Lightcarbon: LCR018-D (endurance all-road)

[Specialf.]

wow very beautifull

[2JPW]

Just wondered if anyone has built one of these up and uses a regular bike box Alan to transport ?
I plan to do this, just wondered how complicated it is with the integrated handle bar?

[jksu]

NBD morning ride report (30mi/50k, 4000ft/1200m climbing):

bike rides great!  it's about 1lb heavier than my old rim brake bike (30mm depth carbon wheels/dura ace mechanical rim vs 50mm depth on the LCR/dura ace di2 disc), so i can't say it flies up climbs, but it climbs fine and did seem to accelerate and build more speed on downhills and flats compared to before.

no wobbles. tracks straight. easy enough to ride hands free.  handling is decent, meaning quick, despite the slacker HTA 72.5 compared to my old bike 73.5.  did a few twisty descents and while i had to maybe lean a little harder, it was definitely reasonable and not "slow."

no creaks.  no rattles (i did tuck the in frame storage zipper pull when i stowed it). 

i had to slide the seat a little further back vs leaving it in the middle atop the zero offset post, as the steeper STA 73.5 (compared to 73 on my old bike) meant the seat was just a bit more forward than i expected. i did re-check and snugged up the seat bolts a little more after the ride, so definitely something to check after a few miles into installing a new seat.  no problem accessing the seat or seat post bolts btw with L-bend allen wrenches, for those wondering.  some folks were complaining about accessing the bolts, but with the right tools it's fine.  definitely a great investment if you don't already have a set: https://a.co/d/03lUakvE

lots of climbing so plenty of descents to bed the brake pads.  very slight front brake rub which i fixed post-ride re-aligning the calipers using one of those shims that slide over the rotor to push and keep the calipers back. worked liked a charm. 

slightly more comfortable rear bump compliance and about the same up front compared to my 2015 parlee altum rim brake (LCR on 30mm measured tires @60psi front/62psi rear vs the parlee 26mm measured tires @65psi/67psi). will try 700x32 after wearing through this set of 700x30.

re: the hbr17 handlebar...plenty stiff in the 400-90 configuration. no "give" i could feel.  the tops are comfortable, but i may need to double wrap the drops because i like a girthier grip in (could be i selected a thinner fizik bar tape than the tape on my other bike).  short drop of the bars means getting in the drops was easy and comfortable.  probably could go down to no spacers or just 5mm (from 10mm) under the stem, but happy with the 10mm for now for comfort on longer rides.  the little cap above the top of the headset and the slight rise in the bars add a bit of height.

the out-front computer mount does stick out further and is angled flatter than ideal... 1cm closer and it would still fit a large computer fine. angled slightly upwards would be better visibility of the screen.  no adjustment possible.  looks sick though.

hoping to do a longer ride this weekend!

[Ghandy]

8.5mm from a 30mm measured tire and the front derailleur

Thanks for checking! But I wanted to know the clearance for sram 2x. I like your bike!

[jksu]

speaking of tightening seat bolts, it's nice a sheet with torque specs was included with the LCR018.  i didn't get one with any of my other bikes i bought new (litespeed, felt, specialized) although they probably could be found online in a pdf... but still i think it is nice for light carbon to include it in the box.

[rosteven]

speaking of tightening seat bolts, it's nice a sheet with torque specs was included with the LCR018.  i didn't get one with any of my other bikes i bought new (litespeed, felt, specialized) although they probably could be found online in a pdf... but still i think it is nice for light carbon to include it in the box.

With Specialized it is available online as an .pdf.

[mingc]

A short update after 2000km on my bike.

Discovered a little crack in the paint in the right top corner of the storage opening.

LC checked the pictures and said: "Our engineer said that is just a little bit crack on the paint surface, it won't affect the stiffness and strength. Please don't worry about that."

I mean in this area you can not flex the carbon due to the thickness of it, so pushing and squeezing it doesn't do anything.
I also don't hear any difference when tapping it. I'm no carbon expert but will trust LC with this statement.

Still waiting for an answer to the question that this shouldn't be normal in the paint, after 2k and 3/4 year of riding.

And i don't want to complaint about, that the under 1k€ frame has a small crack in the paint (if it's only the paint i guess).
I mean, i ride this bike like a 1.5k€ bike. No paint protection foil or else.

