Yikes, that headset cup looks terrible.

I ordered my frame unpainted. And while my headset cup area was clean, it still caused some sloppy fitting of the headset bearing. Do a dry run of the bearings to make sure they are snug and level.

Not sure how I feel about anything named Goldix on my bike.

Almost spat out my coffee.

Hi Elves Bikes Europe,

I expect you will be receiving a lot of questions here. Do you have the capacity to address questions, comments, and concerns within this forum Or is this new Elves account more or less for marketing/promotion? No problem if it's the latter. While Elves is not entitled to support potential customers in this forum, I do think it would be helpful especially at this price point.

According to the website, the main updates are a lighter and stiffer frame correct? Can you speak on the improved aerodynamics?

Fantastic looking frames btw. And the geometry works well for me. Welcome to the forums.
Thanks!

Should I see if Hygge will send me out a frameset, or nah? 

Patrick I am super surprised you have not done an ICAN A9 review. But I can already here you explaining in my head "The geometry is just not aggressive for me to warrant me to try this product." It seems based on your comments on the forum that the UCI approved frames are a notch above the rest. This would put Winspace, Yoeleo and ICAN into a beginner bucket for low risk carbon frames. While the prices are higher, I think the better customer service and transparency is worth it.
I will check out the A40 as well, but I hope for a Lino A9 review

I am not a full-time YouTuber. In fact my monthly revenue from YouTube via advertisements is about $60. And maybe another $50 from affiliate discount codes. Considering I still have to purchase my own groupsets, tools, and small components (power meters, saddles, tires, etc) every single bike build is a financial loss.

Until I can generate enough YouTube revenue to justify testing a wider variety of frames and geometries, I can only focus on bike builds and components that have a high likelihood of actually getting used long term. This is part of my reasoning from moving away from cheap (and under-performing) Chinese frames.

A good example is the latest LTWOO ERX groupset. It's still unproven tech and I can find SRAM Force eTap groupsets locally for almost the same price. Sure if LTWOO or a distributor wants to send me the groupset to demo. A year ago when I contacted ICAN asking if they wanted to cooperate on sending me a frame. They declined. Even if they changed their minds today and sent me an A9, I just know I wouldn't ride it long-term.

i am currently assembling my ican a40.
Everything seems to be of good quality. the custoum paint is also in order.
They even touched it up because the colour in the picture before shipping was darker than I had specified. Without discussion...


The next build will be a Yishun or a Lightcarbon, I think.

I inquired on A40 last year. ICAN doesn't really market that frame much because it's also being sold as Cinelli Pressure. To me this is ICAN's best looking frame and the geometry works well for me.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the A40 uses the FSA ACR system in the steer tube right? The front caliper hydro cable runs up, through, and out of the top of steer tube correct? This was kind of a deal breaker for me.

Here is my analysis...

Point #1 - Of all the frames I've ridden and tested, only 4 have performed flawlessly and free of any quirks. From the build process to long term on the road: Yoeleo R12, Winspace T1500, and two Specialized Allez Sprints. While I don't believe having a UCI sticker is the absolute marker for quality, it's also not a coincidence these 4 frames have them. Build quality, details and functionality matters at this price point.

Point #2 - Neither a UCI sticker nor offering a unique frame design is an indicator of a frame's performance. Yishun R086D and VeloBuild VB-177 are great frames despite more or less being open mold designs. What I've learned with cheap frames is if the specs/design of a frameset looks too good to be true...it probably is. TanTan x38 (Scott Foil clone) and VB-168 (SL7 clone) were sluggish for me personally.

Point #3 - Buying experience. Having the only two flagship Specialized shop outside of California 20 minutes from my home, you can tangibly see why they are so popular. The shopping experience is like going to a premium car dealership. Might as well be for a $5500 SL8 frame. Trek's flagship shops are horrible. Never buying from them again. With Specialized you're not just buying a bike. You buying into the local community, you have a home base for local rides/coffee, and you're dealing with managers/sales reps/mechanics who are also cyclists themselves. I cannot overstate how important this is for the 95% of cyclists in the real world who don't spend time on YouTube/forums geeking out over Chinese brands like myself.

Point #4 - My online presence is such that I'd rather not be a walking billboard for expensive brands. I'm trying to be aspirational to the fitness but budget minded shopper. Although I really want to buy a Giant Propel or S-Works SL8 next season to see if the hype is real. I cant keep testing cheap frame forever.

Obviously I'm probably not the average cyclist. Swapping new bikes/frames constantly is painful. However, I've grown tired of regularly dealing with the quirks and customer service annoyances of the cheaper/open mold frames. No matter how many "Chinese" bikes I've tested, I always go back to my Winspace T1500.

Which brings me to Point #5 - The only thing holding me back from buying the Propel/SL8 today is that we starting to see more Chinese competitors to Winspace/Yoeleo in the $1500-$2000 range coming to the marketplace for the Western world. To me this is where the best value to performance ratio can be found. UCI-Approved, limited licensed frame design, fantastic paint details, competitive frame weight, and quality supplied hardware. I'm currently in talks to acquire a frame from one of these new brands