Most of the turnaround was on my end as I wasn't sure what I was going to do. Once the order was placed, it was still about 2 months until the frame was ready though.

As far as going down this road again, I'll have to wait and see how this frame works out. The gravel frame Waltly made for me has been great so it could be a design issue with the frame that cracked. The small changes I've made to this one will hopefully strengthen up the area that cracked on the first frame.

Great looking option but be aware that the rear brake mount is the same as the M016 frame so some calipers will not work. For Shimano, SLX and up will be fine but some of the cheaper ones, M6000 in particular, have a bleed port casting that hits the frame.

I'd opt for the 8120 crankset with the 55mm chainline if you can. I don't see the 52mm version fitting with a 32t ring.

I found a deal on a SLX 7130 crankset with the 56.5 mm chainline that I'm going to try once I swap some parts around between bikes. I'll post up the results once it's installed, it will be another month or so though.

Awesome for saving the frame. For future repairs, here's a few unsolicited tips.

1) You mentioned this already but do multiple layers. In this instance, you'd want to start with maybe a strip that is 1 inch wide and do one wrap with a bit of overlap. Second strip should be roughly 2 inches wide and the overlap of this layer should not sit on top of the overlap of the first layer. Keep the strips growing in width until you have plenty of coverage over the entire repair. This makes the cracked area have the most layers for strength and each additional layer helps transfer the loads to the good material.

2) If using a weave, change the direction of the weave between layers. Carbon weave is strongest in certain directions so alternating the layup can help even out the stresses put on the repair.

3) Always make sure the carbon weave is fully saturated with epoxy before laying it on the frame unless you are going to vacuum bag the repair. If not, you could end up with some dry spots in the carbon repair. A good portion of the strength comes from the epoxy so it's critical that you have proper saturation.

4) Before cutting your sheets to the size you need, leave them a bit big and lay them flat inside a plastic bag, I like to use plastic zip-loc bags but if you have to do larger pieces, any plastic can work. Pour a bit of epoxy on the carbon and close up the bag with little to no air in it. Use a squeegee to force the epoxy into the carbon fabric. This will make it "pre-preg" carbon fabric. Before removing the carbon, layout the size of the piece you need with a marker on the bag and cut it out with scissors. When you're ready to do the layup, you can carefully remove the two pieces of plastic off of your cut piece.

5) If you ever read an article from an expert that says to start with large patches and go smaller with each layer, you should REALLY question there credentials.

Either way, great job and this should work perfectly for an indoor bike.

 

The MooseKnuckle is a super cool looking bike. When I did the original frame in June of 2020, I was torn between the MooseKnuckle design or the Kona Honzo Ti design. I ultimately went with the straight lines of the Honzo as it gives me just a bit more stand over clearance.

They did recommend the single tube but it just didn't look right to me. This time around, they didn't mention it at all. Probably since I asked to make the same frame with just a couple of tweaks.

As for the discount, it was roughly $200 or so. Doesn't seem like much but they were willing to fix my current frame if I sent it to them. I'm assuming that discount is reflective of what time they would have into the repair. Better than nothing I guess.

How is your frame working out?

Little warning about this lightweight carbon saddle I bought... Rail snapped on the first ride. I am 64kg and it was a ride on asphalt, so nothing too rough....

This looks more like a manufacturing defect to me. Overtightening the clamp bolts shouldn't make it break where the rail attaches to the nose of the saddle. Any chance it's new enough that you can put in a claim with the vendor and AliExpress? Between the wife, kids, and myself, we have a few generic carbon saddles in the fleet, all have been fine.

I've finished building up the frame and hope to bring it out on it's first ride this weekend when things dry out a bit. There's two things that I wish I had known before ordering this frame.

1) the frame requires a crank with a 55mm chainline and is not advertised as such. This would be fine if I was purchasing a new crankset. Since I was using an existing SRAM X0 GXP crank, I had to get a new chainring with a 0mm offset to get the required chainline. Even with the 0mm offset ring, the clearance is tight with a 32t ring. More on that in item 2. For my daughters frame, I was planning on using an existing 3x SRAM Stylo GXP crank. It's a 1x drivetrain so I was able to put the ring in the large ring position which is roughly a 56mm or 57mm chainline. This set up has plenty of chain ring to frame clearance with a 32t ring. There was no chain jumping while back-pedaling in the large cog so all appears to be good.

2) a 32 tooth ring is probably the max that will fit comfortably. If you don't plan on going bigger than a 32t ring, or a 30t oval ring, you should be fine. I don't have an oval 30t to test fit so I can't say if that would fit or not. This is more of an issue for me as I'm trying to run the Philcentric EBB. A 0mm offset 32t ring still will not work when the EBB is in the aft most position. This will limit the amount of adjustment I have when getting the chain tension correct. Everything went together fine with the 32t / 18t gearing and the EBB has the spindle in the lower forward position. I could not get the 32t / 20t combo to fit but that is partially due to the limited adjustability of the Philcentric. This combo could work with a half link but then finding a 0mm offset ring that doesn't have a narrow wide tooth profile would be difficult.

I will say that while I was trying to work all of this out, the folks at SP-Cycle have been very responsive to my concerns on the AliExpress chat. I always expect the worst when dealing with some of these direct vendors so any type of help is appreciated. This frame definitely isn't for everyone as it does have some concerns, but those concerns will not apply to everyone. If the ride is as expected, I'll probably be ordering another one to build up for my brother. That will have gears and a new drivetrain so we purchase the correct parts in the beginning to save some hassles.

My other option would be a chain tensioner where a rear derailleur might go.

I think that would be a safer option with this frame as a single speed.