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Patty's Long Rant and Guide To Affordable Frames
I’m going to be honest here: I very much miss the glory days of this forum during the pandemic years. It was a perfect storm. People were stuck at home with extra discretionary income and free-time, while major bike brands were dealing with fulfillment delays. The rise of Chinese alternatives during this time brought so much excitement to this forum. Forum members were passionate about helping each other, and the overall vibe felt like a positive community of budget-minded enthusiasts. You could easily spend hours each day reading pages upon pages of new posts. The forum was basically a party everyday. I’m lucky to have joined during COVID. Now I don’t proclaim to be perfect or infallible to constructive criticism. Quite frankly, the support of this forum is a large reason why my YouTube platform even exists. I cannot thank you all enough. Sadly, a lot of the super experienced members don’t come here as often anymore. Perhaps the negative vibes these past 12 months ran them away or just simply their needs changed. Who knows… What I do know is I plan to keep supporting the forum as long as it makes sense. I’ve started to review more mainstream bikes, but my heart will always have a place for affordable Chinese frames/wheels. It’s how I got my start (Yoeleo R6). I wanted to write up a quick guide for anyone looking to jump into the world of “cheap” Chinese bikes. While I made a video on this very topic over a year ago, a reminder never hurt anyone. PLEASE feel free to add your insight and guidance below. Step 1: Passion Project vs Functionality As a cycling reviewer, I obviously don’t have any emotional attachments to my bikes. Except for my believed T1500. To me it’s about being functional and fast. If the “best” frame for (my) price range and riding style only offers matte black…I’ll take it every time. Custom paint means nothing to me if the frame is either a noodle or destroys my back. But I’m a performance-first person. Step 2: Riding Style and Geometry Can you slam your stem? Cool for you. Do you prefer an endurance style bike? Also very cool. Geometry is critical obviously. I cannot stress seeking a professional bike fit enough. Or just comparing your current bike to your target bikes using something like Geometry Geeks. Step 3: Budget vs “True” Budget If your budget is “only $600” for a frame, ask yourself if an extra $300 will be significant to you a year from now. How about an extra $500? How about two years from now? Buy nice or buy twice. Might be worth spending the extra money if you plan to keep your bike for longer than two years. But be warned: cheap bikes are addicting. Step 4: What is your “pain” threshold for cheap bikes? Cheap bikes are cheap bikes for a reason. Sort of. The value-add for these types of bikes is you are willing to put in the work yourself to troubleshoot, should bike build problems arise. If you do however find yourself frustrated, fear not! The forum is here to help. Typically the more you spend, the less potential for problems to arise. Or the brand will be faster to rectify. Unless you’re Yoeleo…  Patty’s Brand Picks $500 - VeloBuild - Custom paint, decent customer service, and solid provided hardware. Both the VB-177 and CX002 are very solid frames for the price. Won’t be the best performing frames ever, but they are “good enough.” You won’t get dropped from a race or fast group ride due to these frames. $1000 or less - Yishun/Light Carbon - No question one of the best affordable brands/frames you can buy without spending money on a Winspace. Sadly…paint options and frame availability may be questionable since (Yishun) is setup for B2B. But the quality and performance is all there. Fit and finish is really good, except for the plastic headset dust cover on my particular application. $1600 or less - Winspace - The T1500 has been talked about to death now for 4 years so there really isn’t anything left to cover. If you have the budget for it…buy it. Proven race bike. Fit and finish on par with the major brands. Wheel Brand Recognition - Elite Wheels, Winspace, and Magene - All 3 brands are great at what they do. The main thing these brands all have in common is they offer solid customer service. Each of them secretly lurk these forums, which means they are making an effort to listen to what customers want. Despite the fact Yoeleo makes solid bikes too, their customer service has been awful (again) based on customer feedback sent my way. Unfortunately my dealings with these brands for reviews does not translate to me being able to escalate customer complaints. Always remember the forum is here to help. There are no stupid questions if you’ve taken a little bit of time to research previous threads and watch a few YouTube videos. The more honest and transparent we all are with our questions, the quicker and meaningful the responses will come. Spend the love! January 25, 2024, 04:12:15 PM |
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Unapologetically Aero Frame!
