Chinese Carbon MTB Forums
News:
Happy Holidays!
See likes
See likes given/taken
| Post info | No. of Likes |
|---|---|
|
Re: Seraph Bikes Superlight 836g X68 - Alternative to SL8 Fakes?
As promised, I’m finally sharing the photos you’ve all been waiting for. I have permission to post them here, so no worries on that front. I did not receive the Bike yet (expected mid january) Complete Weight Of the Build : 7.175 KG Details/Price/Specs: See at Page 8 Credits/Source: Photos are from Tantan private Chat "Whatsapp" Vivian@tantancycling.com Sales01@tantancyling.com Whatsapp:+86 13690938214 December 25, 2024, 03:52:32 AM |
1 |
|
Re: Spcycle New Mold SP-R088 Carbon Road Frame
R088 is done. 7.2kg on my heavier 45mm depth carbon wheelset and 6.9kg on my 1100g 30mm depth climbing wheelset. This is with pedals, power meter, bottle cages and built-in computer mount with 34cm drop bars. Unfortunately I can't ride it due to multiple fires in the Los Angeles, USA area. The air quality right now is s**t...smells like a smokey camp fire. I'll post photos tomorrow. I had to clear out my yard of debris and ash! FYI - I'm about 173cm and I went with a 52cm frameset. January 08, 2025, 11:15:34 PM |
1 |
|
Re: Seraph Bikes Superlight 836g X68 - Alternative to SL8 Fakes?
!!MY!! First initial quality impression Bike Delivery Update Hi everyone, The bike arrived on Tuesday and was very well packaged. A lot was already prebuilt, and the handlebar tape is wrapped like a god—truly excellent craftsmanship! The fork’s bearing cups were not greased but weren’t completely dry either; they were still somewhat lubricated. I decided to apply bearing grease myself. The bearing cups for the fork, both top and bottom, fit perfectly with no play at all. The seatpost itself is perfect—the scale markings are precise, clear, and easy to read. The two saddles I ordered additionally also seem to be of very high quality. As for the bike assembly, it was very straightforward and easy to complete. Regarding the drivetrain, well, it’s Shimano 105 Di2—it works flawlessly as expected (Japanese quality!). The bike came with a Shimano Ultegra bottom bracket installed, which is a great addition. The wheels also seem to be of very high quality, with no visible damage and running smoothly. However, the rear wheel is slightly unbalanced. That said, this is a common issue even with high-end bikes, as seen in many YouTube reviews. You can hear it slightly from the freehub’s oscillating sound, but it’s not a major concern. I’d like to note that all of this is just an initial quality impression. This is not a long-term test, nor has a test ride been done yet, as it’s currently snowing here in Germany—January is the coldest month of the year. The handlebar does have a slight flex when applying force to both ends. However, I can’t properly judge this since I’ve never had a "true" high-end main-brand carbon cockpit before. It’s worth mentioning that this kind of force generates a very high leverage effect, so the flex might be normal. The paintwork looks phenomenal, but here too, I can’t comment on its durability yet. U Also get no Torque Charts.. I asked tantan via whatsapp and they replied immediatly January 09, 2025, 06:31:27 AM |
1 |
|
Re: Spcycle New Mold SP-R088 Carbon Road Frame
Photos of the build! As I mentioned previously, I can't ride the bike right now due to major fires in my area, so I can't comment on ride quality until things clear up. I've included close-ups of the UD glossy raw finish. In-person it looks like black marbling, similar to a bowling ball with similar finish! Also I pre-applied clear protection decals to certain areas of the frame. Some of the straight lines in the finish are from the protection decaling. January 09, 2025, 01:25:24 PM |
1 |
|
Re: Seraph Bikes Superlight 836g X68 - Alternative to SL8 Fakes?
I’ve taken a few pictures of my bike as a reference. The gaps around the headset look pretty extreme in the photos (angle). During installation, I didn’t have any issues, especially not with the compression ring (was flat). I tightened the headset bolt very lightly, around 1-2 Nm. The result is that there’s absolutely no play between the frame and fork – I’ve tested it by pulling both brakes and moving the bike back and forth. The steering also feels smooth and easy, exactly as it should. Everything "feels" as it should, as if the bike is functioning exactly how it was designed to. Other forum Photos of Gap Issue i assume this are all original SL8 https://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=172467&start=4740 https://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=172467&start=4770 January 10, 2025, 04:04:31 AM |
1 |
Re: Spcycle New Mold SP-R088 Carbon Road Frame
I was finally able to stretch the legs of the R088 and did an early morning ride before the pollution levels of the Los Angeles fires became worst as the sun came out. I took it on both some long flat stretches and my local climb areas. It's relatively lightweight and I felt like there was good power transfer. On the flats, it accelerated smoothly while holding speed easily. On the climbs, I could go out of saddle and the frame responded well to rocking the bike back-n-forth. Handling is very good as well, I didn't even notice any toe overlap and steering felt precise without being overly twitchy. My only issue is that my other wheelset with 25c tires looks a bit awkward. For climbing I tend to prefer narrower tires. Aesthetically it looks best with a 28c tire or bigger. Overall it's a very well-balanced frameset. I think I could comfortably recommend it.  January 11, 2025, 02:30:31 PM |
1 |
|
Re: Seraph Bikes Superlight 836g X68 - Alternative to SL8 Fakes?
