Replica Factor Ostro VAM

[patliean1]

The BSA bottom bracket area on a real SL8 comes perfectly faced from the factory. The exposed carbon is neat and square. It's nice to Taiwen Eisen make an attempt do the same.

However, that white green one from F-C would raise some concerns with me.

EDIT: Wait, did F-C only face one side of the BB?

[jerozilla]

The BSA bottom bracket area on a real SL8 comes perfectly faced from the factory. The exposed carbon is neat and square. It's nice to Taiwen Eisen make an attempt do the same.

However, that white green one from F-C would raise some concerns with me.

EDIT: Wait, did F-C only face one side of the BB?

Definitely looks like it. I'd be having that faced before putting a BB on it for sure paint goes right to the edge...I've been a bit suspect of the SL8 clones too many floating around and I've yet to see one absolutely nailed like the Ostro V1 has been.

[OralMaster]

I have recently purchased a SL8 from Taiwen Eisen and from another store. The quality of the Taiwan Eisen’s frame is top notch compared to the other one. I haven’t built the bike yet but at first sight, it’s pretty excellent to me, especially for 600USD (shipping including and no taxes).

Here are few pictures of the interior of my frame (sorry for the quality) VS the F-C’s SL8 (white and green color, they sent me some pics)

i am suspecting the SL8 from FC is the same as tantan TT-X68, but with fake darimo barstem and seatpost. my seller told me since this frame is done by a renowed factory, they won't be doing any paintjobs showing the S-Works logo.

[acino]

i am suspecting the SL8 from FC is the same as tantan TT-X68, but with fake darimo barstem and seatpost. my seller told me since this frame is done by a renowed factory, they won't be doing any paintjobs showing the S-Works logo.

I am wondering whether the difference in quality (apparent) of the Factor vs the SL8 (not faced BB) could indicated that FC is indeed just a reseller getting those frames from 2 different sources

[jerozilla]

Finally have build back of F-C Ostro V1 and the final tally is 6.8kg with all goods attached except the rear light/mount.

Ostro V1 Tier 3
DuraAce 9200 groupset with 165mm cranks
carbon bottle cages
90x400 bars
Favero PM pedals
BB Infinite T47A bottom bracket
Winspace Hyper 45s early gen models

weather here is way too cold so no ride report yet.

[acino]

Finally have build back of F-C Ostro V1 and the final tally is 6.8kg with all goods attached except the rear light/mount.

Ostro V1 Tier 3
DuraAce 9200 groupset with 165mm cranks
carbon bottle cages
90x400 bars
Favero PM pedals
BB Infinite T47A bottom bracket
Winspace Hyper 45s early gen models

weather here is way too cold so no ride report yet.

You can't drop this here without photos Any insights from the mechanic?

[jerozilla]

You can't drop this here without photos Any insights from the mechanic?

I knew you'd race in here to say that lol. Mechanic had nothing to say but good things, really liked the BBinfinite quality (not F-C related I know). Not much else I can say he test road it and gushed over it but I haven't yet, 6.8kg with TPU tubes and could probably shave more off with new wheels as these are the 3 year old Hypers. No mention of BB issues as I said I was concerned I couldn't fully hand screw it in when I was messing around with it without grease. It was just good to go news from the mechanic besides waiting for the longer rear brake caliper bolts. I hope my detailed journey helps people. But from what I can see F-C puts out a legit frame, I would say better than a lot of the stuff we see here but you do pay a premium.

My final thoughts after using a endoscope on the frame was probably just the loose fibers where the BB goes that the other user had, mine had a few of those but other than that the v1 feels almost like a dead copy to my eye, and perhaps even ride quality as @Oralmaster said he test rode a real one and couldn't tell the difference.

So other than the super long delay on shipping due to the postal strike and the couple fibres inside the BB I'd give it a pre-ride rating of 9/10.

[Dan S.]

DuraAce 9200 groupset with 165mm cranks
Favero PM pedals
BB Infinite T47A bottom bracket
Winspace Hyper 45s early gen models

Damn, that's a lot of $$$. Savings on the frame really helped I guess haha.

