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Component Deals & Selection / Who's Bought One of the Berk/Gelu-Style Full Carbon Saddles?
« Last post by Sander2177 on Today at 03:17:17 AM »
Hey everyone,



Just wondering if anyone here has picked up one of the full carbon saddles that are basically Berk or Gelu-style copies?

I just ordered a Kocvelo saddle that looks like a clone of the Berk Lupina Monocoque Open. It’s listed at around 90g ±10g, compared to the Berk’s 105g — and the price difference is wild. I paid just £43.45 GBP, while a real Berk is an eye-watering €622!

I’ve actually owned a couple of real Berks in the past and loved the ride feel, but both cracked and had to be warrantied, even though I’m well under the 100kg weight limit. That pushed me to give one of these budget options a shot.

Curious if anyone else here has tried these copies versions and how they compare in comfort, quality, and long-term durability to the originals.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
32
Cyclocross Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Velobuild AERO GRAV Frame
« Last post by Anders on Today at 03:13:51 AM »
Hi, first time poster on the forum here. I have been reading here for a while and got tempted to make a gravel bike. Parts and frame are ordered, so a good day to sign up here and get involved. I’m a 193cm tall and around 100 kilo, I have been riding mountain bikes for a few years but need something a bit more speedy. This build will be used for commutes on tarmac and gravel.
This is my first build, so I might have done some dumb choices or forgotten something important, but hopefully my

Aero Grav XL, +2 cm setback, 12cm stem (none integrated), 440mm  bar.
Senicx PR3 Gravel Bike Crankset 40T chainring 175mm Crank 10/11S Speed 24MM
Senicx T47-85.5-24R-Ceramic botom bracket
Wheeltop EDS GEX groupset
YBN 12 speed chain
Elitewheels Gravel wheels
Shimano RT86 160mm am 180mm rotors
ZTTO HG 12s 11-50 ULT SR cassette
Maxis Rambler 45C tires

Internal frame housing damper
Bartape
Carbon paste
Extra spacers for stem.
Cables and cable hosing
Grease
Tubeless valves and sealant
Pedals
Saddle

I would like to have mudguards but unsure what to get. If anyone have a advice or se anything wrong missing in the build, then please let me know
33
Component Deals & Selection / Re: Knockoffs of Ridenow tubes?
« Last post by Serge_K on Today at 02:14:32 AM »
i've handled a lot of chinese TPU tubes, starting with RideNow ones. if you ignore the colour, they all feel the same to me, it's just plastic. I shop for feature, not brand. If you're a bike store, i understand you'd want to have consistency. But i solve for price, given a feature set (valve length, and to a lesser extent, a reinforced stem area as i've had friends complain about failure there), size, weight. It's also easy to break plastic valves, but they're lighter, and if installed and handled properly, plastic valves are fine ime.
China is known to iterate products very quickly without usual western product cycle releases, so you can have fakes, unbranded clones, and authentic products with different features all simultaneously, which is one reason i dont solve for brand for these things. If even Trek is unable to tell you whether the frame in your hands is authentic or not, i wouldnt expect to know if a tpu tube is "really" authentic, whatever that may mean.

What i do know is it makes absolutely no sense spending 30 eur on a tpu tube.
34
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: TanTan TT-X38 Build
« Last post by ejump0 on Today at 02:05:39 AM »
Quote from: Sander2177 on June 05, 2025, 07:50:35 AM
No exposed. Same as my X68 had paint over spray etc. I celaned it up with some acetone and used some 320 grit sandpaper to tidy up the areas

i think i need to find thruaxle with solid part lenght 109-110mm (the left dropout seemed to be around 9.6mm thickness

try here > https://a.aliexpress.com/_oELotDi
thats where i got my L121-TL12 (solid part 109mm before thread starts. i do have a lil thread protrusions like 2mm, but i dont care as long wheel is now secured)
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Component Deals & Selection / Re: Shimano di2 groupsets from aliexpress
« Last post by Serge_K on Today at 02:05:10 AM »
Quote from: Bassa80 on June 05, 2025, 03:05:19 PM
I bought the 105 di2 groupset (electronic parts only, without crankset, chain, cassette) from Yiwu Donglue Bicycle Parts for 550 EUR (after coupons) including tax and shipping (to Germany). I received genuine Shimano parts, everything works well including updating the parts to the newest software version. I completed it with a Magene PES 515 crankset, ZTTO full cnc cassette and KMC x12 waxed chain.
This setup was just over 900 EUR and for me is currently the best value for money I could get.

