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Re: Hygge Aero Carbon Frame
I ordered and customised this compression ring on Aliexpress. The headset is now 100% free of play (without any torque struggles, just as it's meant to be and ever was on any bike). It seems to be the Specialized design. I hope that it is also a bit gentler for the steerer tube. referring to the video by henrychungfitness: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SIRHNtz9nvQ https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805803796644.html I had to widen the two openings a little so that the Shimano brake cables would fit through. I cut off the outer plastic ring on the headset cap so that it doesn't rub on the frame. May 12, 2024, 05:19:22 PM |
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Re: LTWOO ER9 & ERX - Electronic groepsets
Very pretty build (with the exception of that saddle bag It's a TFSA disc frameset (SL6 clone). I believe TFSA is the OEM for the Delihea framesets as well. I initially bought it because it was cheap, but surprisingly it's held up to quite a bit of abuse. Though if I were to build a new bike I'd probably go with one the Aethos clones floating around. There's just too much climbing in my area! May 13, 2024, 11:13:19 AM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
Hellooo fellow triathletes! I wouldn't have thought that my sketchy TT setup actually does draw attention, but this is a forum of people riding sketchy frames from (partly) unknown sources, so theres that. Let me share my journey for you guys, I can also share the 3d print files as .stl or solidworks-file if anyone wants them. Short disclaimer regarding 3d printing: Please, for the love of god, only use 3d printed parts on bikes if you absolutely know what you are doing. 3d printed parts are not rigid enough to be used in any tensile stress - especially because the layer lines can break apart easily. If you pay close attention to the 3d printed parts that I use, you'll see that all of them are used in compression only. - After lots of resarch I did not find any dogma fitting aero connectors, so I purchased the giant propel aero connectors (GTIN: 4713250834511). Hoping they would somehow fit. They did not fit, and clamping them down like this would have definitely damaged the handlebars (see first picture). - I have then 3d printed banana-shaped adapters from a soft-ish rubber material (TPU, for those who are familiar with 3d printing materials), to adapt the giant-shape to the handlebar of the VB218. This has worked out okay-ish (see 2nd + 3rd picture) but the armpads were too wide apart and too far forward. - In the first ride on my hometrainer, I have noticed, that these rubber bananas create side-to side flexibility. - I have then had a local shop cnc mill an aluminium plate (see 4th picture) to solve two things: a) side to side flexibility and b) give me more options of placement, especially fore/aft, and distance between the armpads. This has worked execptionally well, as it gives enough variability in position, but also is super stable without clamping down too hard on the handlebars. What I also did to improve the TT fit on this bike: - get an ISM PN1.0 saddle (move wayy forward) - get a 0° setback seatpost Still on my list to do: - get a between the arms bottle - print a rear box, similar to what the guys at 4-frames do. First protoype is done already (see 5th picture) - ride more - get a TT frame (project for next winter  )I've been contemplating getting these to try on 218 bars.Hi JonMS, these might actually fit - but I suppose you'll also need some kind of rubber adapters. May 13, 2024, 02:29:23 PM |
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Re: LTWOO ER9 & ERX - Electronic groepsets
Well, especially as a triathlet i would stay away from ltwoo on my racebike..not many races i participate and loads of training...thrown away if you have a faulty whatever.... i mean, this is so typical chinese...they ignore the problems, give you a hard time when something is defective , do not change it fast and after loosing trust in the brand due to lacking reliability, they try to enter triathlon.....? May 14, 2024, 12:56:35 AM |
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Re: Disconnecting hydraulic hoses
You MAY be able to reuse barbs and olive if you can get it out and if you haven't tightened the olive too much but it's heavily recommended to cut and put new barb/olive as you likely lose some seal. This is why you are often advised to leave as much hose as possible in the bike. If crimped properly the olive shouldn't come off anyway You can pick up a pack of olive/barb/hose kits for 4 bucks on ali, or for 30 at your LBS who will urge you not to get them from aliexpress as they might explode. The olives are universal afaik but the barbs and hoses are not, i think the standard Ltwoo uses is BH59, same as shimano road You seal the open hoses with a toothpick And yes both ends of the hose have a barb and an olive May 14, 2024, 03:35:48 AM |
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Re: Any idea of Serenadebikes carbon wheelset?
