Just received my frames this week and wanted to share my thoughts with you all. Got pretty much what I expected for the price, considering they came from China. No major design flaws that can't be addressed. Let's dive into the details!
Positive:
- The paintwork is really beautiful
- The frames are super light (1063g in size 55/L)
Negative:
- The seatpost clamp is a pain. The hole of the middle wedge is too small and the screw prevents the wedge from moving sufficiently towards the seatpost. No matter how much torque you tighten it with, the force only works against the edge of the hole and not against the seatpost. (I'll do a separate post about that)
- The handlebar is just one of the cheap generic ones from aliexpress. It feels extremely flexy, I'm not sure I trust this one.
You can often find it branded as Kocevlo, but there are many other brandings too:
https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005006028345937.htmlStrangely, their website shows a completely different cockpit and headset assembly:
https://hygge-bikes.com/products/high-performance-integrated-road-handlebar- The headset sucks and both of my frames were missing the top plastic cone. The headset has a slight amount of play. This is by design as there is no such thing as a compression ring/cone that could hold the upper bearing inner ring and steerer tube tightly together (different post).
- The frame and fork are very supple. I think they went to the limit, is this really still safe to ride? (I did a lateral stiffness test on the fork, it bends a lot -> different post).
- Seat tube angle: 73 degrees is too small (too much backset) in size L. Combined with the huge setback of the post and a big saddle pull (13cm mark, close to the maximum), it's really a pain. I am in the most forward position and still 5mm behind my optimal position (I really hope that one day a 0 setback post for the generic FM236 frame will be released).
- The front thru axle threads are only glued, other suppliers now show the fork with a replaceable insert
https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005005982170845.htmlhttps://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/New-Product-FM236-Red-glossy-Hidden_1600862434667.htmlNeutral:
- Headtube angle is quite slack and I was afraid of the bike being really sluggish, but in the end I found it sufficiently agile.
- The chainstays are not wider than on other (disc-)bikes I've ridden. So no problem with heel clearance for me, although my heels are close due to my slight V-shape foot position.
The build was quite easy, luckily on 12s Di2 I don't have any wires going to the STIs.
7.7kg (55/L) including pedals, bottle cages, Garmin mount, powermeter (heavy 105 11/34 cassette, not the lightest tires, ..) that's really good for an aero bike!!