Spcycle New Mold SP-R088 Carbon Road Frame

[janp]

I can confirm that metallic red looks really good.
I have a different frame (R065) but the color should be the same.
I received the frame yesterday. The paint job is O.k. but the trained I can see some inhomogenities. If this is from little uneveness in the carbon below or due to uniform paint thickness I can not tell.

[user757]

I went for another ride today (finally getting healthy again) but unfortunately missed to take a picture outside. So here's one for you from the inside. Saddle height is 71 cm. The fork is cut on that picture and i'm still running a generous amount of spacers. Just the spacers under the stem measure 2.4 cm.


It rides really well and i felt comfortable on the bike. I'm not gonna pretend that i know a ton about how a bike feels when riding i didn't ride that many different bikes before to give a detailed opinion. I'm not an expert by any means. I've had a Velobuild 268 before and geometry wise they are pretty similar. I had a rather short 90mm stem on the Velobuild and a 90mm stem on the R088 as well but the R088 still felt slightly more stable and a little less twitchy. I'm not 100% sure if this is true or just my imagination though. This ride was also just on the flat and i didn't go really fast.

Can't wait to attack my home climb (4.4 km with 300 m of elevation) to see the bikes climbing capabilities and send it down the descend afterwards to see how it handles higher speeds.

I've gone ahead and ordered an R088 54cm in matte white. I would have gone for one of the more aero frames had most of them not had crazy long wheelbases. For some reason a lot of these Aeroad, Ostro clones add >10 mm to the wheelbase (relative to the original frame) which should be very noticeable. Though I no longer race crits, I'd still like to have a bike that feels agile.

Not totally sold on matte vs glossy white just yet, anyone have strong opinions either way?

[Tilmanstoa5ty]

I've gone ahead and ordered an R088 54cm in matte white. I would have gone for one of the more aero frames had most of them not had crazy long wheelbases. For some reason a lot of these Aeroad, Ostro clones add >10 mm to the wheelbase (relative to the original frame) which should be very noticeable. Though I no longer race crits, I'd still like to have a bike that feels agile.

Not totally sold on matte vs glossy white just yet, anyone have strong opinions either way?

Personally i prefer glossy but i think that's just personal preference. I'm not 100% sure but i could imagine that dust sticks to a matte surface a little easier and a glossy frame would be easier to clean. Not sure though. My Velobuild VB 268 is pearl white glossy. You can check it out i posted it in the VB 268 thread.

Regarding my R088: I did another ride today. 30 km with around 500 m of elevation. I felt really comfortable climbing. When descending the bike was really fast. My brother rode next to me on my gravel bike almost spinning out and i was just rolling there comfortably. I think the 50 mm wheels play a part in that. The route contains a very rough segment. The strava segment is called "Höllenritt" which literally translates to hellride. It's a -7% descent over the worst road imaginable. Lots of potholes and cracks and overall damaged pavement. If your bike can handle that it can handle literally anything else. And i gotta say the bike handled it really well. The frame and especially the fork seems to absorb a good portion of the bumps. It still feels rough obviously as it's a roadbike but i never had the feeling of losing control over the bike. Really happy with the ride feel overall.

Also managed to take a picture with the bike in the sun, making the carbon layup really stand out:

[jonathanf2]

For such a minimalist bottom bracket, I don't really any notice any issues with power transfer. My R088 just feels nimble with quick acceleration. Though, I don't think I'd attempt to build it out with a 2x mechanical groupset. The fit is so tight, it would not be fun to assemble!

[jardo0o]

Personally i prefer glossy but i think that's just personal preference. I'm not 100% sure but i could imagine that dust sticks to a matte surface a little easier and a glossy frame would be easier to clean. Not sure though. My Velobuild VB 268 is pearl white glossy. You can check it out i posted it in the VB 268 thread.

Regarding my R088: I did another ride today. 30 km with around 500 m of elevation. I felt really comfortable climbing. When descending the bike was really fast. My brother rode next to me on my gravel bike almost spinning out and i was just rolling there comfortably. I think the 50 mm wheels play a part in that. The route contains a very rough segment. The strava segment is called "Höllenritt" which literally translates to hellride. It's a -7% descent over the worst road imaginable. Lots of potholes and cracks and overall damaged pavement. If your bike can handle that it can handle literally anything else. And i gotta say the bike handled it really well. The frame and especially the fork seems to absorb a good portion of the bumps. It still feels rough obviously as it's a roadbike but i never had the feeling of losing control over the bike. Really happy with the ride feel overall.

Also managed to take a picture with the bike in the sun, making the carbon layup really stand out:

Nice build!
How do you like riding this frame compared to VB-R 268? Do you feel significant difference?

[Bonus79]

I can confirm that metallic red looks really good.
I have a different frame (R065) but the color should be the same.
I received the frame yesterday. The paint job is O.k. but the trained I can see some inhomogenities. If this is from little uneveness in the carbon below or due to uniform paint thickness I can not tell.

Apparently red is the most popular....

