I’m ordering a Carbonda FM1002 in the next couple of days and they give the usual 7-14 day estimate but I’ll post an update here when it actually arrives.

Recently my AliExpress orders are taking around six weeks but I haven’t really made enough of those yet to be a good basis for comparison.

If your fork doesn't have a carbon steerer then skip the expanding plug.

That’s what I figured, but since this is my first experience with this type of 1.5in-to-1.5in headset I wondered if there was a specific reason they don’t include a star nut.

I guess you wouldn’t necessarily expect to get one with a regular headset either, and the top cap/bolt they include should be usable with both — though I’ve already got a custom engraved flat cap and bolt I’ll be using for this bike.

The ~270 degree internal metal collar seems to be there for use with the “through the headset” internal routing option and the cutout in it doesn’t serve any real purpose with the regular version but it does make me nervous that somehow the steerer is less securely supported at the top (a real concern for a hard charging 170/150 AM bike) so I might get a third party 1.5in headset anyway.

But I figured I should ask 1001/1002 owners about their experiences with the stock one in case there are any quirks I should be aware of.

Hey thanks for the recommendations! The FS830 looks really good! I can see in the thread for it there was the question asked about the pivot bearing design but no feedback yet, but there are people who seem happy with them so maybe it's fine?

The FS947 also looks really good, but I'm a medium frame with my Giant and you're saying that max 135mm of seatpost engagement might not be enough for a decent dropper post? I'll have to check what the drop of my current giant one is, it's definitely 'enough' but I still do hit the seat sometimes when moving around a lot.

Check the reach and head tube length numbers on the 947, you could probably do OK with a large if you were raising the front end/cockpit to shorten the reach and maybe over-forking by 10mm. Personally I do find being able to run a super long dropper helps in the steeps…but it’s as much a cosmetic thing as anything else for me.

Having the outer tube of the post sitting up super high out of the frame is something to be avoided in modern bike fashion

Looks like an Ican frame? If so, should be plenty of feedback out there. Travel range is probably with different stroke shocks...

TopFire does seem to use open molds in common with several other vendors, so that wouldn’t be too surprising, but I don’t see this on ICAN’s site or in any of its marketplace listings….

And how does it pedal? Is it decent in flats and climbs?

I don’t know how familiar you are with progressive geometry, but steep seat tube angles have noticeably countered the problem of pedaling/climbing a long travel bike. Better suspension has helped a lot with that problem too.

As long as you’re working with decently efficient suspension, weight/rolling resistance is usually more of a problem than the amount of travel you have.

The seat tube on a modern long travel bike is already so steep that shortening the fork will make the handling skittish and keep you from getting weight over the back with the dropper up. Personally I don’t think most modern bikes feel right unless you *add* 10-20mm of fork travel over stock.

Chainring was slightly awkward as I had to run zero offset to get everything inline, good excuse to buy a nice oval cnc one.

Could you explain that? Is it a quirk of the frame or some other reason? I’d normally expect a boost bike to work with a 3mm offset…..

Looks like that yellow frame is the only one I can find anywhere that’s been built up. I can see why it’s mentioned multiple times in that thread as an alternative to the 831, though it does look like only a small sample manufacturing run has been done up to this point.

If it’s available to ship more or less now, and that guy still has no complaints, it’s tempting. I do wish Haideli would make these frames with a little more tire clearance than 2.4, though.

Hasn't it been around for a while though?  I remember looking at it a while ago, looks like it could be a nice ride but it is ugly like a Ripmo (fight me!)  It is probably the frame I should have bought.

I think you’re right, I do remember looking it up a few months ago. I guess I was thrown off by Eddy referring to it as a “new mold.” I was more just thinking about the timing of a new group buy thread for it being posted now.