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29+ & 27+ / Re: Looking to do a 29" trail build... absolutely no idea where to begin
« on: May 12, 2023, 09:23:28 AM »
Hardtail ~19 lbs, Full Suspension ~ 23 lbs. At least that was my experience several years ago.
Chinese Carbon MTB Forums
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E-Bike Frames & Builds / Re: Possible 30% Income Tax Credit For The Purchase Of An Electric Bike (U.S.)
« on: May 16, 2021, 04:28:51 PM »
It would be interesting if Congress passed an eBike incentive.
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After The Ride / Re: So I went ahead and purchased a chinese venge
« on: May 16, 2021, 04:27:40 PM »
Awesome looking road bike!
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After The Ride / Re: Where is everyone from?
« on: May 16, 2021, 04:27:02 PM »
Update, my new location is Daytona Beach, FL.
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After The Ride / Re: Before the ride...
« on: May 16, 2021, 04:26:07 PM »
I think it wasn't getting much traffic so it was combined into one of the other forums.
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After The Ride / Re: What's new?
« on: May 16, 2021, 04:24:20 PM »
Checking in again.
BREAKING NEWS:
We moved from Atlanta to Daytona Beach Florida. Trails around here are very different but fun, you just ride a little faster, or slower at times. More sand, lots of roots, and hot weather, but I hope to get out and ride some of the larger, more popular trails in Florida, like Alafia and Santos. Also, it's a blast riding my bike on the beach. Imagine it's low tide, the sand is hard packed, the wind is to your back, and you are just speeding along at 24mph on a cool Spring day. My local trail is Spruce Creek Preserve. Good trail for intermediate riders.
Here is a recent pic: https://photos.app.goo.gl/i8Pqri5xFmQ6FugGA
Back in September of last year, I accepted a new position at a company called Sun Nuclear, we sold our house, built a new house in Daytona Beach, and officially changed lattidude in January. It's been a long time since I checked in at Chinertown, so I thought I'd post an update because the only constant in life is change.
BREAKING NEWS:
We moved from Atlanta to Daytona Beach Florida. Trails around here are very different but fun, you just ride a little faster, or slower at times. More sand, lots of roots, and hot weather, but I hope to get out and ride some of the larger, more popular trails in Florida, like Alafia and Santos. Also, it's a blast riding my bike on the beach. Imagine it's low tide, the sand is hard packed, the wind is to your back, and you are just speeding along at 24mph on a cool Spring day. My local trail is Spruce Creek Preserve. Good trail for intermediate riders.
Here is a recent pic: https://photos.app.goo.gl/i8Pqri5xFmQ6FugGA
Back in September of last year, I accepted a new position at a company called Sun Nuclear, we sold our house, built a new house in Daytona Beach, and officially changed lattidude in January. It's been a long time since I checked in at Chinertown, so I thought I'd post an update because the only constant in life is change.
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Cyclocross Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Lightcarbon addict best carbon gravel frames
« on: October 02, 2020, 04:43:13 PM »
I'm also thinking about building a flat bar gravel bike. I already have a Santa Cruz Stigmada but I've never been a fan of drop bars.
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29+ & 27+ / Re: 29+ hard tail boost frame?
« on: May 26, 2020, 11:42:03 AM »
Even though I no longer have either of the full Chinese bikes I've built in the past, I am still a fan of the carbon frames that are available and such a low price. Hopefully you find a Chiner 29+ frame from a trusted vendor. Have you looked around on eBay?
These days I'm so happy with my Stache 9.8, that I got a couple years ago, I've really not given much thought to building anything new. I highly recommend the branded Trek Stache though. You might want to use SearchTempest to look around the entire US for a used bike someone might be selling. Similarly, check the Trek Stache Facebook page, I occasionally see various model Staches being advertised there with sellers willing to ship to your location. Both the 9.8 and 9.7 used a carbon frame.
The only thing I've even upgraded on my Stache 9.8 were the brakes, moving to XT's, just my personal preference. The Stache is probably the funnest bike I've ever ridden, with my Stumpjumper 29er/27.5 being a close second but with a much different feel since it's a FS bike.
These days I'm so happy with my Stache 9.8, that I got a couple years ago, I've really not given much thought to building anything new. I highly recommend the branded Trek Stache though. You might want to use SearchTempest to look around the entire US for a used bike someone might be selling. Similarly, check the Trek Stache Facebook page, I occasionally see various model Staches being advertised there with sellers willing to ship to your location. Both the 9.8 and 9.7 used a carbon frame.