Finally received my frame, size 54 in matte black. Can't speak for quality as this is my first brand new disc build, but everything looks the par. I did notice the common fork and headset area gap, as well as a slight gap on the top side, between the spacers and headset. I'll be posting my build list with weights once the bike is built up, should be pretty close to 6.9kg. January 16, 2025, 12:08:10 PM |
1 |
|
Re: Seraph Bikes Superlight 836g X68 - Alternative to SL8 Fakes?
My Seraph/ TanTan TT X 68 Build - Size 54 - Matte Black 6.94kg - $2900ish all in. Weight is plus or minus 50gwith grease, and misc hardware not accounted for. I acquired most of these parts used over the course of 4-5 months, via ebay and facebook. I learned about most of the build options, not named shimano, from this site or via youtube (GC Performance, Pat Lino, China Cycling, etc...). I also built this bike by myself, first time ever doing a frame-up build, and used GC's SL8 bike build and his other videos. Frameset - $629 + $100 shipping. Took about 2 months to receive. Frame w/ headset bearings, bottle cage bolts, fd mount, rd mount - 878g Uncut Fork - 339g Cut Fork - 309g (10mm spacer) Uncut Seatpost w/ hardware - 166g Seatpost Wedge - 20g Thru Axles - 62g Bar/ Stem 120/38 - 326g Spacers and Covers - 15g Garmin Mount - 28g (kinda sucks on first impression, will be looking for alternatives) BSA30 BB - 88g Aliexpress SL8 Direct Mount RD Hanger - 15g (saves 8g) CRW 50/55 Wheelset - 1325g MT900 160/140 Rotors - 187g (pair) Aliexpress Tubeless Valves - 11g (pair) Sunshine Cassette 11-32 - 230g Vittoria Corsa Pro Control Cream 28 Tubeless - 633g (should be 520g for the pair according to BRR.com) Amazon CL Rings - 23g (pair) Stans Sealant 40ml per tire - 60g Shimano ST-R8170 - 399g Shimano BR-R8170 - 300g (bolts, pads, calipers) Shimano FD-R8150 - 112g Shimano RD-R8150 - 250g Shimano BT-DN300 - 52g Di2 Cables - 16g Sram Force 170, Quarq PM, 53/39 Chainrings - 753g (old sram powerglide chainrings) KMC X12 Gold - 243g (uncut was 273g) Brake Hoses - 35g (approximate. I subtracted the excess) Aliexpress Carbon Bottle Cages - 48g (pair) Ryet 3d Ultralight 143mm - 165g Deda Tretaforo Bar Tape - 35g (40g uncut) R8000 Ultegra Pedals - 248g Future Weight Weenie Options: HY Seatpost - 130g - $167 (saves 36g) Avian Canary - 266g - $300 approximately (saves 60g) BDOP 11-30 Cassette - 126g - $160 (saves 104g) Xcadey/ Lexon 53/39 - 600g - $615 (saves 153g) J&L Axles - 47g - $40(saves 15g) Tofu Comtura Prima 28 Tires - 480g - $120 (saves 153g over current tires) Wheels - 1150-1200g - $800 to infinity (plenty of options here) Saddle - 100-130g - $40 to infinity (plenty of options here) January 19, 2025, 06:02:57 PM |
1 |
Re: Seraph Bikes Superlight 836g X68 - Alternative to SL8 Fakes?
My Seraph/ TanTan TT X 68 Build - Size 54 - Matte Black Care to share a photo or two? 
January 20, 2025, 02:56:37 AM |
1 |
Re: Spcycle New Mold SP-R088 Carbon Road Frame
the frame is nice and seems well made, but it would be nice with a more tapered head tube restyling. Now that I look closely comparing my TFSA SL6 clone and my R088, even the older Tarmac clones have the slight tapered head tube. Then again there's always the TanTan X68 or other SL8 clones if that's the look you're going for. I mainly got this frame for the other features. UDH hangers are like $6 USD and UDH direct mount hangers are under $20 USD. Plus at some point I might try fitting 32c tires. I already understood. But I think it's better to write ud matte in the product card, and not just matte like you have, and post more real photos so that the person can see what he's buying Sorry you didn't get exactly what you wanted. I made sure to verify the look beforehand with SPcycle with examples before moving forward with my UD glossy coating. The only reason I went with UD glossy is that it's easier to hide scratches and other blemishes, plus I'm not confident in SPcycle's paint work from a previous frame I purchased from them. January 21, 2025, 09:27:54 AM |
1 |