[jerozilla]

Yeah the beauty of being gifted the 9200 groupset for xmas and having stuff to swap over. I would say total price with mechanic fees etc and frame would be around $2000CAD instead of $6000-7000CAD for the frame alone.

[acino]

I knew you'd race in here to say that lol. Mechanic had nothing to say but good things, really liked the BBinfinite quality (not F-C related I know). Not much else I can say he test road it and gushed over it but I haven't yet, 6.8kg with TPU tubes and could probably shave more off with new wheels as these are the 3 year old Hypers. No mention of BB issues as I said I was concerned I couldn't fully hand screw it in when I was messing around with it without grease. It was just good to go news from the mechanic besides waiting for the longer rear brake caliper bolts. I hope my detailed journey helps people. But from what I can see F-C puts out a legit frame, I would say better than a lot of the stuff we see here but you do pay a premium.

My final thoughts after using a endoscope on the frame was probably just the loose fibers where the BB goes that the other user had, mine had a few of those but other than that the v1 feels almost like a dead copy to my eye, and perhaps even ride quality as @Oralmaster said he test rode a real one and couldn't tell the difference.

So other than the super long delay on shipping due to the postal strike and the couple fibres inside the BB I'd give it a pre-ride rating of 9/10.

Thanks for the detailed write up! Very nice and a very good weight! I only did about 330 km on mine so far due to poor weather here, but everything has been perfect so far. The bike just wants to go fast.

[hagerd]

I just couldn't help myself, bought one of these too. I bought through the "RK Ultra Extreme Carbon Fiber Store". Overall good communication, polite, and easy to work with. Seems like they are just a dealer working with the factory. Received pictures of everything prior to shipment, and photos of other frames before ordering (for what its worth).

Paid $1100 CAD ($760 USD) all in for regular weight, passed on the lightweight version

Weights (size 56):
Frame: 1154g
Fork: 471g

We'll see how it goes, I have a set of custom Wheelsfar hypers on the way, a Lexon DUB crank, and an Ultegra Di2 group on the way.

[estingo]

Looks really good, the white one awesome! It's a small size frame so a 6.8 kg is quite solid. I have in the end here for a 56 size frame 6,9 kg so you can definitely save something with the wheels I guess.

and the black one with blue and pink also looks great. It has the same frame size as mine, only that yours looks more neat than mine. I've now ridden outside 500 km and indoors just over 1000 km and it feels fine. Need to replace the handlebar because I probably tighten it too tight, even though it didn't exceeded the 5nm but okay, I bought in the end the Tavelo Avro gen-1 (still needs to arrive).

Also got the Lexon Cranks, if the crank is not running smoothly, try it without spacers and the lockring.

These are/were my weights for a size 56:
Frame: 1069g
Fork: 432g
Handlebar fake black inc): 331g
seatpost incl clamp: 220g

Weights (size 56):
Frame: 1154g
Fork: 471g

[patliean1]

At this point now I'd probably order a replica Factor Ostro versus an SL8 clone from TanTan lol

[A.V.G]

I'll have more to say about this in the next few days, but I want to get this out there for others who are interested in buying from First-Class Carbon Fiber Store (https://www.aliexpress.com/store/1102993497) and associated storefronts, RF Ultra Extreme Carbon and Mirror Carbon, on AliExpress.

I bought a frame from First-Class Carbon 80 days ago and the frame has never been delivered.  Since then, other buyers on this forum have purchased frames from F-C and they have received their frames, including another USA buyer who got his frame in only 30 days. 

F-C has not (yet) taken any responsibility for my failed transaction but has spent significant energy telling me to 'just be patient' or trying to deflect responsibility.   

Suffice it to say I cannot recommend First-Class Carbon Fiber Store at this time. Maybe F-C will still make things right for me, and if they do, I'll be sure to update the forum with that info.

-----------------------------
Final edit Feb-22-2025:  My Ostro frame was eventually delivered after ~75 days in transit and 90 days after order. See page 19 for more info.

[Serge_K]

I bought a frame from First-Class Carbon 80 days ago and the frame has never been delivered.

Has your frame shipped, according to the seller, and then no tracking update, or the seller is selling the frame still hasn't shipped and they're still "working" on it? option 1, i'd worry. option 2, i'd worry less, i'd simply be annoyed (tremendously).