The only thing I've even upgraded on my Stache 9.8 were the brakes, moving to XT's, just my personal preference. The Stache is probably the funnest bike I've ever ridden, with my Stumpjumper 29er/27.5 being a close second but with a much different feel since it's a FS bike.
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Component Deals & Selection / Re: SRAM AXS - Ebay Seller Italy
« on: May 21, 2020, 08:26:26 PM »How do you like it so far?
It's good. Extremely easy to install and setup. Shifting is amazingly smooth, even with a used GX Eagle cassette. The only thing that took time to adjust to is the controller, for the first few rides my brain had to think a second as to which part of the shifter, top or bottom, to get the bike to shift in the direction I wanted. You can even swap which button does what, but I just left it at the default configuration. I've got about 6 rides on the bike and shifting is becoming second nature, and very fast and smooth. I find myself shifting just for the fun if it sometimes.
However, given the choice between an AXS XO1 Eagle Groupset, or for about half the price, just installing a XX1 Eagle mechanical groupset, the XX1 Eagle is probably the smarter choice. The AXS group is new and different, and also brings along some bragging rights, so for now it's cool. I'm sure in the future there will be GX AXS and the price will start to fall on all the AXS choices, but until then I will continue to enjoy my "robo shifting" as I like to call it.
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29+ & 27+ / Re: 29+ hard tail boost frame?
« on: May 03, 2020, 06:48:50 PM »
I have a Trek Stache 29+, love the bike. My bike is a Large, I'm 6'-0" about 220lbs so a bit of a Clydesdale myself. There are some Chiner knock off frames out there that are a copy of the Stache, maybe look at one of those.
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29+ & 27+ / Re: Motobecane Hal Boost CF Frame
« on: May 03, 2020, 06:45:49 PM »
Bikesdirect.com usually has some pretty good deals. I see their Motobecane bikes out on the trails once in a while. Unfortunately, you can't test ride the bike before you buy it.
Also, think about the warranty, their website says 30 days, then they refer you to the manufacturer for any other warranty issues. They say nothing at all about the bike having a frame warranty. Most Chinese frame sellers claim they offer a 2 year warranty but it can be difficult to get them to cover a problem with the frame.
So comparing Motobecane to a bike you build yourself with components you select yourself and a Chiner frame that you can have custom painted to the color of your choice, price might be a little more expensive from bikesdirect.com and warranty is probably similar all things considered.
The bike you linked to is at least a modern carbon frame design with the inverted shock, GX Eagle 1x12, a Pike fork. I do much prefer XT brakes over Shimano, the KS Stealth dropper is fairly low end. I do like the threaded bottom bracket though.
I just had a friend purchase a Canyon Spectral CF 7.0, pretty nice bike with a better warranty & return policy, and I've heard really good customer service, but cost is a bit more. I saw 4 Canyon bikes on my local trail in one day so they are also pretty popular.
Also, think about the warranty, their website says 30 days, then they refer you to the manufacturer for any other warranty issues. They say nothing at all about the bike having a frame warranty. Most Chinese frame sellers claim they offer a 2 year warranty but it can be difficult to get them to cover a problem with the frame.
So comparing Motobecane to a bike you build yourself with components you select yourself and a Chiner frame that you can have custom painted to the color of your choice, price might be a little more expensive from bikesdirect.com and warranty is probably similar all things considered.
The bike you linked to is at least a modern carbon frame design with the inverted shock, GX Eagle 1x12, a Pike fork. I do much prefer XT brakes over Shimano, the KS Stealth dropper is fairly low end. I do like the threaded bottom bracket though.
I just had a friend purchase a Canyon Spectral CF 7.0, pretty nice bike with a better warranty & return policy, and I've heard really good customer service, but cost is a bit more. I saw 4 Canyon bikes on my local trail in one day so they are also pretty popular.