Hi All, I currently have an SL7 inspired chinese bike. It’s great. Pretty light and pretty aero. It’s just not the stiffest. I am dabbling in Crit racing and now looking at something unapogetically aero. Im a little over the one bike to rule them all, and some of the compromises that come with that. If I was buying western brands, would be along the lines of the SystemSix, Aeroad, S5, Venge etc. Have seen a few of TanTan/Seraphs options, which I’m bearing in mind. For example, the Foil, Venge Vias and Madone enspired frames. Each have their own merits. Also the new VB 268 looks very Venge like, so also in consideration! Wondering if there was anything that I had missed? Kind Regards, Mikey. January 26, 2024, 05:23:25 AM |
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Re: Patty's Long Rant and Guide To Affordable Frames
I'm actually surprised by this. I don't find it to be any less stiff than my Tarmac SL7. And I'm a pretty big guy around 85kg. My 168 is actually my crit bike right now just because I don't want to crash and break my nice Tarmac. But performance wise I found them to be pretty similar. January 26, 2024, 06:52:30 PM |
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Re: VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame
I received the frame yesterday and it was shipped to Germany within 10 days. That was really fast. I did a first inspection and the quality seems to be very good. However, a final verdict is still pending as you can only really say something about the quality when you build the frame and ride it. This will happen in the next days and weeks. I can confirm that the tire clearance is 32mm. Probably even wider tires will fit without problems. I have a first small problem with the mounting of the rear thru axle. I had to re-cut the thread there. A small thing, but it has to be mentioned. I'll get back to you as soon as I have more details and will send photos and weights. January 27, 2024, 01:09:09 PM |
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Re: VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame
Got my 268 frame last week before going out of town and just started working on it last night. Didn't plan on drilling a drain hole in the BB but after taking the BB out of my 177 it was clear that I needed one. Checked with VB just to be sure it would be ok and then confirmed it was. Drilled a small hole into the frame and carrying on with the build.
January 29, 2024, 10:41:04 AM |
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Re: VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame
My frame arrived! Well packed and undamaged. Mine even had the bottom bracket hole already drilled, and the holes in the handlebar were good too. The additional derailleur hanger that I asked for wasn't included. On the back of the seatpost was a text, GRAAL. Anyone heard of a brand with those? The paintjob looks like good quality, and my decals were neatly placed. Just a question, I have 105 brakes but no adapters for mounting (160mm disc in front, 140 in the back) - anyone knows which one specifically I need? I ordered one but it seems to be the wrong one, will wait until I get it. Now awaiting the last few parts such as a threaded BB from Aliexpress (ZTTO I believe). Edit: @ Dank_ganks, please see pics  Cheers! January 30, 2024, 01:47:27 PM |
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Re: VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame
Good afternoon: I am new to the forum and on January 8th I ordered the frame in chameleon silver color size S. Yesterday it arrived correctly packaged. What I didn't get in the package is the cycle computer holder and the extra rear hanger, but they have already told me by email that they will send it to me tomorrow. I must say that the paint is spectacular, it only has a small bubble on the back that will not be difficult to fix by lightly polishing. I also have to go over the steering bearing seats and bottom bracket seats with very fine sandpaper. Waiting to start assembly, happy with the order. January 31, 2024, 09:58:11 AM |
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Re: Speeder SC-R52D
finished totally happy February 04, 2024, 10:14:49 AM |
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Winspace T1550 Build (NEW 1550 2.0 thoughts)
Not many people post photos of their completed bikes on here, but I always enjoy the posts. So I wanted to post my recently completed build on here, and share how much I spent. A lot of builds on here are really balling on a budget but I really purchased from mainstream vendors for less sketchiness, build came out to $3,288 assembled by my LBS Mechanics first "Chinese" build at the bike shop, he was very impressed with the quality and noted that the internal cable routing gave him no problems. All of the workers at the bike shop where really interested in the build and none had ever heard of Winspace. This really shows how obscure this forum is, we are so far away from mainstream. He did ride it and was super impressed with it, I told them how my goal was to create an entry level roadbike, but have carbon wheels at the same price point. 8.1 kgs with everything, 17.85 lbs Frame: Winspace T1550 ($1230 Black Friday) Wheels: Winspace 2023 Hypers D45 ($1049 Black Friday) Bar: Winspace Zero SL 380 W 105 L ($171 Black Friday) Groupset: Shimano 105 R7120 Disc ($688 Merlincycles) Tires: Conti GP 5000 ($130) Tubes: Ride Now TPU 36g ($25) Seat: Specialized Power Comp (Free: Old Bike) Pedals: Shimano 105 SPD-SL (Free: Old Bikes) Shop Assembly- $240 February 07, 2024, 02:33:25 PM |
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Re: Winspace T1550 Build
That Black Friday deal for the T1550 and Hyper wheels was killer. I've been rocking my setup now for over 3 years. Still one of my favorite bikes.
February 08, 2024, 08:16:26 AM |
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