Carbonal Venture SL budget lightweight 1x10 build

[davidd]

So I pulled the trigger on a new 650b hardtail build and ordered a Venture SL frame and assorted bits from Carbonality.

The theme of this build could be descibed as budget, lightweight, 1 x 10, XC Race, black.  While I'm waiting for stuff to arrive I might expand on it further, along with some other background information and opinions that you can skip or, if you're bored, read.

Build list;
Venture SL 650b, 19", threaded BB, 12x142mm dropouts.
Rockshox SID RLT forks Pushloc 15x100mm
Crest Rims on DT350 hubs, DT comp spokes
XT Brake Levers and Calipers
XTR rear shifter
XT rear mech with OneUp RADr cage
XT 10-36 cassette with OneUp 42 and 16 tooth sprockets
OneUp 34 tooth wide/narrow chainring
XT Cranks and Bottom Bracket
Shimano XT HG95 Chain
Seatpost, Flat bars, Headset and Rear Axle from Carbonality too
Stem Crank Brothers Iodine 2, 80mm, 6 degree
Saddle Selle Italia XC SLR Ti
Grips Ergon GS2
Tyres  Schwalbe Rocket Ron 2.1 Snakeskin
Pedals Time Atac XC 8

Everything was bought at reduced prices and my final choice on forks, saddle and wheels was flexible depending on what deals were on offer.  All the rest was bought at the cheapest price possible.  The stem was simply the cheapest on sale 80mm 6 degree stem I could find as I have no idea what stem I will need to achieve my desired stack/reach.

[Carbon_Dude]

Sounds like it will be a nice build.  Good choice of components.

Typically, budget and lightweight are mutually exclusive.  Around here a budget hard tail is in the $1500 range so I would say what you have is more of a solid but lightweight XC setup.  I would estimate your cost to be closer to $2500, which is still cheap for a full XT Carbon 650b when compared to a brand name bike which would be 2X that cost.

Good luck with the build and please post up pics of the frame, assembly, and finished product.

[davidd]

Fair point Carbon_Dude and well calculated!!  Everything bar taxes and decals is paid for; excluding pedals which I already have, the build to date is 2250 euros!

I have been MTB'ing for a long time but don't change bikes often.  Currently I race an Ellsworth Truth thats about 7 years old.  I built it up with full XTR, XTR Wheels, King, Pace forks and  Thompson kit.  I have no complaints about it and have done a La Ruta and two Transalps on it.  However I never "loved" it!

Mostly I ride a 15 year old Titanium Airborne Lucky Strike that was originally built with XTR, Mavic 517's on XTR, King, Pace forks and Thompson kit (notice a theme here?).  This has had many reincarnations, but getting rear disc brake bosses welded on a few years gave it a whole new lease of life. Lately it's a single speed rigid, I do nearly all my cycling on it and I love it.

So in comparison this project is more of a budget effort.  Apart from simple economic reasons it also gives me a chance to try out a carbon frame and a slightly different approach to geometry without tieing myself to a 2k frame.

[Carbon_Dude]

Guess it was a good estimate, 2250 euros = $2,613 USD .

You will like the carbon frame, it appears you like to ride more of the high end bikes.  I would bet that once you get the new carbon Chiner built, it may become your favorite bike.

I also like the spec of your 1X setup, please also give us a review on how that works for you.  Given both my bikes are XX1 I'd be curious how it compares.

[cmh]

Mostly I ride a 15 year old Titanium Airborne Lucky Strike that was originally built with XTR, Mavic 517's on XTR, King, Pace forks and Thompson kit (notice a theme here?).  This has had many reincarnations, but getting rear disc brake bosses welded on a few years gave it a whole new lease of life. Lately it's a single speed rigid, I do nearly all my cycling on it and I love it.

Awww yeah Airborne! My backup road bike is an Airborne Zeppelin. Always loved that bike, came close to getting one of their MTBs way back when.

[davidd]

Awww yeah Airborne! My backup road bike is an Airborne Zeppelin. Always loved that bike, came close to getting one of their MTBs way back when.

I got one of the first ones; no disc brake mounts and the serial number was on a sticker; long gone.  Now its the ultimate low maintenance everyday bike.  Note original Syncros Cattleprod stem!

[davidd]

You will like the carbon frame, it appears you like to ride more of the high end bikes.  I would bet that once you get the new carbon Chiner built, it may become your favorite bike.

I also like the spec of your 1X setup, please also give us a review on how that works for you.  Given both my bikes are XX1 I'd be curious how it compares.

