Eddie's Airwolf YFR066 Build Thread

[zilcho]

Ordered on 11.28, estimated delivery of 12.19
On 12.4 I was told it needed 10 days, on 12.14 was told they would check with the factory
I'm guessing mid January

On 12.19 my order was changed to shipped so that the timer wouldn't expire, but in messages they said it is just now in paint and needs about another week.

[eddietheengineer]

Small update--UPS tracking shows the package was picked up in Hong Kong with a weight of 4.2kg, and it has an estimated delivery date of tomorrow  . I'm not getting my hopes up that it will actually make it by then since HK -> USA is a long trip! but I do live close to a major UPS hub so it's possible it will be air shipped directly to my city.

The power meter is also in my state! So it should probably be delivered by tomorrow as well.

[eddietheengineer]

Some initial photos...

Power meter and frame arrived today! I was surprised it included both the bottom bracket and headset (I already ordered a bottom bracket). Note I did pay extra to have both 7x7 and 7x9 seatpost mounts available.

[eddietheengineer]

Second photo post--some quick early photos trying to take shots inside the frame. I know an elementary level of carbon--I think this is using the air bladder style inside instead of the EPS that newer/nicer frames use? It definitely doesn't look as nice as other internal shots I've seen, but I don't know if it's an unsafe level?

[eddietheengineer]

Another update today!

Of course I couldn't wait to start putting things together--so I got started with mounting everything I could. Routing the front/rear brake housings and the rear derailleur housing was pretty uneventful; most of the time I didn't even really worry about using a guide to get the housings through. I have some foam vibration dampers in to prevent rattling.

However--the front derailleur mount is being an absolute pain. It feels like it's too small to insert properly with a ferrule on the end of the housing, and if I don't use a ferrule, the housing bends at a sharp angle (see 3rd and 4th photos), isn't secure in the mount, and the cable grinds against the opening of the mount in the frame and is essentially seized up. I'm not quite sure what to do--I may try to get a small tool in there to bend the mount open a bit and see if I can make it round enough to get a ferrule in there.

Finally--I added some more photos inside the frame that I took with my endoscope camera.

[eddietheengineer]

Finally figured it out--silly mistake  .

1. Unscrew the bolt holding the front derailleur housing stop, you'll need to hold the back side of the "spring clip" by putting your finger into the frame so it doesn't spin freely.
2. Once the bolt is loose, remove the housing stop and retrieve the "spring clip" that fell into the bottom bracket area
3. Route the front derailleur housing out of the opening in the frame
4. Thread the spring clip back onto the bolt--only screw on enough to get the thread started
5. Put the assembly on the end of the front derailleur housing
6. Push the assembly back into the opening as far as you can. It won't fully seat because the spring clip needs to be pushed in far enough to "spring" into the opening in the frame. Use an allen/hex wrench to push the bolt (with the spring clip barely threaded on the end) into the frame--pushing the bolt directly will push the spring clip into the frame enough that it will actually grab
7. Screw the bolt until the front derailleur housing step is secured. Note you may need to put your finger on the spring clip so it doesn't rotate

Hopefully that description plus the photos makes it easier for the next person! I routed all three cables up through the down tube--front derailleur in the center (with foam), then rear brake on the brake side and read derailleur housing on the derailleur side. Everything routed through the headset pretty easily.

My OG-EVKIN stem is really tight on the steerer tube, I had to pry it open a bit with a flat head screwdriver to get it to fit (my aluminum stem had no issues fitting, so it seems like a OG-EVKIN stem issue, not the fork steerer tube issue).

Bike is ~15.4lbs so far, need the chain, pedals, bar tape, and seat yet. I'm not looking forward to routing the derailleur/brake lines through the handlebars or bleeding brakes--I may get the bike set up on my trainer and do a few bike fit tests before everything is completed to try and make sure the handlebar height is in the ballpark before routing everything. I plan on leaving a good bit of steerer tube free to make sure I can adjust more as needed down the road.

[eddietheengineer]

More progress--got the drivetrain set up (at least temporarily) without running the cables through the handlebars. I wanted to get it set up on my trainer so I could start doing some fit assessment (I still have ~8 months left on a MyVeloFit subscription) and get things in the ballpark.

I'm trying not to freak out too much--but the entire front end of the bike is like a wet noodle. From what I can tell, everything is flexing--frame, headset/steerer tube, stem, handlebar. I'm going to try and swap out for a known good handlebar and stem to isolate those components at least, but I'm really concerned this frame will essentially be worthless.

[eekden]

Oof thats rough to hear that the frame is not solid. Thank you for the continued updates.

My frame is expected to arrive in week or so and hopefully I'll be able to tell you if its a defect or if mine has it too.

[jepa83]

oh that’s bad news.

But it is most probably to a big part just the handlebar.

Wish you luck!

[Ar26]

With your temporary fork, this may seem normal. To see when it will be cut with a long expander taking into account your number of spacers under the handlebars

[eddietheengineer]

That's a good point--now that I've done some initial fit testing I should be able to cut it down quite a bit

[eddietheengineer]

Finally got the brakes bled and everything working so that I could do my first ride today! There are some odds and ends I need to look into still, but the key part is that the handlebar area is incredibly flexy still. I know some of it is due to the handlebars and stem--but a significant portion is due to the frame. I can see it twisting visibly when I push on one side or the other of the handlebar. I don't have a specific deflection amount, but it feels like the shifters are flexing by about 1" down when I push on one side or the other--it's not a small amount and I'm not pushing all that hard.

I did note right before I rode it that it seems like maybe the top cap is rubbing on the frame--when I tightened the headset the whole handlebar becomes stiff turning left/right, but when I loosen it there's visible play. I'm hoping that's it and maybe I just need a shim, but that means that I'll at a minimum have to remove the fork and front brake housing so I can put a shim in there without undoing all of the cable routing  I'm going to message Airwolf and get their feedback.

Bike as shown is 17.8 lbs.

[Ar26]

With your current installation, you have no headset compression. I'm not an expert but I would avoid forcing the handlebars until you have compressed the headset with the expander that goes under the stem.

[eddietheengineer]

100%, at this point the bike is going to just sit there until I can find a shim and get the motivation to spend a few hours undoing and redoing everything

[Sebastian]

I had those same bars from OG Evkin on a bike that I sold. I had them in 42cm width first and then bought them in 40cm. I can confirm that both bars were very flexy. The 42 exponentially more than the 40. It did not bother me hugely and I rode thousands of km on this handlebar, raced it and even crashed it. The flex did add to the comfort. But if you're a sprinter, you should probably look elsewhere.
Also, you got around 6cm of spacers below your stem by the looks of it? That's inevitably gonna add flex. Add a flexy bar on top of that and I can see how this would feel rather disconcerting.