CS-496 Build / 27.5+

[SportingGoods]

I really happy to kick off this CS-496 building topic 

This is the frame I won on the Chinertown lottery. As you know, my current bike is already 27.5+, so I will be transferring as much as possible. But before I get into any detail, let me share some pictures of the frame, that I received today (after a month out on vacation)



See that it was well packaged


And here is some details. I will update:
- EDIT: I had missed the most obvious, the frame . I was a bit surprised by the weight of the frame, 1400g for a 17". 100g over what I thought. Apart from that the finishing looks good. I really like the ability to play with the length of the chainstay. And I did not know it offers internal routing for a dropper post.
- drivetrain. Going for Eagle as the CS-496 is not compatible with my current drivetrain (2x9).
- BB. Frame is BB92, my first press-fit 
- Headset. Got a Neco from Peter.
- Rear axle. I bought a through axle from Peter. My current frame is 135mm QR.
- Hubs. Frame is Boost. I bought Novatec Boost hubs from CarbonSpeed. Front is 149g. Rear is 264g with XD freewheel.


I keep all the rest of my bike:
- Stem. 70 mm Ritchey WCS
- Bar. Carbon Funn, 725mm
- Brakes. SRAM Guide RSC
- Rims. Carbon 35 mm internal, 40 mm external from CarbonSpeed
- Selle Italia SLR XC
- Reverb dropperpost. I will upgrade it to a Reverb Stealth later (resell my regular Reverb and buy a stealth - the frame has internal routing)
- Crank. XT triple. I really want to keep it, use the middle ring. Hope it will work!
- Fork. I'll upgrade the fork to a Boost one later (Christmas)

[Patrick C.]

Nice!  Can you post close up pics of the rear dropouts and the rear brake mount?   

Also, is the rear derailer hole sized to run a full length housing, or do you just put a piece on the jump from the down tube to the chainstay?
 

[SportingGoods]

Here we go

Here is the outside of the system. 2 holes, one is blocked by the piece of metal.


Inside of the system. The RD hanger is secured through the axle, and moves with the position.


Now the brake mount. I was a bit surprised to see this design. Pro: if you ever damage the thread you just have to replace the adapter. Con: heavier. On this picture you also see the disc side of the system to modify the chainstay. Here it is as simple as 2 holes. No piece of metal.


And for those who are curious about a BB92, here is how it looks like. About 90mm wide. No aluminum shell.


For the RD housing, it looks like a full-housing (which I prefer). Obviously, the cable/housing get out at the bottom of the downtube, run in the air and then goes back in the chainstay. I'm not a big fan of that solution, it would have been a lot better to run all the way inside, but the odd design of the right chainstay prevents that solution.

[Pack66]

SportingGoods....how's the frame quality compared to Flyxii?

[SportingGoods]

Honestly I see no difference in quality! I'm really happy with my FR-202. It came in 3K Glossy, which has a very clean look compared to the UD Matt of the CS-496. But that's the nature of the finishing.
I really can't say that one is obviously better quality then the other, but again, they are both very good quality.

[Patrick C.]

Thanks for the pics!  I'm a bit surprised to see that there is not a metal insert for the left side of the axle.  Is that common on thru axle designs?  (My Chiner is old school QRs )

[SportingGoods]

I'm not a TA expert, I've always had QR. But, from a mechanical stand point, it looks good to me. The metal piece on the drive side is actually the nut of the axle (you can see it on my picture). There is no difference between this piece pressing against the frame and the non-drive side of the axle pressing against the frame.
Adding a piece of metal, "encapsulated" within the carbon would most likely weaken the frame.

[Patrick C.]

My concern would be the axle rubbing/fretting the frame.  Is there a washer between the end of the axle and the frame, or something else to be sure that it doesn't rub?

[Carbon_Dude]

I wouldn't think there would be much issue with the way the dropouts are done on the CS-496.  Since there is metal on either side, and it looks like the holes in the frame are slightly larger than the drop outs.

[SportingGoods]

Now that the road bike is done, I'm really kicking off the MTB build!

First step, I need a rear wheel  CS-496 is a Boost frame. My wheels are not. I have dismounted my rear wheel (35mm ID carbon from Peter, FYI the rim is 459g) and I'm ready to put it back together with the Boost/xD driver hub (from Peter as well).

Good news: I made my calculations and found that I can keep the spokes. The difference is a fraction of a mm (because the hubs are the same reference, except one is Boost). Nipples are in good shape even though they are Aluminum. I'll reuse those as well.

[Carbon_Dude]

Looking forward to seeing this build progress forward.

[MTB2223]

Looking forward to seeing this build progress forward.

+1 and with a lot of pictures 

[SportingGoods]

Rear wheel is laced! Time to get to the truing stand  I put the fork and bar to stabilize my "stand"



And here comes the first problem. When I put on the axle, it is too long. I can't tighten the hub, there is 2 mm once screwed to the max. That's the axle I bought from Peter, together with the gift frame. Either the axle is too long, or there is a missing metal piece on the frame. 

Disc side

Drive side

[Carbon_Dude]

Almost looks like there should be a metal dropout on that side.  Even though I know this has been discussed before.

[cmh]

Almost looks like there should be a metal dropout on that side.  Even though I know this has been discussed before.

Get some washers to fill the gap? Seems a bit ghetto but not completely out of the range of feasible.