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Component Deals & Selection / SRAM AXS - Ebay Seller Italy
« on: May 03, 2020, 06:15:12 PM »
A few weeks ago I purchased the SRAM AXS Upgrade Kit from an eBay seller in Italy. At the time it seemed like a bit of a gamble but with eBay buyer protection I went ahead and placed the order. Including shipping and tax to the US, total was $798, about $270 less than retail + tax. Item shipped fast and arrived in 4 days. They've raised the price by $40 but still not a bad deal for anyone who wants to upgrade to the ultimate in drivetrain technology.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sram-XX1-Eagle-AXS-1x12s-Upgrade-Kit/223886351391?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D226424%26meid%3D42ea9a9dab604d2dbc9efde5f1e1900b%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dsb%26sd%3D222860058216%26itm%3D223886351391%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv5PairwiseWebWithBBEV2bDemotion%26brand%3DSRAM&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sram-XX1-Eagle-AXS-1x12s-Upgrade-Kit/223886351391?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D226424%26meid%3D42ea9a9dab604d2dbc9efde5f1e1900b%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dsb%26sd%3D222860058216%26itm%3D223886351391%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv5PairwiseWebWithBBEV2bDemotion%26brand%3DSRAM&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
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After The Ride / Re: What's new?
« on: April 22, 2020, 10:30:59 AM »
Not much new here in GA, trails have remained open so I've been riding 3-4 times per week. In week 6 of working from home, just hoping my company doesn't start doing massive layoffs as our factory in Mexico has been closed for 4 weeks now, not set to reopen until May 17th.
Meanwhile, I've been doing some upgrades on my bikes:
Trek Stache 9.8
New 800mm RaceFace Next R bars - $100 on eBay
New Bike Yoke Dropper Post - $350 on eBay
PNW Loam Dropper Remote Lever $60
The wider bars are really nice, stock was LinePro 750mm wide bars, while nice just were starting to feel narrow compared to the bars on my SJ.
For the dropper, the stock Line Drop post started to become a bit slow to return, particularly compared to my SJ post. The Bike Yoke post is of the highest quality dropper I've ever seen. So smooth and the return is solid, and the release using the lever is nearly effortless.
Stumpjumper
Currently running my Chinese 27.5" x 40mm wheel set on Maxxis Recon+ 2.8" tires, DT Swiss 240 hubs w/52T upgrade
In addition I just ordered the SRAM AXS Upgrade kit (from Italy) ~$800, keeping my fingers crossed this all works out. I have a neighbor that has the AXS system on his Canyon FS bike, it's so amazing. When I found it for a 20% discount on eBay, I decided to pull the trigger.
The local bike shops around here are selling out of bikes, with the virus, everyone is coming into the shop and buying bikes like they never have before. They are not offering ANY discounts on bikes right now, they are running out of stock on many sizes of many models. Repairs are huge right now too, the mechanic is working hard to keep up. Never thought the virus would be so good for the bike business.
Meanwhile, I've been doing some upgrades on my bikes:
Trek Stache 9.8
New 800mm RaceFace Next R bars - $100 on eBay
New Bike Yoke Dropper Post - $350 on eBay
PNW Loam Dropper Remote Lever $60
The wider bars are really nice, stock was LinePro 750mm wide bars, while nice just were starting to feel narrow compared to the bars on my SJ.
For the dropper, the stock Line Drop post started to become a bit slow to return, particularly compared to my SJ post. The Bike Yoke post is of the highest quality dropper I've ever seen. So smooth and the return is solid, and the release using the lever is nearly effortless.
Stumpjumper
Currently running my Chinese 27.5" x 40mm wheel set on Maxxis Recon+ 2.8" tires, DT Swiss 240 hubs w/52T upgrade
In addition I just ordered the SRAM AXS Upgrade kit (from Italy) ~$800, keeping my fingers crossed this all works out. I have a neighbor that has the AXS system on his Canyon FS bike, it's so amazing. When I found it for a 20% discount on eBay, I decided to pull the trigger.
The local bike shops around here are selling out of bikes, with the virus, everyone is coming into the shop and buying bikes like they never have before. They are not offering ANY discounts on bikes right now, they are running out of stock on many sizes of many models. Repairs are huge right now too, the mechanic is working hard to keep up. Never thought the virus would be so good for the bike business.
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29er / Re: Chinese Carbon 29er Pic Thread.
« on: April 22, 2020, 10:15:12 AM »
I have a neighbor possibly looking to build his son a new bike, please post some pictures of your recent builds.
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After The Ride / Re: What's new?
« on: March 20, 2020, 06:36:01 AM »
I hope we don't go on a total lock down in my area, getting out and going for a trail ride is the only thing keeping me sane right now.