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My 2022 Tantan FM199-B-SL XC Hardtail build
So, finished building this about two weeks ago. It's almost identical to a Specialized Epic, save for some minor differences in geometry. 2022 Tantan FM199-B-SL. Bought from Tantan off eBay. Frame came in about a week and a half to Colorado. Was shipped from China and not a more local warehouse/ Full build weight is currently right about 26 lbs, 11.8kg. I could get this down to probably 11kg with different aluminum wheels, no dropper post, and a couple other minor component changes, but I don't care enough. I could see this bike being built under 10 kg without a lot of trouble. I think the bigger thing I made note of is that the routing of the dropper post cable seems like it takes a rather tight bend. And also, you cannot use a big dropper like some 150 or 170mm droppers on this. They just won't fit due to the seat tube not being straight, so it won't drop all the way in and then you'll be limited to a minimum seat mounting height that will probably be too long. If you use a standard seat post or a shorter dropper post, you shouldn't have any issues. Which is what I ended up doing only AFTER I bought a longer dropper post. So word of warning there. Having 3 cables routed internally means I didn't need to block any part of the port that goes into the frame. The head set fit well enough. Derailleur hanger and thru axle are fine. And the bottom bracket, while press fit, is doing just fine. I do want to make note of the fact that getting the crankset to fit wasn't the easiest and required a bit of extra effort to get it to go through far enough. Basically, the BB shell is is actually closer to 92.5mm instead of 92.0mm. This is probably the biggest oversight in the construction of the frame. It made fitting the Shimano crankset difficult and I wonder if it will impact the longevity of the BB bearings. Other crankset attachment methods that use a wavy washer or other preload methods like SRAM DUB won't have any issues, I don't think. Note: Rear brake mount is flat mount and NOT post mount. With no adapter, it fits 140mm rear brakes, which is what I have on it right now. And it fits nicely as is. I haven't actually tried to lock up the rear brakes. Component spec: RockShox Pike, 120mm, bought used, it's a 2019 model, but not lot of mileage. 160mm brake rotors. Shimano MT600 wheelset Conti RaceKing Protection in 29x2.2 - Note here: these are wicked fast tires. Get yourselves a set! SLX 7100 crank SLX 7100 brake levers SLX 7100 post mount front brake caliper Deore XT M8110 flat mount rear brake caliper - Note here: This was a planned buy and didn't catch me off guard here, but honestly I didn't need this caliper, you can buy any flat mount, like, even a Shimano 105 or Tiagra road spec. Pro Tharsis 100mm dropper - the dropper level integrates into the SLX brake lever, which is really nice. Deore XT M8000 rear derailleur Deore M5100 shifter - Note here: I originally had the Deore XT M8000 shifter, but it did not fit right with the new SLX brake levers. This 11 spd shifter does though. SLX7000 11-46 cassette I'm currently on a 65mm stem and I'm thinking of switching to an 80 or 90mm stem, but we'll see. Non-frame issues I encountered which are, admittedly my fault: So, I originally planned to reuse a Deore XT M8000 shifter, derailleur, and SLX 11spd 11-46 cassette, which is why I went with the MT600 wheelset instead of anything else. It worked with some of the stuff I already had. Downside is, as I mentioned, the shifter doesn't work with the new SLX(or higher spec) brake levers. It doesn't fit right. You can technically still shift it, but it's awkward as hell to use the knuckle on your pointer finger to shifter down the cassette instead of using the tip of you pointer finger like normal. So, I switched to the Deore M5100 shifter, which, is okay. I can't shift up the cassette as many gears in one swing of it, which I don't like, but it's not a deal breaker. It works, it fits, it's fine. If I upgrade my wheels later on, I might swap shifter/derailleur as well. Overall, I'm happy with it so far with the limited riding I've been able to do. I have a couple things to be mindful of long term, but I think it's going to make a great XC race bike this year. January 24, 2023, 01:36:51 AM |
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Re: Allround Performance Bike Build
thx for your reply. I have the Tarmac SL7 as my main everyday bike. It’s an amazing bike. And I don’t want to crash and break it. So I bought the Velobuild 168 as a cheap race bike. It originally cost me less than $1000 total to get it race ready with parts I had laying around. So if I crashed it it would be better than crashing my nice SL7. I was really surprised (in a good way) by the quality of it and how it performed. It would be hard to tell the difference between the 168 and my SL7. So in short, I ride my SL7 mostly, but wanted a bike that rides similar that I can race on. Edit: To answer your other questions. The derailleur hanger should be fine to use. But you can buy a direct mount for $20 and follow the directions from the 168 thread. I have links to everything I bought. For handlebars, I paid $80 for mine. It is a Kocevlo. It is stiff enough for my sprint. It also comes with all the headset parts you need. The other handlebar is The One Pro. September 08, 2023, 11:39:29 AM |
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Re: Ornan Bike gravel frame build
