Seraph Bikes Superlight 836g X68 - Alternative to SL8 Fakes?

[Velocity-Velo]

Did you build it? Really curious to the end result.

I'm sorry haven't been on the forum for a long time, but yes i've build it.

Total build weight, including pedals, Wahoo mount and bottle cage came to 6.8KG!

[Velocity-Velo]

Forgot to add the photo, not the best one but i really love the look of the bike.

[crutoyall]

Forgot to add the photo, not the best one but i really love the look of the bike.

Hello!

The front system is 1X or 2X (Pass Quest). Please share the link to this product.

Thanks!

[Velocity-Velo]

Hi!

I loved the look of a 1x but a 2x is just more versatile.
It is a 2x chainring setup.

 | Magene kettingblad 110 BCD 4 bouten Pes P505 P515 vermogensmeter 50 34T 52 36T 53 39 54 40 dubbel wielrenfiets kettingblad
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EvnwlpG

[bastisk8]

Hi,

i`m about to build up a Tarmac SL8 but the frame didn`t come with the Roval Cockpit.
Are there any recommendations here about good quality clones?
Saw some branded as Elita One (which i have had good experience with, especially seatposts) or Ullicyc T-3.
Any other recommendations here? What are you using and how have your`s been holding up?

[midmin]

Hey everyone,

Has anyone here ever ordered just a standalone fork from Seraph, or tried pairing a Seraph X68 fork with a Yohobike (or other supplier’s) SL8 frame? Did the internal routing ports and headset crown race drop in nicely without fitment issues?

I’m currently about to start building up my SL8 which I brought from Yohobike.

When I took it in to the mechanic, he noticed a gouge on the steerer which extends from the hose port slot. Being concerned, he asked me to send it to a carbon expert for their opinion. As it was going to be a hassle anyways, I ended up sending the frame along for inspection.

The carbon specialist is certified and uses aerospace/military-grade NDT methods based here in Australia.

Upon receiving the report, it says that the frame laminate came back in acceptable condition, bar some minor porosity in the down tube. However the fork came back with large areas of manufacturing voids in the steerer, 17 in total throughout the length. And there are two smaller voids in the legs too.

This confirms that that the fork should not be used.

Since Yohobike seems hard to reach now, I’m looking to source a replacement fork from Seraph instead. Especially as there were improvements made after the earlier incident.

Appreciate any insights!

[Serge_K]

the fork came back with large areas of manufacturing voids in the steerer, 17 in total throughout the length. And there are two smaller voids in the legs too.

This confirms that that the fork should not be used.

The thread is 140 pages long, but let's not forget this clone / fake has a documented case here of fork basically collapsing on itself for no reason. Afaik, it's the only case of catastrophic failure from shoddy manufacturing we've seen for years (not that i'm known for my memory).
There's no operational reason why the fork and frame should be made by the same people in the same factory. In fact, would make a lot of sense for a factory to just make forks, given that the composites industry in China is clustered in a few cities where moving products between locations is very easy.
From there, given the stuff is largely illegal, it's not hard to believe that some actors wouldn't exactly do the best QC / layup.

[midmin]

Right! So you’re saying there’s an every bit of a chance that the fork and frame would come from different factories? How interesting.

So there should be cross compatibility?

I definitely signed up for the risk that this might happen by going down this path. Just glad it was flagged earlier rather down a decent.

The main reason I’m asking about the Seraph fork specifically is because of that exact incident you mentioned. From reading through the thread, it looks like TanTan/Seraph actually addressed that failure by an updated and reinforced version. Since the X68 seems to have a much wider user base with generally positive feedback, I was hoping their updated fork might be a far safer drop-in alternative than whatever Yoho supplied.

[glepore]

You can contact them, but they're not actively selling the frame any longer, so I'd doubt they'd want to sell you a fork.

[rosteven]

You can contact them, but they're not actively selling the frame any longer, so I'd doubt they'd want to sell you a fork.

Correction - They are back to selling both the frameset and complete bikes on the TanTan/Seraph websites, but some of the sizes are no longer available.  From what I heard they had sold the X68 molds, so they may be closing out left-over stock. I wonder how they plan of fulfilling warranty claims that may come in?

[LowPaceKingdom]

Hey everyone,

Has anyone here ever ordered just a standalone fork from Seraph, or tried pairing a Seraph X68 fork with a Yohobike (or other supplier’s) SL8 frame? Did the internal routing ports and headset crown race drop in nicely without fitment issues?

I’m currently about to start building up my SL8 which I brought from Yohobike.

When I took it in to the mechanic, he noticed a gouge on the steerer which extends from the hose port slot. Being concerned, he asked me to send it to a carbon expert for their opinion. As it was going to be a hassle anyways, I ended up sending the frame along for inspection.

The carbon specialist is certified and uses aerospace/military-grade NDT methods based here in Australia.

Upon receiving the report, it says that the frame laminate came back in acceptable condition, bar some minor porosity in the down tube. However the fork came back with large areas of manufacturing voids in the steerer, 17 in total throughout the length. And there are two smaller voids in the legs too.

This confirms that that the fork should not be used.

Since Yohobike seems hard to reach now, I’m looking to source a replacement fork from Seraph instead. Especially as there were improvements made after the earlier incident.

Appreciate any insights!

Canu please Mark the spots iwith Paint in the Screenshots where U think IT IS critical

[Lotnik]

TanTan now starts selling the bike under new name (?) with 14 speed Sensah groupset.

https://www.seraphbikes.com/new-superlight-road-bike-tt-x7-carbon-wheelset-shimano-105-mechanical-or-di2-groupset-4649515356cm-complete-bike-p7143503.html

[BeR]

TanTan now starts selling the bike under new name (?) with 14 speed Sensah groupset.

https://www.seraphbikes.com/new-superlight-road-bike-tt-x7-carbon-wheelset-shimano-105-mechanical-or-di2-groupset-4649515356cm-complete-bike-p7143503.html

Not the same (same as Twitter X7).

[fhill]

Here is a picture of the bottom bracket on my X68.

This is the replacement frame as the first frame also had this kind of issues.
TanTan is claiming that only the BB is moving and that their aluminium BB housing is fine...

Honestly, just don't buy any of their stuff

[rosteven]

Here is a picture of the bottom bracket on my X68.

This is the replacement frame as the first frame also had this kind of issues.
TanTan is claiming that only the BB is moving and that their aluminium BB housing is fine...

Honestly, just don't buy any of their stuff

I replayed your video four times and it does look like only the BB is moving.  If you are seeing movement in the BB housing area you might want to send them another video showing it.