That's very interesting, as it becomes an apples to apples comparison with ltwoo er9. So, for 100-200 eur extra, you go from ltwoo to shimano, without having to buy overpriced / heavy cranksets, cassettes, rotors and so on. I assume it included the calipers?
ltwoo has flexibility shimano doesnt have, like changing the number of gears, but shimano is shimano, and you'd have to be on a very tight budget to dismiss this as a good option. And resale value. Simano di2 just sells, and will sell.
did you get 11 or 12s?

The warranty question remains though, idk how i feel about buying shimano parts on aliexpress, in case something goes wrong.
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Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Sapim CX Ray vs Alpina Hyperlite Aero
« Last post by Sebastian on Today at 02:01:33 AM »
Quote from: Pedaldancer on June 05, 2025, 12:13:52 PM

Regards the data sheets it's more than noise.  ;D
And cold forging raises the stiffness due to grain boundary movements and gliding of layers..Basically a big "crash" crystallographically.. like traffic jam... nothing (atoms and layers)  can move that easy, cause everything is stuck. Well that's frankly a little bit too simple, but that's what happens.

While that is totally true, Sapim will 100% apply some form of heat treatment which will reverse some of the martensitic cristalline structure in the metal after cold forging. After that amount of forging, this spoke would be way too brittle otherwise. After all, the CX Ray is known for its exceptional fatigue resistance. I’ve never seen one break.
Since we know neither the exact alloy they’re made of nor the exact heat treatment process, it’s impossible to know how similar the Laser and the CX Ray really are in their metallic structure.

And apart from all that, they definitely feel different IME
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Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: TanTan TT-X38 Build
« Last post by ejump0 on Today at 02:00:44 AM »
as someone who ride this frame like a tribike (saddle so far fwd) with clipon aerobars on reach extenders, this frame is as close as it gets to a tri bike posi, at least as close almost equal my tt912. as your saddle go higher, the saddle isnt going further back (thus your seattube angle increases, like old plasma)
so i get it why Seb Kienle used a modded ScottFoil as tri bike (he's sponsored by Scott, but he still had access for top tier lightest Plasma if he wanted).
downside, missing toptube boss-mount for bento box, or any internal storage for tools.

if anyone on a budget for tri bike build, this frame is worth a consideration as its almost half(but dont include tri cockpit) of tt912 or other tri frame price. but you need to go full internal cabling, n i suggest go axs for least cable goin thru the top bearing
38
Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Sapim CX Ray vs Alpina Hyperlite Aero
« Last post by Sebastian on Today at 01:44:29 AM »
Quote from: Wet Noodle on June 04, 2025, 03:56:03 PM
Just asking, as Lasers and CX-Rays are supposed to have the same cross sectional area (which means exact same stiffness). Should be similar or the same with Revos and DT's CX-Ray counterpart.

No, they don't. Sapim give a tensile strength of 1500N /m2 for the Laser and 1600N / mm2 for the CX-Ray. But I don't even think it's that. I think it's different alloys in the steel as the much thicker Sapim Race and Sapim Strong have an even lower tensile strength according to Sapim. They also claim that the Laser is "highly flexible", which is exactly what it feels like IME. They do recommend the CX-Ray for nearly every use case including BMX and Downhill. But not the Laser. And that pretty much mirrors my experience having built wheels with both and also with the DT Revos (which are pretty much the same as Sapim Laser). I would not recommend them - at the very least on the rear drive side - for heavier riders. Wheels with these spokes feel noticeably flexier for the same spoke count compared to CX Rays.
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Cyclocross Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Spcycle New Aero integrated handlebar with rest bar
« Last post by rockerplates.de on Today at 01:19:41 AM »
Quote from: spcycle on April 27, 2025, 03:49:54 AM
We made changes. HB-068 There is enough space to run the mechanical set. The handlebars are already listed on the spcycle official website. Friends in need can place an order.

https://www.sp-cycle.com/Spcycle-HB-068-Aero-Carbon-Gravel-Bike-Handlebar-Full-Hidden-Cable-Road-Integrated-Handlebar-With-Rest-Bar-p6435319.html

is this the same dimensions as the canyon gear groove bar?
regarding diameter of the beam etc..?
best regards
armin
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Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: Can we migrate this forum to a modern forum? I'm tired of the broken pages.
« Last post by ChinerStevie on Today at 01:16:59 AM »
Broken pages suck indeed. Other features are still alright. Only mobile use is suboptimal.

Nevertheless - big thanks to admin  ;) :)
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