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Topics - Carbon_Dude

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76
These tires are very different from the Schwalbe or Continental tires I normally run.  First off, they are a bit heavier at about 800g per tire.  For comparison, I've used Racing Ralphs that are ~550g per tire, nearly 2/3 the weight.  However, the RR are super thin and will puncture easliy.  I had lots of problems with the RR losing air, even with Stan's Sealant.

The Geax Saguaro TNT tires are meaty, which makes them heavier but more puncture resistant.  In a tire, I look for a balance between low weight and reliability or puncture resistance and good wear performance.  It's hard to get a good balance, in the past I've been really happy with Continental X-King 2.4" Folding tires.  With the Continental, you need to be careful as they have a wire bead version that is not as nice as the folding tire and it's not clear on most websites which version of the X-king tire you will get.

The Geax Saguaro TNT tires are very high quality, they mounted tubeless on my XMIplay Carbon rims very easily.  I used one layer of Stan's Rim Tape, mounted the tire, added some Orange Sealant, and inflated them with no cursing :).  Very happy when you don't need to fight with tires.  In comparison, the Schwalbe RR required much more effort with getting them to seal as there were several sidewall pin holes, and I needed to shake and shake the wheel (as per Stan's Instructions) to get the sealant to cover the side walls.  Some people report that they have the sealant weep through the sidewalls on the RR although I never had that problem.

Trail conditions for these tires would be on the hardpack side, I have not ridden them in muddy conditions so I don't know how well they shed mud.  Looking at the tread pattern I'd say they would do okay but they would not do as well as say a Kenda Nevagal.

When riding, these tires provide a very soft almost plush ride, even when aired up to as much as 38psi.  They have a rating of 120tpi (threads per inch) which makes the tire very pliable.  On my first ride I could feel lots of movement in the tire, so if you are the type that likes a really hard tire, this is not the tire for you.  I mounted these on my full suspension IP-036, but I would think they would work better on a hardtail, providing that nice bit of compliance to the back wheel.

Overall I'm pleased with these tires, after 30+ miles they still have the nubs on them so hopefully the compound has good wear characteristics.  So there you have it, they are a bit on the heavier side but have lots of other good qualities.


77
Since I have both bikes, I thought I'd start up a thread comparing the two bikes.  I will include component lists, costs, and weight.




First up, IP-057 Hardtail, weight as built 19.5 lbs (8.85kg):


Specs:


Riding Impressions:
The IP-057 is a great bike, with my setup I've created a very comfortable riding position with the WTB saddle and riser bars.  I built this hardtail because I wanted a 29er and I wanted something simple.  Last April when I put this bike together, the IP057 frame was still new and I needed to wait approx 30 days for delivery.  I'm glad I did.  The carbon does a really good job of damping small vibrations.  It just doesn't beat me up like an Aluminum frame bike does.  Even though you don't feel any flex with this frame, the carbon will give somewhat to help soak up small bumps.

My favorite part of riding this bike is the way it climbs, so efficiently that you just feel as though you are using 30% less energy to make it up a long climb, or you can get up the hill that much faster if I put in the same effort as I did on one of my old bikes.  The bike is also good downhill, maintaining good control over rough sections. 

So, to sum it up, the IP-057 is a comfortable, light, and efficient ride.


Next up, IP-036 Full Suspension, weight as built 24 lbs (10.9kg)


Specs:


Riding Impressions:
When I built my IP-057 last year I had no plans of building a carbon FS 29er but here I am with two bikes now.  One of the reasons I built this bike was that I liked the FS on the 26" Epic that I had, but the bike just felt too small after riding a 29er.  The Epic was a 2004 but I had put in many upgrades.  I made the decision to sell the Epic and my Trek 69er to help fund a new Carbon FS 29er.  Even after building the IP-057, I had not totally made up my mind to build another Chiner.  I did lots of demo rides from Intense, Giant, Scott, and Specialized.  All the big brands have their strong points but their main weak point was price.  I just couldn't make myself pay 2X for a bike with lesser components.  I was also lucky enough to test ride a locally branded IP-036 at a nearby MTB race.  The bike felt good, certainly good enough for half the price.

So in February I decided to start building a IP-036.  I knew I wanted to go again with XT brakes and an XX1 drivetrain.  However, I needed to choose wheels, fork, and a rear shock.  I found deals on a Fox CTD fork and Fox CTD rear shock, both with remote lockouts.  When I rode the Scott Spark 920 it had dual lockouts and I thought, hey might as well do that setup.