I'll chime in here. I've done 3000k on this set of Serenade Wheels. They market this as their Allroad/Gravel wheels but I think it really is basically a modern road wheelset. 55deep/31wide/25internal, DT Ratchet style straight pull hubs compatible with DT Swiss freehubs, Pillar Wing 20 spokes (24 front and back) and aluminium nipples, 1450g total weight. I bought them with hooked sidewalls, but they're also available in hookless if that's what you want. The pictures show these with 28mm Vittoria Corsas. They come up just shy of 31mm on these wheels and form a nice transition between rim and tire, as you can see. Performance wise, they're fast. I paid roughly 480 EUR including shipping and taxes and I think this is all the wheelset you could ever ask for for that kind of money. The only thing I can criticize is the hubs. I rode these through a very wet winter. The bearings in the front hub started sounding rough in very little time. They turned out to be basically dry with no grease, so they corroded quickly. I replaced them with a set of high quality SKF bearings. The wheels roll fine ever since. The rear hub bearings are still smooth. But I think if you wanted a tad more performance, you should opt for better hubs. Serenade offers all kinds of hub choices including genuine DT Swiss hubs. Also, I think Centerlock is a useless standard. The rotors are more expensive. The fitment is not a good as 6 bolt. Just my personal opinion. If I was given the choice again, I'd probably go with 6 bolt interface hubs. Buying experience with Serenade was OK but not stellar. While pricing is good, the communication was a bit lacking at times. That's one thing I'd recommend you guys improve on. I only really received updates when asking. They were quick to answer any questions upon ordering and VERY SLOW to answer questions on delivery, once the payment was made. That's a bit of a pattern with a lot of chinese sellers IME. All in all, I can recommend SERENADE. Please note: I was told that they are a reseller rather than a manufacturer, sourcing their parts from all kinds of factories. Maybe you can tell us more about that here. May 15, 2024, 05:30:34 AM |
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Re: What are some of the unanimously loved frames?
For me the lightweight/aero VeloBuild VB-R-268 paired with Magene EXAR Ultra wheels has been awesome so far.
May 16, 2024, 02:19:53 PM |
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Re: Winowsports TT-119 - New Disc Time Trial Frameset
Info for anyone else who may be purchasing. Spacer bolts are M5, I bought sets in 20mm increments from 40-100mm from Bolt Depot for <$10 to play with pad height. I believe the spacers are compatible with the PD A3A riser kit, but have yet to order and check -- still getting other aspects of the fit dialed. Some niggles: - the hardware holding the arm rests / clamping the extensions is incredibly soft. I recommend replacing it right away. - had to sand down the seatpost to allow for movement within the seattube - bottle cage mounts are too far down the downtube to mount a standard bottle cage. Even with a sideloader the rear wheel cut out is too large to allow the bottle to sit flush. Might be fixed on larger sizes, but if even a 54 is too small I doubt it. Using a Wolftooth B-Rad to move it farther up the downtube for now, and planning to try the Cervelo aero bottle, which looks like it may clear. - Stem clamps from only one side and has a weak hold on the steerer. Needs to be torqued to 6-7Nm or it still wants to turn. Going to try adding some carbon paste and see if that helps. May 17, 2024, 12:36:29 PM |
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Speeder Cycling SC-R55D
New frame just popped up on Speeder Cycling's site today. Looks good, but we only get to see a render for now. https://www.speedercycling.com/Carbon-Integrated-Road-Disc-Frameset-SC-R55D-_p429.html Material: Toray M40J T700 / T800 Type: 700C Road Disc Appearance: UDM Finish: Gloss / Matt (can offer custom painting) Headset: FSA NO.55R ACR 1.5" Fully-Integrated BB: Press Fit BB86.5*41mm Standard Weight: 980g+/-35g (51cm) SL Weight: 880g+/-35g (51cm) Frame Size: 45cm / 48cm / 51cm / 54cm / 57cm Handlebar Size: 370mm / 390mm / 410mm / 430mm (C to C in hoods) Stem Size: 85mm / 95mm / 105mm / 115mm / 125mm Cable Routing: Full Internal Di2 Compatible: Yes Disc Mount: Flat Mount Max Tire Clearance: 700 x 32c TA: 12x100mm / 12x142mm Test: ISO 4210 Warranty: Two Years May 20, 2024, 03:53:18 PM |
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VeloBuild VB-R-066 Disc 2023 Road Bike Build
