Not to nit pick your riding style or anything... But you say you notice you stand up on the climbs more with the 036.. Am I mistaken when I think that standard mtb riding advice is that you should sit and spin on a full suss, and stand and mash on a hard tail..

I know I've read that more than once, that of course doesn't mean that it's true.. Just thought I'd throw it out there.

Yeah..  I just don"t feel confident about the bars and seat post yet. Nothing defnitive to base that opinion on, but I've read a few negative comments about the seat post now. Actually, your's being the worst of them Carbon_Dude.

I realize that not all vendors are selling the same posts and bars (or hell, are they?) but since it's quite difficult to know exactly what is what, and from what manufacturer it's from.. When I hear something bad about one of them, it just kinda registers in my head as being about all of them. I'm certain this will change with time.

In the meantime, I ordered a carbon Easton haven post which is more on the "all mountain" side of things so strength should definitely be there, but it weighs less than a high end Thomson so that's good enough for me. I did consider the EC90, but I went full haven cockpit (stem, carbon bars, carbon post).

When I decided to go the direct from China carbon route my only concern really was finding the best seller.. One with a reputation for a great product, fair pricing, fast shipping, and at least some amount of customer service.

When reading through the giant Chinese carbon 29er thread over at MTBR - It became pretty apparent that Xmiplay, HongFu bikes, and Carbonality had become the favorites thus far.

http://www.xmiplay.com/
http://www.hongfu-bikes.com/
http://www.carbonality.com/

I went with XmiPlay largely due to the fact that one of their employees, Peter, had been the most active in that thread.. They also use the higher quality carbon fiber and had the exact frame that I wanted. While HongFu also had the frame - I emailed both vendors simultaneously and Peter from Xmiplay was quicker to respond and also a bit friendlier and prices were about the same. Xmiplay it was.

The quick response time continued throughout my communications with Peter over the course of the next three weeks. And while I will say that there are few times that I had wished he was just a bit more thorough in answering my questions.. He was always quick to respond and always addressed my concerns and questions. Considering this isn't your local bike shop.. Overall I'd rate communications at about a 9 out of 10. I think it's one of the better customer service experiences to be had with these direct Chinese carbon manufacturers at this point.. but there is still some room for improvement.

As far as product quality and packaging (which seems of utmost importance when shipping carbon products across the world).. Well, I'll update when the frame gets here, which should be within a few short days.

So far.. I can highly recommend Peter and Xmiplay, if you're in the market for a chiner.

EDIT: So it's actually not "Xmiplay" as most of us have been calling it.. it's simply "Iplay". Xiamen is apparently the parent company and with the language barrier there has been a bit of confusion about that. Makes it a bit easier to associate them with their "IP" frames.

Hey Carbon_Dude..

I actually have a couple of questions if you don't mind..

1) I know you said you ran the full housing all the way through the frame.. I'd love to do that on my 057 but I've read about having to drill out a couple of spots on the frame to do so. I was wondering how you ran your rear der cable for your 056?

2) Wheels. Daammmnnnniitt!! You're making me seriously consider sending my charger expert wheelset back and hit up Light Bicycle for some carbon rims. Now, did you get them from Light Bicycle or Peter at xmiplay? I think he's offering them now as well?? Almost went that route but the price difference is rather high considering I payed $275 for the Chargers Experts. Too cheap for me to pass up on a respected wheelset that has 15mm front and 142 x 12mm rear. The carbons were going to be about $350 more than that depending on what hubs I went with. When you've had more time on them, I'd love to hear you thoughts on them.

3) So... You have both of the bikes I considered building.. Went with the hardtail.. I dunno.. I just like the idea of a simple carbon, 1x10, light weight, fast, fat tired mtb. I eventually plan on building a full suss as well.. Again, after you get a feel for the bike on some proper trails.. Would be awesome to hear your comparison of the two. Which you like better and why. I know they're different types of bikes but it would still be interesting.

For starters.. When ordering this frame, you're given the option of purchasing the headset with the frame which at first seems ideal.. There's the standard Neko headset that costs about $15, and some vendors give the option to upgrade to a FSA headset that goes for about $25.

Form my research, I recommend passing on both options and buying the Cane Creek 40 series headset that can be found here: http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=39924  and here:  http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=39947

In case those link destinations change.. That's the "Cane Creek 40-Series IS42 Integrated Upper" and the "Cane Creek 40 IS52 1.5" Integrated Lower As"

It seems that some guys are running into some issues with both the Neko and FSA headsets, in that special shims may be required to make the headset fit properly. Now perhaps this problem only affects a small portion of users.. really not sure.. but either way - both of the cheaper headset options seem to wear out prematurely.

Of course, make your own decision, but personally, I read too many negative things about the headsets to want to put it on my super pimp carbon frame.. The Cane Creek for me 100%.

Hi all...

In my quest to build myself the ultimate carbon hardtail mountain bike on a budget, I found myself drowning in information overload! Mainly due to the fact that pretty much all of the information about these direct from China carbon frames is all buried in one huge thread over at mtbr.com. If you're here, I assume you're probably familiar with the threads I'm referring to, but I'll link 'em anyways for reference:

Here's the 4 year old, over 200 hundred page long hardtail thread: http://forums.mtbr.com/29er-bikes/chinese-carbon-29er-640919.html
And here's the quickly growing dual-suspension Chinese carbon thread: http://forums.mtbr.com/29er-bikes/dual-suspension-chinese-carbon-29er-737952.html

It seems pretty apparent that there's enough demand for these products that discussion shouldn't be relegated to a handful of threads. So.. The birth of Chinertown.com came about. Hopefully, it can grow into an organized and plentiful information resource for anyone that may be interested in building a top of the line carbon bike... without the big name brand price tag.

So, welcome to Chinertown!

Thanks for reading,
Sitar_Ned