Today I took the IP-036 on it's third ride.  It takes at least a couple rides to get a good feel for a new bike and make any adjustments needed to get everything just right.  After this ride, I can say for sure that I am glad I now have a FS bike to go along with my hardtail.

The great thing about a FS 29er is that it makes every root, rock and bump feel much smaller.  The suspension does a really good job of soaking up the rough trail and giving the rider a much more comfortable ride.  Being FS, the bike is also very fast and controllable downhill.  I hit a higher speed this ride than I usually do on the same downhill on my IP-057 with less effort.  I can probably eek out another 2-3 mph top speed on the IP-036.  For this build, I went with a 90mm stem and flat bars, this gives the IP-036 a different feel, a 20mm shorter stem is making the bike feel smaller even though the wheelbase is longer.

If I were to go on an all day ride I would take the IP-036 for its comfort and the ability for it to soak up the trail, if I wanted to go on a short ride and just run a 1-2 hr long sprint, I'd chose the IP-057 for it's great climbing ability.

78
29er / Carbon Frame Summary Blog Page
« on: April 19, 2014, 01:44:56 PM »
This is a good reference page for someone looking to decide which model Chiner frame they want.  He has listed several hardtail frames, no FS frames as yet but he just started the blog page a short time ago.

http://bikingtoplay.blogspot.com/2013/11/chinese-carbon-bike-frames.html

79
29er / Other IP-036 Chiner FS Carbon Builds
« on: April 19, 2014, 01:41:41 PM »
Here is a link to another MTBR member's IP-036 build.  He did a nice job with his blog and he continues to update it as he does some upgrades and he also talks about an epic 7 day ride he took on his bike.

http://steveboehm.com/wordpress/

80
Component Deals & Selection / SRAM XX1 1x11 Discussion
« on: April 15, 2014, 08:06:01 PM »
Huge fan of XX1 here.  For years all I rode was Shimano XT/XTR drivetrain components.  Never thought much of SRAM prior to moving to the new 1x11.  I was happy with my 3x9 setups until I determined I only really needed one chainring for XC riding in my area.  Then XX1 came along and I was totally sold on it when I saw it at the Southern Bike Expo.

The wide/narrow tooth, no drop chain ring, the 11-42 rear cassette mostly machined from a billet of steel, the true parallelagram rear derailleur, and choice of grip shifter or trigger shifter impressed me they way they all worked together.

Who else likes their XX1 setup?


81
26er & 27.5 (650b) / XMIplay 650B Carbon Hard Tail
« on: April 15, 2014, 06:11:28 PM »
If I were to build a 650b, it would be the XMIplay IP-136.  I rode a Giant XTC 27.5 a few weeks back and I think 26er's are pretty much old school now.  I just finished a FS 29er but maybe next year I will think about building something smaller.  This frame looks to be a smaller version of their IP-057 which has been a popular seller.

http://www.xmiplay.com/ProductDetails1582


82
Component Deals & Selection / Carbon Parts from XMIplay
« on: April 13, 2014, 03:32:50 PM »
For my IP-057 build, I ordered the following parts from Peter@XMIplay:

1)  Riser Bars
2)  Carbon Spacers for the steer tube.
3)  Neco Headset
4)  Spare Hanger

All the items arrived as ordered, boxed with the frame in bubble wrap.  No damage to any of the parts.  The only problem I had with any of the parts from XMIplay was with the seat post.  On the first ride the post developed a crack.  I checked the torque, it was set at 5N-m so I confirmed I didn't over-torque the clamp.  I contacted Peter, sent a picture, and he gave the choice of either a replacement post or a refund on the part.  I chose the refund and ordered a Easton EC90 post since I didn't want to wait for another post to ship from China.

Peter was very nice about with helping me, he said that they did get a few that were defective and have since changed vendors of that seat post.  I was slightly disappointed but hey, anyone can have a quality issue with their products, what was most important to me was how quickly and easily the problem was resolved.

In the meantime, I have about 700 miles on the frame and other parts without a single issue.  All the parts still look great after almost a year of riding 20-30 miles per week.  No regrets.  As a matter of fact I ordered more parts from Peter with my IP-036 frame that I just completed.  All parts look good and all seem to be great quality.

