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Messages - Dlloyd15

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1
Build it up and rode a bit with it, will post proper pictures in future.

Components are
Tantan GR048 with custom paint (Red metallic, with the tops of bars being black, and matte varnish)
9Velo GV45 2.0 (already had them some months)
GRX820 (with GRX400 brakes)
RXL SL gravel bars at 42CM
Kocevlo stem at 90mm
Silca bar tape (Knockoff? of some ali seller, easily nicest bar tape ive used though)
Redshift grips (Knockoff of same ali seller, surprisingly great)

For now its just a road setup, because I don't actually have gravel where I live, the idea of this bike was to swap some wheels when I want to do some small trips to places with gravel. I run corsa pro 32mm tubeless on the 9velo wheels for now, and will probably keep doing that for a good while.

For me the geometry is very nice. Its definitely relaxed but as someoone with a short torso, a lot heavier than I ought to be and a quite bad back it makes it really comfortable. It's actually a stiffer than my Defy (non-SL frame), and handling is more stable. Keep in mind I'm just used to that bike, and a 20yo Trek OCLV carbon bike. This bike is obviously heavy (didnt weigh it yet), but for me that really doesn't matter much. I'm a heavy guy, and live in a flat area. I also have no intention of going fast. Fork will be chopped once I figure out the height (probably one spacer less)

No obvious flaws on the build. One small annoyance is quite large unpainted areas around some of the bolts, but I don't care too much. The varnish is also pretty rough around the BB area, but its hidden away and I have no issue with it.

How was your experience with TanTan?

2
I finally completed the build of my TanTan GR201
The complete build has been 8,670 kg (pedals included) and this is the whole setup:
- TanTan GR201 frame with seat post kit, integrated handlebar and thru axles. Chameleon white color.
- Easedon wheels 40mm front profile / 45 mm rear profile, 27mm internal width and Pillar Wing 20 spokes.
- Sram Red E1 levers and brakes
- Sram Force cranks with powermeter. Garbaruk 42T chainring
- Sram GX T-Type rear derailleur
- Sram X0 T-Type cassette and chain
- Pirelli Cinturato Gravel M 45mm front tire
- Pirelli Cinturato Gravel RC 45mm rear tire

I am very happy with the final weight, keeping in mind that due to area in which I live (Alpujarra in Andalucía, Spain) the terrain demands wide tyres and high knobs at least in the sides of  the tires.

The mullet development is also something that suits my area a bit, where there are very, very hard and very long climbs. Perhaps for those with more legs or those who live in a less mountainous area, they can opt for the new 13-speed Force XPLR that is supposed to be released in spring.

I can't train because I'm recovering from an operation, but today I went out for a ride with it and the truth is that the sensations are very good. The bike seems agile and is very, very comfortable.

What was your experience with Tan Tan? Thinking of pulling the trigger very soon

3
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.

I've seen a few people mention Peter, but I've never seen any way of contacting this mystical man.

Does anyone have any contact details?

4
Working on just this right now. Frame is primed and I'll start painting sometime this week/early next week. Yes, I'm painting the plastic cover. Masking around the latch on the cover and around the opening on the frame was a bit of a puzzle, but I managed in the end. I should have some photos of the finished product in a week or two

Cool, thanks!

I'd be really interested in hearing the process so far, or if you've got any photos of the masking.

Have you painted a frame before? If so how does this compare so far?

5
Cyclocross Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: BXT 135 build
« on: January 09, 2025, 03:57:40 PM »
I'm going to try mounting my Magene P505 stand alone PM on the RF25. I'll report back if it fits, though I'm not sure if the P505 PES will fit the T47 internal BB.

Is the P505 not compatible with T47 bottom brackets? I was hoping to use one for an upcoming build.

6
Why would you do it yourself? The paintjob of Tideace is good. And you pay around €150,-

I can't do it myself for that money

Yeah I could pay the extra for it to be done professionally, but I'd like to do it myself as part of a long term project. I've done a couple of old frames and it's something I'm interested in doing.

It might not be as good a job as what they'd do, but it'll be my own work which is cool, to me anyway. Others might disagree

7
Has anyone self painted this frame? If so did you paint the storage cover as well? Assume the cover is plastic?

Thinking of doing this myself and from the frames I've seen here those with the matching cover do look good.

8
Cyclocross Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Wheeltop GeX or Ltwoo eGR?
« on: January 02, 2025, 09:31:13 AM »
Oh, I forgot one. The LTWOO system does NOT communicate battery status correctly to a Garmin head unit. I get a 'critically low' alert every ride even when the battery is fine and reports fine in the app. Sadly to disable that alert, I'd have to disconnect them and I don't want that.

I haven't fully vetted the Wheeltop connection. Gear position indicator seems to work correctly but I'm not sure if the GarminIQ app is needed to enable that or not. Haven't seen an low battery alert yet.

Thanks for all the insights, really helpful!

Does the Wheel top groupset integrate with Garmin fully? Any issues with anything else when connected with a Garmin head unit?

9
Cyclocross Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Wheeltop EDS GeX
« on: January 01, 2025, 04:53:57 PM »
First proper ride with the new GeX today, 3 hours gravel and road.  It performed flawlessly, all gear changes were quick and seamless, braking was great, basically nothing to say but good things.  I swapped bikes with another rider who has Sram Force, he thought the GeX was just as good, pretty much the same.

My most pleasing feature was the shape of the shifters, much more comfortable than any of my previous Sram or Shimano, perhaps because I have smallish hands, I'm not sure, but I found them really comfortable.

I've done my build slowly, my first time fitting disc brakes and an electronic groupset, so I had a few learnings.  Some key points and info about my build:

  • I had to back off the K, lower limit screw in order to initialse my gear 1
  • I set up the gears, nicely indexed on the workstand, but during a short test ride I had to fine tune 2 or 3 gears, but this was really easy
  • The weight of the groupset was a tad lighter than my Sram Rival groupset
  • I'm running a Sram Eagle chain with a Spedao 11-50t 12 speed cassette, working well and very very light for the money
  • I did not need to bleed the brakes at all, had to shorten the hoses, insert new barbs, connect and go..... all good out of the box
  • The groupset comes with a bleed kit, nice touch
  • For shortening the brake hoses I bought a tool from Aliexpress, makes it so easy to cut and insert the barb, great investment
  • Total cost with brake hose tool, groupset and cassette ~$530 USD (I already had a chain

Next step is to see how easy it is to swap between wheels, one 12spd, one 11spd

Nice finishing touch to my Gravel bike:

  • Waltly Chinese Titanium frame
  • Wheeltop GeX groupset
  • Lun Grapid 650b wheelset
  • Spedao lightweight cassette
  • Uno Aliexpress lightweight bars and stem
  • 160mm Xcadey power crank
  • Oval chainring, Stone from Aliexpress
  • Kactus lightweight rotors
  • 2nd set of road wheels from Speeder Cycling
  • Branded stuff includes Sram chain, Pirelli Tyres, SMP saddle and XTR pedals (half price sale)

Could you post a link to the AliExpress tool you used to cut the brake hoses? Did you also get the replacement barbs from Ali?

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