I recently completed a new build based on the VeloBuild VB-R-066 2023 Disc endurance(ish) road bike frame and the L-TWOO eR9 electronic groupset. I've only ridden it for 30km, and so far, so good, but this is no long term ride review, instead I'll focus on the build. In short, it met my expectations. Let's start with the summary: Total weight of the built bike, including pedals, bottle cages, out-front mount for computer/light, seatpost mount for light/radar, and bike pump mount: 7.85 kg, or 17.3 lbs. Total cost for all components, including shipping, sales tax, etc was AUD 3347, which based on today's exchange rate is USD 2225 or EUR 2055. The frame is size S in a matte black finish. I'm sure I'll regret choosing a matte finish, but for now it looks great. The frame weighed 885 g, with all bolts and attachments removed. The uncut fork was 359 g, and the seatpost was 203 g (400 mm). I didn't order a handlebar from VeloBuild. The frame also came with thru axles, rear derailleur hanger, front derailleur mount (bolted on, not riveted), cable exit rubber gaskets for both electronic and mechanical shifting, expander plug, top cap, headset bearings, seatpost bung and cover, crank scuff plate, and a headset cover for using a non-integrated stem and handlebar. The headset ring and cover wasn't deep enough to reach the top bearing, which perhaps could be fixed with some headset spacers, but I used a Ritchey upper headset instead. The extra rear derailleur hanger I had ordered didn't come in the box, so I contacted Chris, and I got it in the mail a few weeks later. Frame and fork quality was ok - fine - about what I expected from VeloBuild after following this forum for some time. The frame had some sharp edges around the headtube and bottom bracket shell, but otherwise it was quite smooth. I noticed some pitting inside the fork steerer and in the lower bearing seat in the headtube, but that was all the pitting I could see. There was some paint overspray on both the brake caliper mounting holes, in particular on the fork - not a surprise. I faced these myself using an IceToolz "Shuriken" Disc Mount Facing Tool #E272 (https://www.icetoolz.eu/en/icetoolz-disc-mount-facing-tool-shuriken-e272/a9232) that I had ordered in advance. I didn't have a bolt with a nut that was long and thin enough for clamping the tool so I could face the rear caliper mounts, but I was able to solve it by using one of the long caliper mounting bolts and the L-TWOO adapter plate (see photo). I think the facing helped - aligning the calipers at the end to avoid brake rub was very straightforward. The lower entry point for the hydraulic brake hose on the fork required a little filing with a round file before I could push the hose through. Again, not a surprise, but a quick fix. I've never built a fully internally routed frame before, so I spent quite a bit of time pulling and pushing foam damper casing as far as I could into the downtube and chainstays. I even pulled the electronic power cables for the derailleurs through the foam damper casing in the chainstay and around the bottom bracket area. Enabling mechanics to use old gear cables to pull the hydraulic hoses through the frame and the foam damper casing is a great feature of the L-TWOO groupset. For the T47 bottom bracket, I installed a cheap Lingmai branded one from AliExpress with internal bearings for a 24mm crank spindle ("t47-24i"). I also ordered a ZTTO branded one as a backup, it was identical in both looks and weight (except the logo), so they're probably from the same factory. It threaded into the shell without any issue. I had an unused Elita One Carbon seatpost lying around, so I used that instead of the one supplied by VeloBuild. Both had a very snug fit in the seat tube, and I have had no slippage so far, using only carbon paste and torquing the bolt to 4 Nm. Installing the L-TWOO eR9 groupset went well, by following their user manual (https://oss.ltwoo.com/download/en/eRX_User-Manual_V2.6_EN.pdf), with a couple of exceptions - see below. The user manual refers to a "stability adjustment screw" at the back of the front derailleur, but my eR9 version didn't have this. Related to the front derailleur, I added a chain catcher for peace of mind, but so far I haven't had a dropped chain. I'm running the groupset as 2x11, with 50/34T chainrings and a 11-32T cassette. For chain sizing, I followed the Park Tool instructions (https://www.parktool.com/en-int/blog/repair-help/chain-length-sizing), which resulted in a slightly shorter chain than by following L-TWOO's method. I figured since there's no clutch, and the rear derailleur cage spring is weak according to some reports, it was better to make the chain shorter rather than longer, for improved tension. To reach the mounting bolt for the shifters, I folded both the front and the rear of the hoods, and inserted the ball-end of an Allen key from the front. Make sure you have a high quality Allen key for this! For bleeding the brakes, I followed the method in the manual of pushing mineral oil from the caliper to a funnel on the levers. I didn't do the extra step of opening the vent hole. However, after the first shake-down ride on a bumpy road, I did another quick lever bleed (funnel on the lever, brake pads left in the calipers, pump the levers). I got some more air bubbles out then, and I now have great brake feel from the levers. Components:
May 22, 2024, 08:12:25 AM |
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