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Messages - fattyrice

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1
Just received the saddle today via FedEx. Sticker price is ¥699 (~US$105) without shipping and handling, so maybe expect it to retail at that price.

Measurements on the tag were accurate (275mm x 145mm), with the sticker on the packaging stating a 275x150.

Weighs slightly less on my kitchen scale than the 270g advertised.

Looks like they will be coming out with carbon and titanium rail versions.

Smacking this on today and testing it out.

*EDIT*
Post-ride

Did a couple of two hour rides in two different bibs (Rapha and Monton).
I have only tested the Specialized Romin Evo at a shop for 15 mins so I cannot make any direct comparisons.
I can however compare to my previous Chiner Selle Italia saddle that I've ridden for ~2000km.

Pros:
I realise that comfort is supposed to come from the bib padding and not saddle padding but I really did feel a difference in both comfort and support.
I was adjusting my position less and didn't get any numbness in my ass. I felt planted, and even in different positions, my sit bones were well supported.

Cons:
Mud and gunk got trapped in the holes and required some slightly higher pressure washing.
Weight can definitely be a turn off, but I should be the one shedding weight  :(

Mind you, I'm an unfit 91kg rider mostly cycling on a smart trainer, but I'm a convert. Will definitely be ordering the titanium rail version in the future for my brother as a christmas gift (and maybe one for myself).
It's a fifth of the price of a branded 3d saddle for my region, and gives a much better value for my money.

2
Component Deals & Selection / Re: L-TWOO RX 2x12 road groupset
« on: May 10, 2022, 11:13:02 PM »
Wheel Top just dropped this 46 minute long video explaining their MTB groupset and are currently recruiting beta testers for their road groupset.

I'll briefly summarise some of the more interesting points:

Road groupset beta testers are asked to prepare bikes with "11 speeds or more," meaning that the road groupset will support both 11 and 12 speeds like the MTB.

The MTB groupset will support 11 and 12 speed cassettes from SRAM and Shimano via software presets controlled on the companion app.

The MTB groupsets you saw listed for sale earlier this year were actually pre-production units offloaded by beta testers.

Wheel Top's road brifters will work with the MTB rear derailleur for gravel mullet setups.

The MTB rear derailleur uses an 800mAh battery (47.5g) with a slimmer 400mAh optional battery coming in the future. For reference, the SRAM battery is 300mAh and weighs 25g.

They'll release a downhill version of the MTB rear derailleur with a shorter cage (75mm vs 93mm).

There'll be a decked out version of the MTB rear derailleur and with black and gold pulleys (unclear if OSPW or not).

The MTB derailleur can shift through all twelve cogs positions (NOT changing gears) in as little as 1.8 seconds. Wheel Top aren't happy with this as they aren't good enough numbers for a road groupset.

Wheel Top's road brifters will be mechanical. Hydraulic is not mentioned.

The road groupset is on target to be released by year end.

In other news, Hillhouse Capital (leading private equity firm) invested in L-TWOO back in February 2021.

Nothing new from Sensah.

Goodness. StiffWeenies, any chance you have a twitter or microblog? Your news aggregation and updates are just unmatched on the Chinese cycling scene! Many thanks for taking the time.

3
Component Deals & Selection / Re: Saddle recommendations
« on: May 10, 2022, 04:30:00 AM »
There's some discussion and links on road carbon saddles this thread if any of it interests you. https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,3250.15.html

4
Where did you buy it and for how much?

I got it from the Alibaba link that StiffWeenies shared.

US$61.50 for the saddle, with US$23.80 EMS to South East Asia. I didn't have a forwarding agent, so that shipping quote was from them.

Not the cheapest saddle I've bought from China, but very curious to see how it stands up on long rides.


5
Found this new company called Cosy Saddle

They're making this 3D printed saddle


Looks much better executed than the ZTTO. According to this video, they're also developing carbon and short nose versions.

