It just so happens that the Taipei Bike Show is happening this weekend, and I will go check it out. I know Longteng has a booth, and likely other Chinese OEMs as well. I'll report back on anything interesting. (Let me know if anyone has any specific requests or questions in my DMs ... but I won't take requests for Hambini hairdresser pics, sorry....)
Just got back from the Taipei Bike Show – today was B2B and not open to the public, sh*t!. I was dying to get in, so I ran down the street to the 7/11 and printed out a bogus business card and got in lol…
Of the Chinese open mold manufacturers, I only saw LightCarbon and Longteng. Velobuild didn’t attend. (And I didn’t see a presence from other Chinertown favorites like Elitewheels, Ltwoo, Winspace, Magene, etc.) But I did get to see the LC017 and the LT266 in person, and got some intel on a new LT301 that will be released in a few months:
LC017: yes the downtube is quite boxy, but in person it looks/feels a bit more rounded than what’s on their website. And the seat tube is rounded, not at all like the seat tube shown on their website. Here is a video that I took:
https://imgur.com/a/PNHdhI5. It’s a niiiiice looking frame.
Interestingly, I saw several high-end bikes at the show with similarly boxy down tubes with sharp edges, including the Giant TCR, a Bianchi, a Bianchi Raparto Corse, and a Java Volata that won a gold award at the show:
https://imgur.com/a/NEb8cpZ. I talked to one of the bike designers and asked them about the design choice, and he said that they use less materials to keep the bike light weight, and squares are stronger than curved shapes. In other words, for an all-arounder, they sacrificed certain aero gains in favor of weight savings. I’m not engineer so I have no idea if this is true, I’m just relaying what one of the bike designers at the show said to me.
LT266: from my amateur eyes, this looks like a really well-made frame. Alisa from Longteng was at the show, and she told me that it’s made from a one piece monocoque mold, so they can achieve a higher degree of uniformity and quality control. The tubes are more rounded than the LC017. Interestingly, she told me that they are testing an unannounced frame, the LT301, I’m posting the geometry and a short video here:
https://imgur.com/a/XvH327j. It looks to have a more aero profile than the LT266 and LC017 but still weighs under 1000g. Alisa said they just finished testing the 54cm frame, and are going through tests for the other sizes – it will be a few months before they start selling it, although if anyone wants a 54, it’s available if you contact Alisa directly. (OT: I asked which brands Longteng acts as OEM for, the only thing I could get out of Alisa was that they make a few frames for Argon.)
Does this help with my bike choice? I probably will go with one of these and not the Velobuild frames, since I’ve seen and touched them in person. Between the LC017 and LT266? I have no idea….
That’s all I have, cheers.
