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Messages - jfcb

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1
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Brass vs Alloy nipples
« on: March 20, 2025, 01:39:09 AM »
In real life application: I've had no real issues with alloy nipples on any off my wheels (even gravel, muddy conditions).
If you're living in an area with cold winters -> you better avoid your wheels from wet, winter times when they have sprayed salt on the road. That one will eat your nipples and cause corrosion, even if you clean your wheels afterwards.

2
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: How do you decide wheelset suppliers to buy from?
« on: February 28, 2025, 03:48:55 AM »
Everyday there is a new wheel brand popping up in China.
You could take several paths in deciding on a new wheelset.
  • You've seen a wheelset or brand that has your interest and found some positive reviews from influencers (who likely don't know what they are talking about, or got the wheelset for free) -> you decide to buy that wheelset and 9/10 you will be happy about the performance.
  • You enquire your specs at some reputable chinese wheel brands and they will offer you something at a good price. My top 3 Chinese wheel manufacturers: Light-bicycle, Farsports/Wheelsfar, and Xiamen Carbon Speed (the vendor from XCS, PeterXu is also on this forum).
    Light-bicycle I don't know, but both Farsport and XCS have their own branded hub with the DTSwiss style ratchet system.
    I don't know your budget, but for 700-800USD you can have top notch wheelsets. In my experience XCS has an unbeatable price/quality reputation with Farsport and Light-bicycle having a little bit higher performance wheelsets. 

In any case, don't go too cheap (400USD aliexpress wheelset) to avoid any issues later on. Also there is no need to pay more than 1000USD to have great wheelsets from China. Wheels from XiamenCS, LB, Farsport are "install and forget about it". I never had issues with those even while abusing their wheelsets in races.

3
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Another Aethos clone coming soon UDH/T47
« on: February 26, 2025, 07:07:35 AM »
I believe Serge's point is you'd be better off with a "do it all" bike which is semi-aero/semi-lightweight like the SL8 than a non-aero, lightweight bike like the Aethos. The difference between both frames is only 150gr. That will not make you much faster uphill and you'll be slower when going on the flats/downhill. 

4
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Frame req? (Aero, dropped SS, high stack, short reach)
« on: February 26, 2025, 07:00:48 AM »
Quote from: jeffrey on February 26, 2025, 01:42:54 AM
Wow..
So we're back to square one, still no affordable option with the features lined up in the first posts

Peter did mention it was going to be a high end frame that won't be super cheap. Depending on the final specs, weight and looks it might be a great option.

Quote from: PeterXu on February 08, 2025, 07:19:09 AM
Since we make this frameset with high standard as couple of big brands, you could tell the details when it is available, one piece mold, mixed of T1100, 40T, 30T Toray carbon fiber. latex molding etc. The price on this frameset with handlebar won't be that cheap as our previous frameset.  But would be cheaper than some other Chinese brands.

5
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: New VeloBuild gravel race frame in the works...
« on: February 18, 2025, 05:30:11 AM »
For race oriented frames, I really like the features of the recent Cannondale SuperX tick a lot of boxes of what a modern gravelracer should be like. Not saying it should have the same look.

Slighlty modifiying Pat's list:
1. T47 or BSA bottom bracket
2. Clearance for 50c tires
3. D-shaped seatpost for more compliance
4. UDH
5. Sufficient chainring clearance. (46t single, 50t double)
5. Aero looking, it needs to look fast
6. Miminal mounts, or at least the option to have to have a fork without bolts
7. FSA headset standard
8. Lightweight (doesn't need to be sub 900, but rather close to 1000g than 1200gr for the small frames.
9. Frame/Bottom bracket stiffness and compliance: accelerating should feel like a road bike, but still should have compliance i.e. trhough features like thin seat stays, D-shaped seatpost.

6
Cyclocross Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: First bike build, Carbonda CFR 505 SL
« on: February 07, 2025, 11:34:15 AM »
It will be the same product, but concerning weight: yes likely it's better to rely on the weight provided by Goldix.

7
Cyclocross Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: First bike build, Carbonda CFR 505 SL
« on: February 04, 2025, 12:26:12 PM »
Quote from: demeaux on February 03, 2025, 04:55:12 AM
email from Wing (v fast)
bottle cages and one under the bb.
correct.

8
Cyclocross Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: First bike build, Carbonda CFR 505 SL
« on: January 28, 2025, 08:27:22 AM »
Between farsports (FS) and light-bicycle (LB): whatever you choose, you cant go wrong with both of them. I believe LB has a bit more high-end options with their flyweight rims, but since the price of FS is unbeatable, I often end up with them. They just offer a large variety of excellent rims (and wheels). I'm using their gravel rims for 2-3 years now on all sorts of terrain and so far they have been indestructible. 
Last black friday, I ordered a FS wheelset for a friend similar to the ones I'm using:RD261 hubs, Pillar 1420 spokes, alloy nipples and fs50/30g hookless gravel rims -> 1350gr -> 800EUR incl shipping because of their Black Friday deal. Those hubs are similar to the DT swiss style hubs with similar freehub system. 

On the chainring size: likely since I used a 2X spider and installed it on the outer ring to make it 1X, you can go easily up to 50T. If you would use a 1X specific crankset, the chainring ends up in the middle of where a small and large chainring would come, so I imagine the space is less.

9
Cyclocross Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: First bike build, Carbonda CFR 505 SL
« on: January 27, 2025, 12:08:28 PM »
Quote from: demeaux on January 27, 2025, 05:35:48 AM
[quote author=jfcb link=topic=5633.msg73449#msg73449 date=1737747981 They delivered exactely what I wanted.