Just ordered one piece out of curiosity. The weight doesn't bother me much if there is comfort to be found! They also told me that the carbon rail version will be ready for sale by the end of this month. If I like the current one enough I'll probably order the carbon rail version as well.

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Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Carbonda Cfr 1056
« on: September 08, 2021, 11:30:07 PM »
Currently down with covid so haven't been building my bike up as much as I would like. Just finished routing the cables in the integrated handlebars and frame.

Agree with Michi on the FD guide. It was a huge pain in the ass to properly cable as the OT-SP41 outer housing was not bending enough to comfortably route into the guide. The guide also wont go in if there is even a little bit of the housing peeking through. I chose to instead file a little off the top of the guide just so it goes in easier with some of the outer housing peeking out. Was sorely tempted to go eTAP out of frustration!

Rear Thru-Axle was also very difficult to remove and install once about 80% in. When the RD hanger is off the bike, it goes in easily, so no cross-threading there. Rather seems to be an alignment issue. Workaround was to loosen the hanger slightly, screw in the thru axle, and then retighten the hanger. Maybe some resin or paintwork underneath the hanger but nothing I can identify by naked eye. Any suggestions? Also, can I confirm if the provided thru-axle dimensions are as follows?

Front: 120mm M12*P1.5*L14
Rear: 173mm M12*P1.5*L15

Thanks in advance.

7
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Carbonda Cfr 1056
« on: August 27, 2021, 08:22:22 PM »
What is the width of the chainstays at the rear flat mount points? I may have to give this frame a try too.

Is this where you mean? I can take a more accurate measurement tomorrow if this is not sufficient.


Lovely frame.

Can you say more about how the Carbonda headset for the integrated bar is inferior to FSA's? I'm buying FAS's stem and have no objection to buying their headset. I could wait till after the frame with headset arrives to decide about ordering the FSA headset, but I'm very curious.

In order to have the expander flush with the top of the handlebar, you would need to have an offset of about 3mm due to the thickness of the part that sits on top of the fork and stops the expander from dropping straight in. In the image below, the top half is the FSA ACR expander, and the bottom half is the one Carbonda ships with the bike, which you can find on aliexpress. Both headsets were tightened to a semi-snug fit (expanded, but still able to rotate freely) so show where they would approximately sit within the steerer tube.

The FSA ACR expander covers a good region of where the stem bolts are. The Carbonda one barely covers half of the top bolt. Note that the expander cannot sit any higher. Although you can have the stem sit slightly lower, the length of the knurled region that pushes against the steerer tube is just about enough to cover the space between the two bolts and would need some fiddling to get right.

Also the knurling on the FSA ACR expander definitely feels like it has much more grip. When tightening both to a semi snug fit, I had a harder time extracting the FSA ACR expander.

The bearings I got from FSA also ran smoother. As for spacers, FSA spacers were out of stock, but I know they can be put together without removing any cables as they join at the space where the cables route (like a padlock), whereas the Carbonda ones join together at the gap for the steerer tube, with the gap for cables fixed.

I am aware that carbon tubes are strong when there are equal directional forces and that the Carbonda/AliExpress headset is sufficient for 99% use case, but I believe that the additional expense for a FSA headset is justified by having peace of mind.

Also, you cannot use the routing on the FSA ACR expander that was intended for the front brakes as it seems that Carbonda has routed the front brake hose to have a single entry single exit channel (from the flat mounts to a couple of inches above the crown race). If I try to push a routing cable from the top of the steerer tube, I couldn't get it to exit at the fork disc brake exit hole, though this could be ineptitude on my part. This doesn't bother me much as I'm okay with using the designed method of all four cables going down the same headset gap, but may be an annoyance to some.

In any case, Carbonda are pretty happy to accommodate to small customisations, and if someone were to want to definitely use the FSA ACR style routing, you could probably request for no channeling on the front brake hose.


