Spcycle New Mold G056 Carbon Gravel Frame

[raisinberry777]

Crazy but I love it. How did the eGR setup go? How well does it cope with the extremes of that range? I've been curious about that - 38t and 9-46 seems like the ideal gearing combo for it, given its limitations.

[jonathanf2]

Crazy but I love it. How did the eGR setup go? How well does it cope with the extremes of that range? I've been curious about that - 38t and 9-46 seems like the ideal gearing combo for it, given its limitations.

EGR was a breeze to setup. I've tuned 2 ER9 groupsets and not having to deal with an FD just made things easier.

A couple quick comparison between the EGR and ER9:

1. The EGR cage spring is tight ASF. While Shimano GRX gives you adjustability options, LTwoo said f**k it and gave the EGR the highest tension. On the ER9, I think it could have a bit more tension.

2. The RD shifts very fast and precise. No problems. Despite weighing more, I think LTwoo put a faster/stronger motor in the EGR.

3. The new LTwoo brake calipers are nice. One-piece alloy design and even better brake feel. I do have one thing to note. Even though I generally don't like the LTwoo adapter brackets, the one positive about them is that they seem to allow leeway for poorly faced caliper mounts. I've had no issues with brake alignment on 3 of my LTwoo equipped bikes.

4. EGR shift buttons have better haptic feedback. They require slightly more force, while the ER9 shift buttons are prone to accidental presses. Also I think the EGR shift levers are either carbon or some sort of carbon reenforced nylon. My ER9 levers are cold to the touch (alloy) while the EGR levers are not.

5. The EGR RD battery cable port is much more recessed into the RD. I still applied rubber cement (liquid tape) and dielectric grease, but crossing fingers the EGR appears to be more moisture resistant.

I might switch over to a 9-50t cassette and longer chain. Though some have reported less than ideal shifting. Since 46t is the official max size for the RD.

[fhold]

Love it! The pearl white is a really nice colour!

How are you satisfied with the padels are they any good? If so, would be interested in a link.
And I would be also interested in the magnetic bottle system?

[hsaus]

Nice build! And the black fork pairs well with the white frame.

- 34cm flared drop bars

Woah, that's narrow! How wide are the drops?

Also the geometry is kinda funky,

I felt the same initially, lots of wheel flop, probably because of the very slack head tube angle and high trail. I'm used to it now though, and I like the confidence that the long wheelbase gives me on bumpy descents.

[jonathanf2]

Love it! The pearl white is a really nice colour!

How are you satisfied with the padels are they any good? If so, would be interested in a link.
And I would be also interested in the magnetic bottle system?

The only reason I use these pedals is due to the somewhat compact dimensions for a flat, 1-sided SPD pedal. Most SPD pedals are clunky and made for MTB'ing. Also I prefer nylon plastic, because when moving my bike around, alloy SPD pedals have a nasty habit of dinging and scratching stuff.

I don't really care for the magnetic bottles either, but I use them due to the gritty dirt in Southern California. The fine grit sticks to regular bottles and scratches them like crazy on standard bottle cages. This is my 2nd pair. My 1st pair of magnetic bottles lasted 2 years before falling apart . 

Here are the pedals, unfortunately they raised the price. I bought my pair for $8.50 USD:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802459405646.html

Magnetic bottles, I bought mine for less than $10 USD:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807191295266.html

[jonathanf2]

Nice build! And the black fork pairs well with the white frame.

Woah, that's narrow! How wide are the drops?

I felt the same initially, lots of wheel flop, probably because of the very slack head tube angle and high trail. I'm used to it now though, and I like the confidence that the long wheelbase gives me on bumpy descents.

The drops are 460mm. In retrospect, I probably should have went with the 38cm hoods & 500mm drop version, but since my riding consist of combined trail and road, it's a trade-off going either way (aero on the flats vs more control on the trails). 460mm drops still give plenty of control.

The drop bars:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806404062021.html

I just took the bike on it's maiden ride for about 64km (40mi). Within the first 5 minutes of riding I had to adjust the seat post higher by 2cm. I also pushed my saddle all the way back. Even then the bike is very upright. I'd almost be tempted to slam the stem, but since this bike will also see mountain trail use, I'll leave it as-is. The high trail and slack angle was a bit of surprise as well, very different to my road bikes and even my previous gravel bikes which were more CX oriented. Where the bike shines is on the climbs. The moment I hit elevation, it felt really good on steep angles. On the rough downhill I barely felt any trail buzz, it's really compliant. Steering felt a bit slow, at one point I checked just to make sure the bearings weren't seized! The most interesting part is how easy it is to track stand the bike. That's a plus when riding technical trails.

Overall, I'm quite satisfied. Today I had a few people ask about the bike. Also I rolled up at a stop with a group ride and they just looked at the bike as if it were from a different planet! 

[jonathanf2]

Last night I was having a bit of a panic, because my other wheelset front wheel wasn't fitting. I thought there was an alignment issue due to being a 15x100 front wheel with a 12mm adapter, but I opted to sleep on it and tackle it first thing in the morning. Luckily I was able to solve the problem and get the thru axle inserted into the fork! It just needed a bit of cleaning and a little TLC! Anyways, now it's time to tackle some heavier duty trails on this setup!