One final build update!  I'm thinking this will be the last update. I've come to the realization that when I first built this bike, I didn't really know much about gravel geometry and what I built here is not a true "gravel" bike, at least not for the kind of riding I've grown to enjoy. What I created is essentially the sickest endurance bike of all time lol. The short wheelbase and more compact "allroad" geo make it a great bike for city riding on nasty surfaces, curb hopping, endurance rides, short fun rides, easy/flat gravel, etc... it can even fit 700x43 tires. It's truly a perfect do-it-all one bike solution. One of my favorite iterations of this bike is with 700x35 Gravelking slicks, a longer stem and my road shoes/pedals for riding on the road. Unfortunately, it's also good at eating a lil shit on rutty singletrack. Hence, I'm now in the search of something very different geomtry-wise. I still dig this bike and plan on keeping it around (with a different groupset) for its newfound allroad/endurance purpose, but what I really want is something with drop bars better suited for the rutty trails and technical offroad stuff I've come to enjoy.Anyway, here she is in her current state. The latest upgrades include: - Ryet carbon wheels - Aliexpress Ingrid crankset with a genuine 44t Ingrid chainring - GX AXS derailleur - X01 cassette 10-50 - XX1 copper chain - a fleet of Panaracer and WTB tires that I swap out depending on the ride I'm now in the search for a more "progressive" gravel frameset and I'm having trouble finding a carbon frame with my desired geo and specs, so this time around I think I'll be going for a steel frame with custom geo from Marino Bike this time (prices are reasonable af). https://www.marinobike.com/ January 26, 2024, 01:09:54 PM |
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Re: Lightcarbon LCG071-D Build
 Here's mine I built up about a year ago. Overall it's been a pretty good frame. Pretty light, comfortable. For 700 bucks I paid it's pretty good, although it's not a frame I'd consider impressive or excellent in how it rides. Overall fit and finish/build quality was very good. Couple complaints: This thing is an absolute brick aerodynamically. I have no idea why, but the thing really struggles to get up over 42mph on steep descents. The previous generic carbon frame I had (can't remember the brand) would easily blow through 45mph on 27mm deep rims and me not in any sort of aero kit. I have this bike on 45mm 9Velo wheels, I now have an aerohelmet, my kit is full aero/race fit and I weigh about 3kg heavier than when I was using the other bike and it's rare I get up over 42mph. Very strange. I suspect the rear stays might be negatively effecting as they have a very flat face, the fork legs are also pretty chunky and not aero looking at all, very blunt looking. The tires I have on it are a little bit wider than what I had on the other bike, but these tires (40mm Challenge Getaway Pro HTLR) have about the lowest rolling resistance possible for a tire with any sort of tread, the other tires were slower rolling Gravel Kings at 38mm. At that high speed the handling is pretty squirrelly, it is not confidence inspiring at all up there. Only carbon bike I've ever had that made me a bit nervous above 40mph. Horrendous toe overlap. Constantly rubbing my toes on the front wheel if I have to make any sort of tight turns on the bike. Overall a decent frame for the money, but certainly not impressive for the money. I've been searching for a replacement for some time, trying to figure out where to go with that. July 24, 2024, 03:09:21 PM |
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Re: Winspace SLC 2.0 frame sizing ?
SLC 3.0 owner here. I'm 6 feet tall and went with a size large. No clue why Winspace has yet to update their website to reflect the 3.0 frame. Still working on my review video, but so far the bike is great for what it is. August 02, 2024, 07:51:29 AM |
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Re: Gravel Frame with 2.1 or more tire clearance
 Here's mine with 29er/700c 2.1"/51mm Thunder Burts August 19, 2024, 06:04:05 PM |
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Re: Are the hubs genuine in wheels from companies like BTLOS, Light Bicycle etc?
You can safely assume branded hubs from wheelbuilding companies are genuine. Fakes are easy to spot and people would raise hell if they tried to pass fakes off as genuine hubs. I might expect that kind of chicanery from an anonymous Ebay or AliEx storefront, but I think companies with established brands like LightBicycle wouldn't dare.
September 11, 2024, 01:38:41 PM |
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Re: TanTan - Seraph FM121 XC 120mm Full Suspension 2024 model
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September 18, 2024, 08:40:19 AM |
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Re: TanTan - Seraph FM121 XC 120mm Full Suspension 2024 model
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September 18, 2024, 08:41:22 AM |
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Re: Do any of the Chinese aero/semi aero frames have wind tunnel tests?
Please quote source, out of respect for those who did the work, and because it's helpful. Is it the cycling news study behind the one GBP paywall? You also need to specify the test protocol: what wheels and tyres is it tested with? The wheels and tyres can easily be responsible for half or more of the variance between bikes - unless they're standardized ofc. To answer your question, the tavelo arow, I think, markets wind tunnel testing. And the alilee/ delilee/ some name with "eeee" sounding name (as featured on cam Nichols YT channel a few weeks ago). Have you looked at the German website that tests bikes in the wind tunnel? Forgot the name. It's been discussed multiple times on the Nero show (YT). September 26, 2024, 03:42:09 AM |
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