No one votes for grey or silver?

Could you post some photos of your red R065, especially the imperfections you mentioned?

Thanks

[Tilmanstoa5ty]

Nice build!
How do you like riding this frame compared to VB-R 268? Do you feel significant difference?

First of all geometry wise they are pretty similar. The VB felt slightly more twitchy but i‘m not 100% sure about that. The main difference is probably comfort. The VB has a pretty beefy seatpost and is overall pretty stiff so it seems like that bumps and vibration don‘t get absorbed as easily as on the R088. Unfortunately i always had some lose headset issues with the VB (which should be fixable now as they sent me a new part but thats a different story) so i always felt a little anxious and hoped i won‘t get any play again. As you can imagine that has an impact on how you ride and how the ride feels. On the R088 on the other hand i feel 100% comfortable so far. Nothing came lose and the headset stays tight.

[Lord_Herbert]

Long time lurker and first time poster here...  I am building a new bike having got back into cycling a couple of years ago using my old Planet X (purchased in 2009) and its time for an upgrade.

Having been trawling through this forum for the past 6 months umming  and ahhing about what to buy, thanks to these posts I finally decided to bite the bullet and order this frame in chameleon green (I know the spcycle paint can be a bit hit and miss but really wanted something in chameleon green and there was another post with the R065 in chameleon green that I really liked the look of) - will keep you updated on any progress with the order...

Before I order the wheels I was wondering if anyone has a photo of the wheel/tyre clearance both front and rear? I know it says 32c but what is the clearance like?

Thanks

[WWcyclist]

Personally i prefer glossy but i think that's just personal preference. I'm not 100% sure but i could imagine that dust sticks to a matte surface a little easier and a glossy frame would be easier to clean. Not sure though. My Velobuild VB 268 is pearl white glossy. You can check it out i posted it in the VB 268 thread.

Regarding my R088: I did another ride today. 30 km with around 500 m of elevation. I felt really comfortable climbing. When descending the bike was really fast. My brother rode next to me on my gravel bike almost spinning out and i was just rolling there comfortably. I think the 50 mm wheels play a part in that. The route contains a very rough segment. The strava segment is called "Höllenritt" which literally translates to hellride. It's a -7% descent over the worst road imaginable. Lots of potholes and cracks and overall damaged pavement. If your bike can handle that it can handle literally anything else. And i gotta say the bike handled it really well. The frame and especially the fork seems to absorb a good portion of the bumps. It still feels rough obviously as it's a roadbike but i never had the feeling of losing control over the bike. Really happy with the ride feel overall.

Also managed to take a picture with the bike in the sun, making the carbon layup really stand out:

Are you in Europe?

[Tilmanstoa5ty]

Are you in Europe?

Yes, germany. Why?

[WWcyclist]

Yes, germany. Why?

I didn't think the name of the strava segment was in the USA haha

I am in Germany as well, if you are nearby I'd love to meet up and check the frame out!

[Tilmanstoa5ty]

Before I order the wheels I was wondering if anyone has a photo of the wheel/tyre clearance both front and rear? I know it says 32c but what is the clearance like?

Thanks

I took some pictures for you. I‘m running 28 mm tires but as you can see they actually measure 30.9 mm. As you can see on the picture there’s around 3 mm clearance between tire and chainstays (non drive side). On the drive side there’s slightly more clearance. Fork and seatstays offer >1 cm of clearance.

[Lord_Herbert]

I took some pictures for you. I‘m running 28 mm tires but as you can see they actually measure 30.9 mm. As you can see on the picture there’s around 3 mm clearance between tire and chainstays (non drive side). On the drive side there’s slightly more clearance. Fork and seatstays offer >1 cm of clearance.

That's amazing thanks!  I was thinking of the 33mm wide xmcarbonspeed rims - do you think they would be too wide?

[jonathanf2]

The more I ride the R088, the more I enjoy the nimbleness of this bike. Mine is near the 6.8kg mark (on my climbing wheels) with full pedals, bottle cages, power meter, etc. I'm quite happy with this build considering it's budget oriented and I haven't even gone hardcore weight weenie. It's closer to 7kg on my cheaper 45mm depth wheelset, though honestly I don't notice a difference when riding.

[Tilmanstoa5ty]

That's amazing thanks!  I was thinking of the 33mm wide xmcarbonspeed rims - do you think they would be too wide?

As long as your tire won’t be wider than the rim it might just fit but i‘m not sure if that’s enough clearance.

The more I ride the R088, the more I enjoy the nimbleness of this bike. Mine is near the 6.8kg mark (on my climbing wheels) with full pedals, bottle cages, power meter, etc. I'm quite happy with this build considering it's budget oriented and I haven't even gone hardcore weight weenie. It's closer to 7kg on my cheaper 45mm depth wheelset, though honestly I don't notice a difference when riding.

My bike isn’t as light as yours as i‘m using a deep 50 mm wheelset and the heavier Magene cranks but i still fully relate to this. The bike feels really good. Took mine for another ride today: