Quick update from Lightcarbon: I’ll have to wait at least 2, possibly 3 weeks for new rear triangle to arrive (waiting already 2 weeks since they approved my replacement). With the national XCO coming up on the 20th, that’s a serious problem. Apparently, there are other pending orders stuck in the paint shop. Hopefully, the tolerances on the new one will be okay—I specifically requested a Z3 and was assured I’d get that level of quality. But the reality so far has been different.
So, their technicians agreed it's the triangle. Which seems right, you can tell the part which sits between screw and link with spacer AND the central piece of the link, is not straight. Attached pictures to illustrate how it's supposed to be. What happens then, once the screw is in place, it puts pressure at an angle on the weakest point, which is bearing. When it fails, the screw gets lodged into the link sidewall, and during ride, the movement from the link slowly unscrews it, not fully, but just enough. Thats why I also requested two new bottom screws.
I’m not riding the bike anymore until the new triangle arrives.
To make matters worse, two friends ordered frame sets from them because of me—one hardtail and one road bike. The hardtail seems fine so far (time will tell), but the road frame was slightly too large, so he ordered a new one. The replacement doesn’t even compare in quality. There are paint residues around the bottom bracket, and more seriously, the carbon in the seatpost area is uneven, causing the seatpost to sit crooked. Cannot be fixed in as well, it's moving. I can provide pictures of both if anyone wants to see.
Honestly, I’m not sure I can recommend them anymore. This kind of thing shouldn’t be happening with a latex 3D mold—or am I wrong? Maybe they’re overwhelmed with orders, or they’ve started outsourcing?
Given that they’ve been present at all the major bike shows lately, you’d think they’d care more about the brand reputation they’re trying to build. The bike hasn’t just cost me money—it’s cost me a lot of frustration. Last time, I had to ride shorter distances in a stage race because of this problem. While we were previewing two stages, bearing failed. Luckily, we brought old link with fresh bearing pressed in. It held until stage 3 where it failed and the screw unscrewed. So I rode last stage with broken bearing, hoping for the best. Survived, with squeaky bike. Embarrassing. I even paid for the branding on the frame and promoted them multiple times on Instagram, but I’m not sure I’ll want to do that again. Time will tell.
I’m not usually someone who gets irritated easily, but I really hope they improve. They’re not ignoring me, to be fair—but this could’ve been solved months ago.
As usual, I will post all updates. Full transparency.