I'm hoping so!!  It's probably not the best bike for the racing around here; a FS is a better option BUT its the type of bike I prefer riding.  The rationale behind the 1x setup really stems from the simplicity of the singlespeed.  I suspect it will be a compromise to some extent.  I was keeping a close eye on the gears I was using racing over the winter and while I don't expect the lack of a granny ring to be an issue I did use the 44 a few times and it can make a difference.

Attached is a comparison of the geometry of the Venture against three XC race oriented bikes and the Airborne.

[cmh]

I got one of the first ones; no disc brake mounts and the serial number was on a sticker; long gone.  Now its the ultimate low maintenance everyday bike.  Note original Syncros Cattleprod stem!

Gorgeous! So the original decals are gone? Loved them on my bike but they're starting to wear off. Had a chance to buy a replacement set around the time the company went bust and didn't. Oh well. Might have to just clean them all off and go with the bare titanium. Went over it recently with steel wool and got a beautiful shine on it. Titanium sure is pretty.

[davidd]

Update:
So the box from Carbonal arrived in Irish Customs yesterday, a seven day turnaround so no complaints there.  So we'll see what happens now...

Cmh: The original decals wore off years ago but I managed to find some on ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Airborne-Lucky-Strike-decal-set-of-13-sku-420-/140911796145?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20ceff5fb1

After a while these too started to get a bit tatty so off with them!

[cmh]

Cmh: The original decals wore off years ago but I managed to find some on ebay

Wow, that's kinda cool. Looked for a Zeppelin set and didn't find it at first, but when I went to the US ebay site and searched their store, I found it. Great info, thanks!

[davidd]

Wheels arrived today, Frame still in customs.

About the wheels;

Originally I was planning to get carbon rims with my order and build them up on DT350 hubs myself.  However putting all my eggs in a relatively unknown basket and time available to me for the build before racing began again led me to decide against that plan.

Based on a weight/value judgement I ended up getting a set of Stans Crests built up on DT350s (not straight pull) with DT Comp spokes.  Incl delivery these were less than €400.  Including tubeless rim tape they weighed in at 1650g on my Chinese scales!

My only whinge is this;  I got Centerlock hubs, I like centrelock.  BUT you cannot use a normal lockring with a 15mm axle DT hub you need a different Shimano lockring that uses a bottom bracket tool to tighten it.  Wouldn't it seem reasonable to provide such a lockring with the hub?  Apparently not so that will delay proceedings a little.

I fitted the XT cassette and Oneup 42 and 16 tooth cogs. 

My choice of tyres has always been Schwalbe NN up front and  R Ralph or NN out back depending on the level of mud, all in 2.1.  I also always buy the Snakeskin version as I find the normal sidewalls way to delicate.  Anyway Schwalbe do not make the NN in 2.1 for 650b and the advised tyre size for the frame is 2.1 so I got two Rocket Rons Snakeskin.  The tread looks more similar to a RaRa than a Nic so I think I'll get a NN 2.25 for the front.

Anyway the RoRo went onto the Crest without any effort, no soap, no compressor, a pleasant surprise considering what I had read about them.

[Carbon_Dude]

Pictures to follow.....

Yes, I knew something was missing .

[davidd]

Look what arrived today!  Seven days from China to Ireland; 6 days for 250 miles here!
Well packaged and undamaged


Neatly packed inside too..


And inside the bubble wrap..


Very neatly finished around the bottom bracket..


..and around the dropouts.


The headset cups look like they've had a lick of paint but isn't a problem.


The claimed weight is 1080g for a 17".  This came in at 1125g for a 19".


Can you spot the booboo?


The frame is sold as having all internal routing, it does and very neatly fitted with guide tubing inside, even for the full size brake hose.  BUT someone obviously thought tacking on a set of external cable guides would be a bright idea...  It's a pity, I'd rather they weren't there but in the general scheme of things not a disaster.


I have to say I cannot fault anything on the frame, for now, hopefully the BB is threaded properly and brake tabs are fine.  But colour, finish, carbon work.... No complaints.  The communication was first class and shipping fast and as claimed. 

So far, well done Carbonal and Jason. I have made them aware of the thread here so maybe they'll have a look. I also made them aware of the cable guide issue but am not expecting much on that front.

I also ordered a headset (generic, cheap ?, but will do for now), spare dropouts and a rear axle.  A set of flat bars and a seatpost, both are unremarkable for good or bad and time will tell how good they are.

So now the most enjoyable bit will start   Not an ideal weekend for it as I have visitors but I'll do my best!!

[Carbon_Dude]

It's looking really good davidd!  Look forward to seeing more pictures of the build.

[davidd]

Heres a picture of the sticker inside the headtube.  I just thought it might be of interest to those with a more indepth knowledge/interest in chinese frames.