Spcycle New Mold SP-R088 Carbon Road Frame

[Dr J]

I found the issue and, of course, it was stupid me.

The headset is delivered with two different setups, one for internal routing and one for external routing. The „racer ring“, clamping the top bearing, has a different height for those two setups. The bigger one has to be used for internal cable routing.

Thats weird, I only received 1 of those Compression rings with my frame.
Ended up using one I got with my handlebar.

[MarMirZ990]

Thats weird, I only received 1 of those Compression rings with my frame.
Ended up using one I got with my handlebar.

The cap for the external routing has a dedicated face to clamp on the compression ring (marked red), the cap for internal doesn’t. Therefore the compression ring for external cables seems to be smaller. I ordered the frame including handlebar.

Next step tomorrow is sanding down the obstacle for the Di2 battery.

[Dr J]

I'd try an alternative BB first before trying to mess with sanding. Maybe if you can get a Shimano BBR60 Ultegra threaded BB and see if that will go all the way through? If you don't have access to one, did your Chinese BB come with spacers? I'd experiment with that to see if it'll take up the spacing gap.

Ah it might be hard to tell from the picture; but the gap only exists on the right side of the drive side bottom bracket. So i can screw the BB in there fully; but there is a gap on the right side of the drive side bearing anyway.

[Dr J]

Finally found some time to build mine up.

But I ran into a potential problem? The drive side of the bottom bracket looks like this: there is a gap. I dont think this can be resolved by sanding down the bottom bracket. Looks like the cup might be misaligned?

What do you guys think?

So; SPCycle got back to me about this matter.

They replied the following:
“The engineer told me. Workers will use professional alignment tools to bond the BSA inlay threads. Usually the threads on the left and right sides will not be misaligned. The gap may be caused by over-sanding of the worker and will not affect the frame strength. “

But I am not afraid of the frame strength. If there remains a gap on the right side of the bottom bracket drive side bearing (bottom bracket doenst sit flush against the frame) it will lead to premature bearing failure and probably a creaking sound too right?

What do you guys think? What would be a good solution? Their explanation also leads me to  believe that I can not change this, and might need a new frame…

[Bonus79]

So; SPCycle got back to me about this matter.

They replied the following:
“The engineer told me. Workers will use professional alignment tools to bond the BSA inlay threads. Usually the threads on the left and right sides will not be misaligned. The gap may be caused by over-sanding of the worker and will not affect the frame strength. “

But I am not afraid of the frame strength. If there remains a gap on the right side of the bottom bracket drive side bearing (bottom bracket doenst sit flush against the frame) it will lead to premature bearing failure and probably a creaking sound too right?

What do you guys think? What would be a good solution? Their explanation also leads me to  believe that I can not change this, and might need a new frame…

Looking at the photo you posted, it is clearly visible that on one side there is more space/light than on the other which seems to be in contact (or almost) with the BB box.

There could be two possible causes:
- the BB cap is not screwed correctly;
- the BB box of the frame is not regular.

In this second case I think there is little to do....asking for the replacement of the frame and/or the arrangement to someone who works/repairs carbon (asking Spcycle to reimburse the related expenses).

[Dr J]

Looking at the photo you posted, it is clearly visible that on one side there is more space/light than on the other which seems to be in contact (or almost) with the BB box.

There could be two possible causes:
- the BB cap is not screwed correctly;
- the BB box of the frame is not regular.

In this second case I think there is little to do....asking for the replacement of the frame and/or the arrangement to someone who works/repairs carbon (asking Spcycle to reimburse the related expenses).

Thanks. Thats exactly what I thought. The bottom Bracket is screwed in correctly.

There is no other solution than to have the frame replaced by them. Lets see how SPCycle will deal with this. So far they have been helpfull, and someone in this topic aready had his frame replaced. But lets see how they handle this.

[Bonus79]

Thanks. Thats exactly what I thought. The bottom Bracket is screwed in correctly.

There is no other solution than to have the frame replaced by them. Lets see how SPCycle will deal with this. So far they have been helpfull, and someone in this topic aready had his frame replaced. But lets see how they handle this.

I imagine that they have already seen the photos you posted....so I would try to insist (up to now they have proven to be very serious and available), also because I don't see many alternatives to replacing/modify the frame.

[jonathanf2]

Thanks. Thats exactly what I thought. The bottom Bracket is screwed in correctly.

There is no other solution than to have the frame replaced by them. Lets see how SPCycle will deal with this. So far they have been helpfull, and someone in this topic aready had his frame replaced. But lets see how they handle this.

Have you tried a different bottom bracket? The Chinese threaded BB68 BBs tend to have more screw thread compared to Shimano cups. Perhaps that might help.