8
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Carbonda Cfr 1056
« on: August 27, 2021, 05:08:59 AM »
I'm in love with the finish! The frame was wrapped with bubble wrap and foam rolls with plastic caps over protrusions.

Definitely glad I went with a Carbonda over name brands (which in my country do not even have frames above 54cm).

This is a 56cm frame with 110*420 integrated handlebar. I highly recommend FSA headset for the integrated version. Going for Shimano 105 R7020 and Elite-Wheels BWT. Will update with better photos in the near future.



Closeup of the BSA86 BB



Peering down the headtube. I like the look of EPS molding. The bit coming off near the green QC sticker, I plan to use some clear nail polish.


Out of focus shot of the frame in real lighting conditions.


Weight of frame+seatpost  (1323g)


Weight of uncut fork (483g)


Weight of integrated handlebars (417g)



9
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Carbonda Cfr 1056
« on: August 26, 2021, 02:31:04 AM »
Just received my shipment after being given a tracking number on Tuesday. The box looks in good condition and I can't wait to open it once I'm off work.

10
Thanks! I jsut ask myself why I did not find it... maybe because it is only available in the UK. Sadly considering shupping and customs it is double the price of an original Lezyne mount but still only the adaptor to a Garmin mount :-/

Ah! That's a huge shame. Yes, I thought that since there are plenty of Garmin mounts on aliexpress, a Lezyne to Garmin adapter would be useful. Definitely not worth it when including shipping and customs!

Maybe you could purchase a 3D file of a Lezyne mount with Lezyne interface from the ebay seller and find a 3D printer service in your country?


11
Would an adaptor like https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/292873071470 work? To be clear I have never ordered from this source, it was just the first relevant search result.

12
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Carbonda Cfr 1056
« on: August 23, 2021, 02:52:41 AM »
I'm going rival AXS... I hate dealing with cables. I wish my brakes wireless as well. I run XX1;AXS on my MTB I love it so much.

I'm going to be glad I've decided to go with SRAM AXS, I can tell. It's also going to be easier when the brake lines are all I have to get through the bar, stem, headset, and head tube.

I will be going the Shimano 105 R7020 path as SRAM distributors are not easy to come by in my region. And Di2 is a little bit out of my budget, and the failures of Ultegra cranks worry me.

Please do update on your builds!

13
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Carbonda Cfr 1056
« on: August 20, 2021, 05:36:00 PM »
Today I've been fighting with the cable installation for the front derailleur. I guess htey have mostly 1x front or electronic gear in mind; it was a mess to get the cable into the bottom bracket guide. It is simply too tight: when the guide is insterted into the frame there is not enough space to slip the cable w. end cap into it. Slipping it into the guide when it is removed it is nearly impossible to put the guide back into the frame. Iwanted to install a liner to such a end cap like Aesch has posted but no chance. Had to cut and drill (I hate that at a new frame) and now I have the outer cable/end cap more or less clamped between the guide and the frame and a separate piece of liner from the guide up to the derailleur. Don't want to touch this soon again...
Also the gap between fork crown and frame is too tight; when preloading the headset it starts to rub, causing stick/slip. Have put a flat crown race fram another headset plus the FSA crown race; still a very small gap but no rubbing anymore.
Oh goog old times with cables outside and standard headsets!
When the kids are sleeping I move on...

Thank you for the detailed description Michi. If it's convenient could you maybe snap some pictures? Particularly of your solution to the bottom bracket guide. Thanks in advance.

14
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Carbonda Cfr 1056
« on: August 20, 2021, 05:28:51 PM »
nice color! Blue chameleon?

Thanks you! Yeap, Blue purple chameleon. I'm boring that way, but I love it.

15
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Carbonda Cfr 1056
« on: August 20, 2021, 07:31:29 AM »
Ordered August 8th, size M. Katie sent me pictures of the painted frame:

That's a really good color. Matte olive? Can I know what parts you'll be putting on it?

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