Can you give me an idea of what your set up here is? Less interested in wheels, but am interested in components and how it was getting it built up.
Were there any problems with internal routing etc etc. Or did you make it someone else's problem and get the shop to build it?

The build up was very smooth, no issues to notice actually.
  • Internal cable routing (especially with SRAM wireless shifting) is easy with the frame, no fiddling. I did use foam hose protection to avoid rattling inside the frame.
  • The brake mounts were faced, no issues
  • with Sram 1X, installing a groupset goes very fast
Apart from the groupset and pedals, it's quiet a chinabuild:
  • T47 BB install, as al my BB's I buy them on Alixpress and replace the bearings with NTN/SKF once the original ones wear down. Afterwards they last very long.
  • Crankset: now (different from the picture), I'm running a SRAM RED DUB crank with sigey PM, 50T Stone oval chainring. For training periods and climbing races, I will go back to 46T. I also mounted a ZTTO chain catcher. I've ridden a period without chainring cachter which went smooth, but rather don't take the risk in races.
  • Drivetrain: force XPLR derailleur and (Goldix?) 10-44T cassette. They are very long lasting cassettes and work with Shimano 12sp chains.
  • Cockpit: originally I ran an UNO stem with carbon handlebar (ali, similar shape as 3T ergonova) using the ritchey headset. This is a super light yet sturdy combination. As mentioned earlier, I replaced it this winter with a roval cockpit which I could buy from a friend for which it was too short.
  • Furthermore: seatpost (ali), carbon bottle cages (ali, arundel style), farsports 40mm gravel wheels (1300gr), some helicopter tape on the downtube to protect it from the gravel impacts. I also replaced the bolts on the downtube with Nylon bolts

10
Cyclocross Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: First bike build, Carbonda CFR 505 SL
« on: January 27, 2025, 01:40:22 AM »
 I'm using SLS Nylon PA12.  In case you want to be really secure for headset spacer, you could make them purely cosmetic by using a normal round spacer and using the outer diameter of that one as inner diameter of your custom spacer. Not that I've done that, because I'm confident its structurally sufficient for its purpose.

11
Vendor Discussion & Reviews / Re: Shipping Chinese bike parts/frames to hotel in Shanghai
« on: January 26, 2025, 03:15:23 AM »
Personally I wouldn't mind asking a hotel to store some goods on your name. I've done it in the past and they are willing to do so, especially the more 'fancy' hotels. It might also depend on how many packages you're talking about. If they know they can expect 5 packages vs randomly arriving 15 packages which also just might get lost.
The main point you'll need to think through is the preparation: what components will you buy/ship and what will you take with you. Especially for the assembly nowadays you must not forget some special tools like assembly grease, cable cutters, hydraulic oil, olive oil insertion tool, fork pump (if going with a suspension fork) etc.. not even talking if you want to go tubeless. It might be better to have find a local bike shop in Shanghai who is willing to assemble your bike in a couple of days.

12
Cyclocross Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: First bike build, Carbonda CFR 505 SL
« on: January 24, 2025, 01:46:21 PM »
I've been riding this bike for about a year now. It's good enough to place in the top 20 in a gravel world series with the elites, so I guess it gets the job done.  8)
I chose the frame mainly for the specs – it was, and still is, the best performing race gravel bike in China. It's lightweight, made with T1000 carbon, and features modern components like the T47 bottom bracket and UDH (Universal Derailleur Hanger). There might be more modern-looking bikes out there, but I doubt they're any faster. I love the lack of unnecessary bolts almost every gravel frames seem to have. Only a minority uses fork bolts and they just make the frame heavy.

As I mentioned earlier, the bike rides like a road bike. The bottom bracket stiffness feels on par with my road bike when I use road wheels and it smoothens the terrain when needed. For comparison, my Tideace winter gravel bike is unforgiving on every bump. With a 73-degree steering angle, the bike is also very agile and great at cornering.

Regarding the cockpit: Last year, I used it with the Ritchey Logic-E 1.5" Integrated IS headset solution to run a regular stem. Due to the high stack of this headset, I needed a -17-degree stem. This winter, I've installed a Roval cockpit and printed a custom spacer to make it compatible with the ACR headset top cap. I haven't had a chance to ride it yet, but I'm excited to see how it performs.

Concerning paintjobs: we all have our own taste, I just wanted to demonstrate carbonda has some paintjob knowledge inhouse and easily accomodates to your desires. They delivered exactely what I wanted.

13
Cyclocross Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: First bike build, Carbonda CFR 505 SL
« on: January 24, 2025, 05:07:07 AM »
I requested clearcoat with the top being translucent blue fading into the raw carbon. It's light and still adds a special element to it. The attached video gives a better representation than the picture

14
Cyclocross Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Recommendations for Carbon Gravel Wheels
« on: January 23, 2025, 02:36:19 AM »
indeed, plenty of options around here.
Peter (XMS carbon) is almost unbeatable if you're looking at good quality for a low price.
My personal favourite is https://www.wheelsfar.com/gravel-c0374. They also can make custom wheels like with their own dt swiss stile hubs which are very light.  Once you start chatting with them, they can give you some options.

15
Component Deals & Selection / Re: Chinese cycling clothes
« on: January 22, 2025, 12:10:58 PM »
Quote from: Crash217 on January 22, 2025, 11:33:08 AM
That store is "on vacation"  dang the luck.
I guess it's either linked to Chinese new year, or someone claimed them as counterfeit (I believe they also sold PNS clothes). In both cases, I guess they will appear again in a few weeks.

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