[Dr J]

Have you tried a different bottom bracket? The Chinese threaded BB68 BBs tend to have more screw thread compared to Shimano cups. Perhaps that might help.

I have tried various bottom brackets.

I’ll try to explain it better: the part of the bottom bracket in the red circle does not sit flush against the frame. The green part of the bottom bracket sits flush against the frame.

[jonathanf2]

You havent fully understood the problem yet. I know its difficult to explain, but I will upload a video later .

I get it dude, but a lot of the Chinese components can have weird specs. I'd at least eliminate the BB first before having to initiate a frameset return. I've run into all sorts of issues building bikes where one part wouldn't fit, but another part does fit. Plus you're trying to fit the cheapest junk BB onto your frame. They literally give those away. No offense, but I'd at least use a proper Shimano BB if possible.

[Dr J]

I get it dude, but a lot of the Chinese components can have weird specs. I'd at least eliminate the BB first before having to initiate a frameset return. I've run into all sorts of issues building bikes where one part wouldn't fit, but another part does fit. Plus you're trying to fit the cheapest junk BB onto your frame. They literally give those away. No offense, but I'd at least use a proper Shimano BB if possible.

Wow; sorry man  . I didnt want to upset you. I was just trying to explain the problem more clearly. I thought I hadnt made myself clear enough; leaving room for a different interpretation of the problem.
As stated: i have tried multiple bottom brackets and all show exactly the same problem as displayed above. I will await SPCyles response and keep you guys posted.

[glepore]

I wouldn't be overly troubled by that . If the threading for the cups is aligned correctly the bb will work fine regardless of that contact. I'd ask for permission to have the frame professionally faced without prejudice to any warranty claim, take it to a local shop and have them face it. I suspec that their explanation may not be far off.

[jonathanf2]

I wouldn't be overly troubled by that . If the threading for the cups is aligned correctly the bb will work fine regardless of that contact. I'd ask for permission to have the frame professionally faced without prejudice to any warranty claim, take it to a local shop and have them face it. I suspec that their explanation may not be far off.

I've heard of vendors paying the fee with proof of receipt for procedures like these. It'll save the hassle of shipping and frame replacement as well.

[laneweaver]

I'm back -- I got my frame back from the bike shop last week and the BB is decently faced, and squared off -- I wish I could have just done it myself, I think I could have done a better job, but at least it's cheaper than buying a $500 facing tool.

Anyway, I realized that I needed longer hydraulic brake lines and a longer di2 cable so now I'm waiting for that to come in.

In the meantime, I've cut my fork and did a drivetrain-less piecing together to see if everything fit, and it does. I was worried because it was my first time cutting a steerer tube, especially after not being able to remove any play from the fork/stem prior to marking the cut. But after some thinking, and since I used a couple thick spacers, I could always re-cut the fork. As it is, however, it's perfect, and after temporarily installing the handlebar, it rotates nicely after removing any play.

Of course, now I've run into the dreaded seat tube battery issue, something I should have been prepared to do if I had just read this thread carefully. Anyway, it looks like my weekend is going to involve at least a little bit of sanding with either a long file or a makeshift sander like others have created.

Fortunately, it looks like SP has at improved the issue somehwat as the lip in my seat tube doesn't look as big as others have had. So I guess SP really is listening to feedback, if still not perfectly implemented. SP really just needs to remove/round out part of the "middle" of the lip -- where the battery should be able to slide down, but the seat post would still catch on the front and back. It's not like this lip really should be bearing weight anyway as the seat clamp should be doing that.

Anyway, I'm glad I have this thread to refer to. Seriously, thank you all that have gone through the same issues already, and posting your solutions. This thread and this forum in general is a treasure trove of information for otherwise what is basically the wild west -- or shall we call it the "wild east" -- of cheap, poorly documented, but decent quality parts. Here's to never breaking our teeth! 

[MarMirZ990]

Fortunately, it looks like SP has at improved the issue somehwat as the lip in my seat tube doesn't look as big as others have had. So I guess SP really is listening to feedback, if still not perfectly implemented. SP really just needs to remove/round out part of the "middle" of the lip -- where the battery should be able to slide down, but the seat post would still catch on the front and back. It's not like this lip really should be bearing weight anyway as the seat clamp should be doing that

They definitely improved in this point, but did not eliminate the problem entirely. Make sure to sand away a little bit more than you think is necessary! I ran into the problem, that I sanded away just enough to make the battery fit. Once all the cables were installed, it was quite a mess inside the seat tube and the battery didn’t slide straight into the tube, causing it to get stuck again.

I almost finished my build, hope to get the job done this weekend. I had a very big f*ck up with the front brake bolts.