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Re: Tavelo Aero Frame
I think I am with Patrick, (BTW a big fan and subscriber) on how with the increase of prices for most major direct to consumer Chinese brands, big Western brands seem to make more sense for more people.  However I think there is this middle ground with companies like Winspace who have really started to build a brand, who yes have raised their prices but always have a discount code or pretty aggressive sales or package deals where a frame really will not be $1700-$2000 dollars.  I recently got a 1st gen T1550 Disc w/ Zero SL bars with UPS shipping for $1602.  I commonly hear how people got their T1550 frames during Black Friday for $1300.  I bought my original T1500 frame and bars for $1500, so to pay $102 more this time around for a slightly better product in the T1550 isn't terrible one bit.  I sold my T1500 with bars in 2022 after a season of use to someone for basically $600, thus 60% is steep, granted I recently sold my Aethos fact 10R frameset that I bought new for $3000 and got back $1250 thus basically hitting that same 60% deprecation after one year mark.  Where I think Winspace has a better chance is that they do have some US warehousing, there customer service is pretty good, and the more key this is that they have US dealers.  In my state of NY thye have 6 dealers and I know one is ACME Bikes in Katonah which is known to be a high end shop that sells everything from Moots, Time, ENVE, Parlee, Colnago, Look and I guess now Winspace.  I think the pivotal thing Winspace did was sell a crap load of wheels during the pandemic, not to mention their wheels at the time were not only a terrific value but performed insanely well.  I can't go to any semi big group ride and not see at least a couple riders with Winspace wheels here in NY.  In 2022 no one new about the T1500, but now in 2024 after I picked up my newly built T1550 I had 6 people come up to me and ask me about the bike and telling me how much they liked it and how they saw the same exact bike on Grant's GCPerformances chanel or so on.  I simply don't hear or see people talking about Seka or other high-end Chinese D2C bikes that cost $2k+ for a frame.  I am not saying they don't have a place and can't take off here in America I just think again on any big group ride or shall I say big "money" group ride sponsored by either a company or a LBS, her in NY you mostly see waves of SWORK Tarmac SL 8.  So I doubt you would see a Seka at one of those but at a recent PAS Normal Studio ride I did see one Devel and two Elves bikes.  I was very tempted to bring my T1550 but decided to go with my MY22 Scott Foil RC because I am still playing with my fit.  I think while Colnago is an amazing brand it's a heritage brand and what Tadej did for that brand riding that V4RS even though it's not the "best" bike is insane.  My buddy has a V3RS and countless people came up to him saying how much they liked his bikes and these are riders on SWORKS, Pinarellos, Factors and ect.  Point being, I think if any of these Chinese D2C brands want to really hit the US market they need to get elite athletes on them or really hit the local sponsored group ride scene where influencers are riding them





i completely understand and get what u r saying. i do agree and disagree with you on some points. Is there room in the marketplace for the Chinese bikes I say yes. Lets remember that a lot of these companies are OEM and are just starting a side brand to facilitate the Asian market which is way bigger then NA. the prices of a 2000 frame I don't see as a hurdle as there are so many other brands who charge way more. Are they better NO. I ride Factor bikes bc no one was riding them 4 years ago. I would never ride a spec or trek as they don't provide anything great. I only used to ride Pinarellos but came to realize that their bikes were way too heavy for my liking. I have a spear on order from Seka because no one has these in Canada yet. I hope to keep it that way as I'm not a sheep and follow the hurd with sl8. I'm 49 and i do believe you pay for what you get. My 2 cents.

July 31, 2024, 04:04:28 PM
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Re: Tavelo Aero Frame Really interesting to me about how people care about resale value, as all the bikes that I have owned I ride until their life is over
September 10, 2024, 05:17:38 PM
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Re: Tavelo Aero Frame I red all this topic. I think most of you are talking about Tavelo Arow without having ever seen or touched with own hands the product.
I can say you all that I bought a Tavelo Arow frame this September and my mechanic (a really good mechanic, not a youtuber) assembled the bike in no time with no problems. This frame is awesome, and it flies on the road!

November 11, 2024, 02:08:37 AM
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Re: Winspace C5 Aero For anyone trying to sustain a 90-degree elbow “breakaway TT” position over the hoods, you need more stack. This kind of solves that.

Peak Torque speaks on this a lot. Sure you can always use more spacers, but allegedly this will decrease overall stiffness in the front end. Versus running a slammed stem.

The issue is exacerbated with the advent of shorter cranks. Typically you'd need to increase both saddle height and stack height to accommodate the smaller crank diameter and open up the hip angle. So what is originally intended to be an endurance geometry with, say, 172.5mm crank arms quickly becomes an aero geometry with 165mm cranks.

January 21, 2025, 11:58:49 AM
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Re: LEXON Road Carbon Crankset
https://www.carbonbikekits.com/carbon-bicycle-crankset

Thanks.
I just took the chance to order one from carbonbikekits.  ;D

* 165 mm
* 24 mm axle
* spider 4x110 mm BCD

I am about to replace my Dura-Ace 172.5 mm cranks with it. Will keep the DA chainrings.
Just need to decide later on, whether I‘ll go for a spider PM or (new) Assioma.

February 04, 2025, 07:46:55 AM
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Re: Tavelo Arow vs Quick Pro AR:ONE vs T1550 Gen 2 vs C5 Aero Non-SL propel is a little under 1000g for the painted frame and 400 ish for thr fork

T1500 and its derivatives aren't the most serious aero bikes, I'd only go there if the geo really suits you. They tied a bit more with the c5 aero, but still nothing special

Tavelo design is sound, if you're ok with some very tight tolerances

If going for Quick, might as well wait a couple weeks for ER:One

Might even be able to get an xds AD9 here at some point

February 11, 2025, 06:57:21 AM
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Re: LEXON Road Carbon Crankset I’m looking at the carbonbikekits crank but I also want to wait until Peter releases his crank.  Depending on price I may just order from Peter.