83
29er / IP-036 29er Full Suspension Frame - YouTube Video
« on: April 13, 2014, 09:14:08 AM »
One of the Chinese Trading Companies posted a decent video showing the IP-036 frame:


84
29er / IP-036 29er Full Suspension Carbon Frame Build
« on: April 12, 2014, 09:28:16 PM »
General build order that I did:

Prior to build, I found I should have disassembled frame and greased all pivots.  Go ahead and do this before you get started.

1) Install headset, fork, spacers, stem.
    1a) Size fork and cut steer tube
2) Install bottom bracket
3) Install crank
4) Install bars
5) Install rear brake
    5a) Mount brake caliper on frame
    5b) Mount lever on bars
    5c) Route brake line through frame (IP-036)
    5d) Shorten brake line as needed (use no-bleed method)
6) Install front brake
    6a) Mount brake caliper on fork
    6b) Mount lever on bars
    6c) Shorten brake line as needed (use no-bleed method)
7) Install rear derailleur.
    7a) Mount rear derailleur to hanger
    7b) Mount shifter to bars
    7c) Run cable (IP-036 thru frame)
    7d) Cut cable housing as needed, for the IP-036 I ran the cable with housing through the frame.
    7e) Connect cable to rear derailleur (don't cut cable yet)
8 ) Install front derailleur (not needed for 1x setups)
    8a) Mount front derailleur
    8b) Mount shifter to bars
    8c) Run cable
    8d) Cut cable housing as needed. Install ferrules at each end of cable housing.
    8e) Connect cable to front derailleur (don't cut cable yet).
9) Install seatpost & seat
10) Install rear shock
11) Mount tires on wheels
      11a) Install disc brake rotors
      11b) If needed install free hub (for XX1 a XD hub is needed)
      11c) Install rear cassette
      11d) If tubeless, apply rim tape & sealant
12  Install wheels front & rear.
13) Install chain
      13a) Shorten chain as needed, per mfr instructions
14) Install pedals
15) Install remote rear shock lockout
16) Install remote fork lockout
17) Install Fox cable splitter
18) Adjust front and rear derailleurs for proper shifting, cut cables to final length.
19) Check and torque all bolts
20) Check brakes, go for a test ride

Okay, bike is finished, just took it for a quick test ride around the neighborhood.

Brakes:
I was able to shorten the rear without needing to bleed the brake line, not so lucky on the front, some air got in the line, will bleed the brake tomorrow. Still these XT brakes are amazing, noise free with great stopping power.

Shock Remote Cable Routing:
Ended up putting the hard bend in the cable so the shock body is installed facing forward. Things are working fine but I don't like the bend in the cable. Oh well, it's not like I paid $3k for the frame.

Rear Derailleur Cable:
This took much longer than expected. I originally cut the cable housings and rand bare cable through the frame. As I was setting up the rear derailleur I kept having problems with cable tension, then I noticed the ferrules slipped into the frame (I though son-of-a-b8$ch!). I pulled the housings but had two ferrules stuck inside the frame. Luckily I was able to feed a long piece of housing fully into the frame and knock out the ferrules. At this point I determined I could run a full housing all the way from the shifter, through the frame, and to the rear derailleur. This worked great, XX1 shifts flawlessly.

Fox Shock/Fork Cable Splitter:
This took much longer than expected but got them working nicely. One lever sets Climb-Trail-Decend for both the fork and the shock at the same time. Works really nice, just took a bit of time to figure out cable lengths, and such. Fox has a really good installation guide online.

Wheels:
Wheels look amazing, so happy I decided to go carbon. The XD hub was preinstalled from XMIplay so that saved my from having to purchase an XD hub and throw the standard hub away. The 3K gloss finish on the wheels is flawless also. Applied a layer of Stans rim tape, mounted the Geax tires, added some Orange Sealant and the tires aired right up very easily. Just a test ride but the feel really smooth and stiff.

Issues:
1) Issue with shock corrected with 220psi to set sag properly.
2) Issue with a creak in the lower pivot resolved with some grease.  Recommend disassembling all pivot points and applying grease prior to assembly of components.

First Ride Feedback:
1)  Tires have a lot of flex, guess it's the 120tpi casing.  The GEAX Sugauro tires are soft and grippy.
2)  Bike rolls smoothly, suspension works very well.  Bike is fast and smooth on downhill section.
3)  Bike seems to need a bit more effort to climb than my IP-056.
4)  Lockout works well, CTD lever works as advertised.
5)  XX1 rear derailleur gave me some trouble.  The chain dropped off the 42T cog on me twice, came home and adjusted the High Limit Screw.  I think that issue is resolved.

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