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Messages - dsveddy

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151
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Elves Falath EVO 2023
« on: February 02, 2023, 07:56:13 PM »

The "aero profile" issues or weight is subjective especially for the average rider and can be compensated through other means (aero posture, aero bottles, lighter components etc).
It is always about the rider and if the rider can be made to fit nicely to this frame then it really looks like an affordable, stylish dedicated aero bike.

I beg to disagree. The geometry is a dime a dozen in the highish-end Chinese DTC market, Yoeleo R12, Seka Exceed, and the outgoing Falath Pro are all extremely similar in that regard. So we're really down to discussing quality, price, and adherence to design goals (i.e. aero and weight).

152
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Elves Falath EVO 2023
« on: February 01, 2023, 09:17:49 PM »
After watching the Cam Nicholls video, am I the only one who doesn't think this bike looks fast? It looks like it was designed to have the appearance of being aero from the side profile, but clearly fails in several areas. The frontal profile on the head tube and fork is super chunky compared to the Falath Pro. Everyone knows frontal area=drag. There's also a lot of weird tube profiles, the seat tube and gusset have a really square frontal profile, and the top-down cross-section of the head-tube right behind the steerer doesn't really taper, instead terminating in a chunky square flat back like on a Trek Madone. This area of the head-tube is probably the most important part to make as narrow as possible since it gets the cleanest air. But then the downtube narrows and never widens again to shield the water bottle. It's backwards of what you want, which is narrow up top and a wider, flatter back down low to shield the bottle. I just don't get it. I'm not an aerodynamics expert but this bike seems to just violate a bunch of aero principles I know of. I wouldn't be surprised if the outgoing model is faster with bottles on.

That and it's heavy. I initially saw online rumors that the frame would be ~900gr. Now 400 grams over that? Even heavier than the outgoing model? I can't see this being popular.

153
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: SEKA Bikes? Out of contact?
« on: January 14, 2023, 11:07:47 AM »
Just preordered a large standard frameset in blue from Cycling100, despite the clear risk that this will take forever. With COVID lockdowns ending I imagine lead times are going back to normal. Was quoted "10-12 weeks"...we'll see about that. Fingers crossed I guess. It's still early in the season, so if all goes well I hopefully will be able to have this bike in time for May. I'm in my 15th season of amateur racing so I definitely have the mechanical chops to build it up, but I'm poor graduate student so I really am seeking to cut costs.

My current bike, a Tarmac SL5, is nearly 10 years old; it's high time I got something new, and the proliferation of LTWOO disc groupsets has really brought the cost of the build down. I have been painstakingly speccing out possible builds. For a while I considered the Elves Falath but that frame would have been about 250gr more than the Seka, but in the end only ~$300 less. Similarly I could have gotten a Yoeleo R11 or R12 for slightly less, but the yoeleo bikes aren't as beautiful, are essentially the same price. The R11 isn't quite as aero, and I believe the R12 slightly heavier. I might end up regretting not getting an R12 instead--we'll see.

Geometry wise, I currently run a size 56 on my Tarmac with a 110mm stem, 80mm bar reach, and ~0.5cm of spacer--which has always felt a little short for me. I have abnormally long arms relative to my height and run a very-forward saddle, so in general I need a lot of reach, something that is at odds with the Seka's geometry, and with Chinese frames and bar-stems in general. The combined frame+bar reaches of the "size 56" equivalent Seka, R12 and the Falath are all about 1cm shorter than my Tarmac, therefore the only way to get the geometry I really want is to get a 130mm stem, and Seka is the only company besides Farsports offering of a 130mm stem with 380mm bars. Some might retort that this isn't an issue when you run a separate bar-stem, but I really believe in the aerodynamics of a combined bar-stem, making the availability of a 130mmx380mm handlebar a key selling point for me with the Seka.

Current build plan is:
-standard Seka frameset+bar+Token BB (1054gr frame, 370gr fork, 325gr bar, 165gr post, 105gr BB)
-LTWOO R9 Disc carbon (11-speed) groupset (1167gr brifters+derraileurs+calipers, 200gr cables+housing)
-Magene P325CS powermeter crank (730gr)
-YBN SLA-110 chain (249gr)
-SROAD one-piece CNC cassette (230gr)
-|||PRO brand rotors (308gr)
-ICAN Aero 35 disc wheels (1355gr)
-GP5000s tires (280gr x2)
-Specialized power S-works carbon saddle (160gr)
-No-name Supacaz imitation handlebar tape (50gr)

According to my calculations given quoted weights for everything is estimated at 7100 grams. We'll see about that! I'm guessing going from a M to a L will add ~200g+, and the accumulated error on quoted weights will add up to over ~300gr, so I would be very happy if it was anywhere close to 7.5kg dry.

MSRP for this build is right around $3700 including cost of shipping to the US (excluding saddle since that's taken from my old bike). A comparable bike like the soloist with ultegra is $4300--and that's without shipping, racing wheels or power meter--so add about $2000 to that to reach a similar spec.

Anyways, wish me the best of luck!

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