Would love to hear feed back on the CBK crank.  For price, the weight is far
more competitive than Lexon’s offerings.

February 17, 2025, 02:24:12 PM
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Re: Xiamen Carbon Speed 2025 new carbon crankset I'm super excited for the 24 titanium version. Will be curious to see what spider power meters are compatible.

Currently all my Shimano built bikes run either 29mm DUB/Quarq spindles or Magene PES Base power meters. The Magene probably is most ideal since it's 24mm, but is a bit heavy if you're a weight weenie. And spending $850 on the Cybrei setup is a tall request.

February 20, 2025, 09:23:29 AM
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Re: Xiamen Carbon Speed 10 years anniversary special promotion Applying rimtape isn't hard, take it as an opportunity to learn. Just take your time with it. There is enough tape on a roll to be able to mess up.
February 25, 2025, 11:35:41 AM
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Re: Xiamen Carbon Speed 10 years anniversary special promotion Hi all,

Just wanted to drop in and give feedback about my recent experience with xmcarbonspeed & Peter.

I ordered this wheel set:

https://www.xmcarbonspeed.cc/products/carbon-speed-700c-clincher-tubeless-ready-26-mm-internal-width-disc-brake-road-gravel-bike-carbon-wheelsets

I chose the following:

--UD finish with paintless (imho, absolutely gorgeous compared to other finishes)
--50mm deep front and rear
--no rim holes (made setting up tubeless so easy)
--Pillar 1420 spokes
--brass nipples
--instead of 20F/24R, I went with 24f and 28R (I am 80-85kg)

I ordered the last few days of 2024 (~Dec 27), exchanged a few emails with Peter (who was responsive and great to deal with).

Since the Chinese New Year was in mid-to-end January 2025, I was thinking it'd be nice if I received the wheels near end of February.   

Around mid-Jan Peter emailed the build was finished, and that he'd notify me when he received a tracking number.  I thought for sure, weel, ok, the wheels will arrive end of February.  This is Europe, after all.  Stuff arrives slow.    Well, forget that.   

The wheels showed up at my doorstep on 1 Feb.

Packed great, box in good shape.  I took the wheels out, spun them by hand and began to smile.  Checked with tension meter, spokes were all within 5-8% tolerance of what they should have been.  Took off the Shimano HG freewheel, and light grease was perfect around the inner hub.   Wheels were true, and maybe the roundness could have been a touch better, but then I realized (from the wheels I have built myself over the decades) that these were just as good if not better than what I can do.   Which is to say, the overall build is quite good.

I have been riding this wheelset for near one month now, 3-4 times a week (weather here is iffy this time of year, so I use my other winter bikes when it's really bad out).   

With this new wheelset, there's been nothing to report.   No surprises, nothing unexpected.  Just the way wheels should be. 

Well, that's a lie, there has been one thing unexpected.   


For near 35 years I have been 'ROAD" riding, training, etc on alu wheels no deeper than 25mm and rim interiors from 13mm to 18mm (back in the 2000s I had went with 28mm external tires, but never changed rims).   

These xmcarbonspeed 50mm, 26mm internal deep wheels?  How to say this without sounding like a Koolaid drinking fool? They've been nothing short of "wow" eye-opening.  Running tubeless Conti GP5000 TR 700x30mm on these 33-34.16 ext width rims, where the Conti inflates to 32-32.4mm (at 40 psi front, 50 psi rear), has been a joy. 

The wheels snap to attention when I want to go (suddenly I am up & running).   After 17-18mph, the speed these rims are more easily able to hold, plus the cornering confidence that comes on a 30mm tire on a 26mm internal rim?   Again, joy. 

I have come back home from my normal rides thinking "what?"  I know and/or I thought that I felt like crap during some of those rides, yet there I am staring at either another new course PR, or better, knowing I had been fighting 25-40kmph winds, yet I am near my old course PR on that route. 

Basically, my avg speed for rides has went up 1.5-2mph.  I can't imagine what I am going to feel like when I get one of those days (that admittedly come less & less as I get older), where I feel I can rip the cranks off the bike & I am just powering fully over my ride.   Will I pull off a 21-23mph ride like I used to be able to do when I was a young pup?     Being an old dog now (a few decades now), where I was average only 16-18mph on my 2-3 hr solo rides, I am now easily averaging 18-20mph.  At my age, for me, by myself,  to be near 20mph rides?  Averaging this?

If you've been riding decades, you'll know what a big deal this is.


Anyhow, back to XMcarbnspeed & Peter.  It was thanks to Chinertown and this message board (and reading Peter's replies here and in other threads) that gave me confidence to make the jump with xmcarbonspeed.

I now face the problem that my wife (who 'road' rides too), has seen me too often grinning ear to ear when I come home.  Guess what she wants?    Her bike can only take a 28mm exterior wide rim, so I am not sure if Peter/XMcarbonspeed can do a similar build as above but just with different rims (rim brake rims) that are 28mm max external width but maybe with a 21-23 inner width.

I'm thinking a 25mm tubeless, with gobs lower psi, on a 21-23 inner width carbon rim, along with it being 45-50mm deep, is going to bring similar smiles to her face.



February 26, 2025, 05:08:58 AM
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