And another Seaboard GR02

[Tilmanstoa5ty]

Hey guys i wanted to share my newest and second ever build: A seaboard GR02 budget gravel bike.

I wrote a very detailed post and then my browser crashed so it's all gone. Here's a quick summary:

- Got the frame for free because shipping took so long
- Total price is 855€ if paid full, for me it was 528€ as i got the frame for free
- Ltwoo grt doesn't shift perfectly yet but my experiece fine tuning mechanical groupsets is limited so i maybe just need to give it some time
- If i had known that i get the frame for free i probably would have gone for a shimano groupset but i wanted to see what's possible on a budget
- Wheelset is a used bontrager set for 50€. It's what you can expect for 50€. Just a rather heavy OEM aluminium wheelset. Nothing special but it works
- I will probably use my Elite wheels ENT 2.0 that i currently have on my Velobuild on this bike and get a new deeper wheelset for the VB. I'm not sure about using a carbon road wheelset for gravel but the 40mm tires should fit and i think they should hold up. Would love to hear your input on this
- Tire clearance is probably 42mm in the rear. I run 40mm without any issues. Front gives a little more room
- Overall i'm really impressed with the quality of the frame. Bottom bracket area was clean and easy to screw in. Aligning brake calipers also no issue at all. The only thing i didn't use was the included expander plug as it was really small and i wanted a little more support especially with the amount of spacers i intended to run for a relaxed endurance fit. I used a replica of the tarmac SL7 expander plug i had laying around instead

If you have any questions feel free to ask. My first impression of this build is really positive especially given the really cheap price. I will add a list of all the parts and the prices and a pic from my first ride to this post. In the coming days i will post more pics, my impressions when i've done more rides and i will weigh the bike.





The beautiful bartape came with the frame btw. haha. There's also a pair of grey and a pair of black included.

[raisinberry777]

Nice job! Just a pointer - your shifter hood position is extremely low. The bar angle looks pretty okay, but the shifters (as a starting point) should have a flat transition from the bars.

[Tilmanstoa5ty]

Thanks for the heads up - i already fixed that after the initial ride where i took this photo. Wasn't comfortable to ride like this at all haha

[Tilmanstoa5ty]

A quick little update: I weighed the bike at 10.27kg. That's including spd pedals, two bottle cages and a garmin mount. Pretty happy about the weight, especially with these rather heavy alloy wheels. With some lighter carbon wheels the whole bike should come down to less than 10kg which is amazing for an alloy frame at that pricepoint.

Apart from that i haven't ridden the bike a lot yet. I did a ride with my brother where i was on my roadbike and he rode the seaboard and he also really liked riding it. Will go for some rides and take some photos in the next weeks hopefully.

[Tilmanstoa5ty]

Another update and finally some more pics:

I took the bike for some rides and already did some upgrades. I upgraded the crank to a Magene PES P505 Powermeter crank because i really like having my power data available. I want to clarify that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the previous crank and i would still recommend it. Just wanted a powermeter. I went from a 42t to a 40t chainring to make gearing a little easier especially when it comes to bikepacking and having the bike loaded with stuff. Installing the crank went flawless and even tough it's a roadbike crank using it with a one by setup seems to work well. I placed the chainring on the inside and i can use all gears. Chainline on the 11 tooth cog isn't perfect obviously but all gears work and in the gears i use 90% of the time the chainline is spot on.
Another upgrade i did is the rear derailleur. I replaced the ltwoo one with a GRX 822 rd. It shifts smoother and indexing is much easier. Both of these upgrades aren't necessary and it would be an amazing bike regardless but i felt like upgrading some stuff.

My next move will be getting some new wheels for my roadbike and putting the elitwheels ENT 2.0 38mm on the Seaboard. The bontrager wheels i currently use are toast. The bearings need replacing and the wheels need to be trued. Before i put any money and effort into these cheap and heavy wheels i rather get some new nice carbon ones.

So far i absolutely love the bike and hopefully will put a lot more miles on it in the next months.