp5000 (probably 30 but 32 if it fits)

Just wheels to figure out 50 to 60mm with internet 21+ and under 700 dollars and under 1600g would be good suggestions welcome.... must have shiny finish preferably no decals as going no logos with the design.

Order this week but wont be building till first week of June so ill try to share some photos

April 03, 2024, 04:23:35 PM
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