Flyxii FR-216 budget build

[gleini]

Since mine Stevens S7 bicycle has seen its better days I decided to build a new 29er and reuse some of the parts from the bike. Since I´m a student it was important to keep the costs down.

My choice of frame ended up in the Flyxii FR-216 19" UD matt. I liked the geometry and design much better than the IP-057. When the sum ended up at 500$ for the frame, fork, seatpost and handlebar it was a easy choice.

I was thinking of reusing the brakes from the Stevens. Since I´m going for a details in red, including brake hoses I ended up to buy a set of SLX-M675 brakes that had been taken of a new bike for 80$.

I got the frame on my door in Norway 7 days after I ordered it from China, with free shipping. I also bought Shimano MT66 wheelset with tires used once for 240$. The wheelset is the first one to be upgraded when I can afford it.

So I ended up to just reuse my drivechain(casette, crank, front gear and rear derailleur) and disc brake rotors from my old bike. The total cost will end up around 900$.

Following is some pictures of the receieved frame and accessories. Rest of the parts are scheduled to arrive in the coming week. So I hope the bike will be ready in 2-3 weeks.

A question I`ve noticed:
- The headset has plastic bearings. How durable is plastic as material in headsets?

[gleini]

Frame weight.

[Carbon_Dude]

$900 USD is a very inexpensive build.  The FR-216 has been around a while and has been very popular as a very inexpensive frame you can easily get off eBay with free shipping.

Thanks for posting, enjoy your new bike!

[Arraider]

nice    The frame seems awesome, keep the news coming.

[Patrick C.]

Can you post a picture of the headset bearing? Not sure which parts of it might be plastic.

[gleini]

Can you post a picture of the headset bearing? Not sure which parts of it might be plastic.

[Patrick C.]

You mean the headset cups,which are part of the frame?  Not sure if those are plastic, or aluminum with an oxide or some other coating.  If they are plastic, I wouldn't have a problem as long as everything is aligned correctly and the actual bearings fit correctly (and they use an appropriate material, of course).

Can someone from iPlay comment on what material their headset cups are made of, and how they are installed- molded in, or glued in afterward?

[Carbon_Dude]

My guess is they are black anodized aluminum and they are molded into the frame during manufacture.  At least that's what I remember from when I built up my bikes.

[gleini]

Do I need to pressfit the headset? Or is it just to put them in the frame and insert the fork?

The headset: http://www.aerozinebike.com/pro_5_113.html

[Carbon_Dude]

If you have the correct size headset, it will drop in.  No press fit required.

[gleini]

Thank you Carbon_dude, it seems like it will slip right in. Since I never have put together a bike before I didn´t know how it is done.

Got my package with the parts today, so its building time! Hopefully, if I´m not getting any trouble it should be ready this weekend!

[Carbon_Dude]

That looks like most of what you will need. 

You might need some extra brake line barbs & olives, if you've not shortened hydraulic lines before, it's a task that's a bit involved and easy to mess up.  As has been discussed before, a torque wrench with hex & torx bits is always a good idea if you have any carbon parts besides the frame.

Be patient, you will learn a lot building your own bike.  Also, don't expect to get it all done in a day or two, inevitably you will need something for your bike and a LBS may not have what you need in stock.

[gleini]

Some trouble installing the headset. The bottom headset fitted perfectly, but the upper headset seems to have some slack. When I have installed the headset it does not fit 100%, it´s seems like it is some micrometers too small. Is it just to press it more down? I will upload some pictures later today.

Have anyone else experienced this problem?

[Carbon_Dude]

There have been one or two people who have mentioned one of the headset bearings fitting tightly into the frame.  All they did was clean out the integrated race as there was some epoxy left behind from the manufacturing process.

Hopefully that's all the problem is and not a problem with having the wrong size headset bearing.

[gleini]

Here´s a video of the problem. As you can hear (and see?) it is possible to move the bearings some micrometers. Is there anything that I have missed? Do you need to pressfit the bearing, or should it just slide into place?
View My Video

And here some photos of the bearings and steeringtube.