Well boys after my long wait it looks like I may have messed up. This older body may not be made for race geometry. After putting about 200km or less on my F-C tier 3 Factor I've dealt with neck and back pain issues.

I guess going from endurance geometry to this was more than I bargained for. I thought I'd let people in this thread know I'll be posting it in classifieds and I'm super down as it rides like it just wants to go fast. Would come with a $400 BBinfinite BB already installed, the missing OEM factor silicone seatpost cover, real Black Inc computer mount, Factor bar ends and tape if I can salvage it. Both 0 and +25 seatposts were ordered with it.

Snow White with black lettering size 54 fork has been cut to maximum spacer height no slamming, shipped from Canada.

You can DM me too if someone wants to bypass the long wait times and guarantee they get a good inspected F-C top end copy.

Any opinions from those who have integrated handlebars like those on the X68 that have a fixed angle? Is it not too limiting? Obviously it comes down to how the rest of the bike fits as well and so I'm guessing opinions are mixed.

I found four frames (red-black, heart of the ocean, DUKE, white pearl) on aliexpress, they're all around 800 Euros for the heavier version or 1000 euros for the lighter one. Dont know about the other colour options, but i would guess that they would be prised similarly.

You should complain to the seller, either of the bars, or the frame. You can use a vernier caliper (it's cheap) to figure out which of the steerer & stem is the wrong size. Or use another stem. If stem B fits, then stem A is the problem, and if neither fits, then steerer is the problem.
You should complain, but sandpaper is the answer. ideally you'd find some decent diameter rod, wrap sandpaper around it, and sand down (i assume it's the stem that's too tight). You did undo the stem bolts, yeah?
i wouldnt be afraid of sanding that, because if you were able to fit 10 or 15mm, it means you really dont have much material to remove. Do wear a (good) mask, or do it outside, and / or do wet sanding, as that dust is apparently truly, truly bad for your lungs (when i cut steerers I use a water spray bottle so the dust doesnt fly off, then i wipe the black mud off the floor).
If it's the steerer that's out of spec, i'd be less happy, because it raises more questions, given how critical that part of the bike is.

Hey jerozilla.  Regarding the bars, I did try to slip them onto the steerer tube but found that I had to use a lot of force, either because the clamp is too small or the steerer tube is slightly oversized.  I only got about 10-15mm before giving up. (I was just playing around anyway.)

I'll investigate further but has anyone else seen this?  What's the recommended fix?

And regarding rotor size: are you running a 160 or 140 on the rear?  I'm assuming 160 on the front.

Thanks

Hey Team.

Update on my Ostro frameset as purchased from F-C:
Last Saturday morning, I took one last desperate look at my tracking info only to discover that my frameset had been handed off to US Customs in L.A. California just after midnight early that same day.
On Thursday, I picked the frame up from the local USPS office.  I thought they might ask for tariff $$$, but they didn't.  The box was somewhat battered from 76 days in transit, but the contents seem to have survived the trip.  The quality is what we've come to expect from F-C.  The BB facing seems fine while the caliper mounts aren't pretty but I think they're workable.  The quality of the bar/stem is o.k. - definitely not as good as the frame.  In particular, I asked for 380/100 and they are marked as such, but I don't really see how they measures out as 380/100.  Still, the bars will work for now at least.

Anyway, I wanted to update this thread.  In the end, I got my F-C frame after approximately 90 days, from order to delivery.  F-C certainly has areas to improve their customer service, and I think Aliexpress is equally to blame.  The shipping is overpriced for absolute sh!t quality.  I've never had a worse shipping experience, and I've purchased a lot of rare/odd auto and bike parts over the years.

I'll post pics of my build as it comes along.  I won't be rushing through it and will likely need to ask some [dumb] questions.

Cheers

First decent workout with the fake SL8 from Taiwaneisen.
My weight is 65kg and FTP at 220watt. Wheels Yoeleo 50mm, tubeless 28mm, 4bar.
- the riding is “smooth”: after 35km/h you can easily observe the bike “sailing”, it keeps the speed with minimum power.
This is even more visible when you ride into a group of cyclists at 35km/h or more or when you follow the draft of a car passing you
- the frame is quite stiff expecially in the seatpost area: you can clearly feel in the back while the fork and the front part of the frame is quite comfortable
- I was worried about the stiffness of the fork as it weights even less than the original. I tested in a 3km discend and it is good

So far so good

My long teng 268 ticks all these boxes. And it's officially very fast, says me.