Help me choose new frame and components

[dirus]

Hello everyone,

I have been reading this forum for over 2 months now in hopes to help me navigate the world of Chinese bike brands. I am looking to build myself a gravel/cx bike which I could use everyday. I love cycling but unfortunately I can't afford 2 000 $ frame right now. I am hoping kind people on this forum will be able to help me choose/recommend the frame and components. Right now I am looking at ICAN Graro  but am willing to consider anything else.

I am big rider (100kg) who loves to sprint so I am looking for a stiff frame (even at the expense of comfort) up to 1000$. I would also love to hear recommendations for groupset, wheels and components.

[Serge_K]

I'll talk about what I've experienced: the VB GF002, 003, and the carbon speed pinarello grevil clone. They're all nice, but strong preference for the clone, it's such a fun frame, very fast, very road orientated. The VB ones are much less fun on the road, older and arguably not as well finished.
If the clone interests you, Peter is on the forum. Pricing for all 3 are within your budget. Afaik, ican doesn't make better frames (nor worse), but do spend money on marketing and kick backs, so they charge more.

[dsveddy]

ICAN is a well trusted brand, graero should suit your needs well.

I have a light carbon LGC071, was under $700 incl. shipping. Very light and stiff frame, not very aero or road friendly.

Carbonda CFR707 is also a very popular pick with a lot of fans here in the forum. Should be less than $1000 as well.

For wheels, I can recommend ICAN as a solid pre-built pick.

As far as groupsets go, you need to figure out if you want 1x or 2x. In general it's hard for me to recommend any chiner groupset for gravel. If you want 2x with a clutched/dampened derailleur, then there are no Chiner options. Really, the only Chiner gravel groupsets are LTWOO GRT and eGR. I can find Shimano GRX mechanical full-groupsets for ~$700, which will be much higher quality and better durability than LTWOO GRT, as well as 2X (if that's what you want).