At the end of the day it's a not a 10k€ bike, which i would cry over every small dent/scratch in the paint ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I noticed a similar mark on the exact same spot yesterday. I'm not too fuzzed about it, if it says like this, but it is remarkable that this type of crack appears more often. Ive done 2200km on the bike since half of april

When you open the storage compartment door, you have to pull it upwards to remove it. When you do so, the door levers against the spot in question. I suspect this is the source of the cracks. I try to be as gentle as I can when removing the door.

[POTOOOOOOOO]

When you open the storage compartment door, you have to pull it upwards to remove it. When you do so, the door levers against the spot in question. I suspect this is the source of the cracks. I try to be as gentle as I can when removing the door.

Yeah, it also depends on the bottle cage you use.
I twist mine out sideways to avoid the contact

[szorek]

speaking of tightening seat bolts, it's nice a sheet with torque specs was included with the LCR018.  i didn't get one with any of my other bikes i bought new (litespeed, felt, specialized) although they probably could be found online in a pdf... but still i think it is nice for light carbon to include it in the box.

Don't you think tightening the top cap to 6 Nm is too much? Based on my experience, it seems like too much to me. How much torque do you guys use when tightening it?

[Bender87]

When you open the storage compartment door, you have to pull it upwards to remove it. When you do so, the door levers against the spot in question. I suspect this is the source of the cracks. I try to be as gentle as I can when removing the door.

Yeah, it also depends on the bottle cage you use.
I twist mine out sideways to avoid the contact

Good point, i will check it.

[Serge_K]

Don't you think tightening the top cap to 6 Nm is too much? Based on my experience, it seems like too much to me. How much torque do you guys use when tightening it?

i've done much more than that. The top cap is unique, in that you can technically loosen it after you've tightened the stem bolts so it's under tension for mere minutes. I've done 12 nm on the compression plug (only ever do that if the steerer / plug is pushing against the stem, obviously), then tighten the column like an animal by tightening the top cap, tighten the stem bolts, and loosen the top cap. Once you understand how the steerer column works (took me a while), it works. At least it makes sense in my head. But as someone pointed out recently, i have brain rot.

Edit: obviously, this implies bearings working freely. we're trying to get the bike to work, not the opposite.

[jksu]

was watching the factory interview/tour of lightcarbon on youtube...(super interesting and cool to see their design approach and QA process, etc).  it's interesting to note they purposely target sub $1000 framesets for their own brand, feeling that is a reasonable price and profit margin, going for 80-90% of the performance of big brand's top bikes at 40-50% of the price.  it's funny to hear them say charging over $1000 is just gouging.  they seem super down to earth....

i'm not a bike business expert and clearly they are doing well (maybe too much demand considering the lead times), but instead of so many variations & models and all at the same lower price level, maybe lightcarbon could settle on a few designs, but have a standard version LCR018 $950 w/paint, but also offer a LCR018 Pro that's 200-300gm lighter for $1250-$1350, similar to the sworks version that specialized and other brands do for their high end models.  basically that let's LC edge towards 95-100% of the big brands in terms of performance/weight, but still significantly less expensive than the name brands.  that would offer bigger profit margins per bike for only slightly more labor and fancier carbon costs.  just a thought. 

at 1100gms the frame is on the heavier side for a road bike (maybe because it's build sturdy enough to be a gravel bike?)  a 900gm version i think could easily be built up as a 7kg bike (1100gm carbon spoke wheelset, carbon cranks, etc) and offer the lightweight and aero combo and give those big brand high end bikes a real run for their money.

[POTOOOOOOOO]

was watching the factory interview/tour of lightcarbon on youtube...(super interesting and cool to see their design approach and QA process, etc).  it's interesting to note they purposely target sub $1000 framesets for their own brand, feeling that is a reasonable price and profit margin, going for 80-90% of the performance of big brand's top bikes at 40-50% of the price.  it's funny to hear them say charging over $1000 is just gouging.  they seem super down to earth....

i'm not a bike business expert and clearly they are doing well (maybe too much demand considering the lead times), but instead of so many variations & models and all at the same lower price level, maybe lightcarbon could settle on a few designs, but have a standard version LCR018 $950 w/paint, but also offer a LCR018 Pro that's 200-300gm lighter for $1250-$1350, similar to the sworks version that specialized and other brands do for their high end models.  basically that let's LC edge towards 95-100% of the big brands in terms of performance/weight, but still significantly less expensive than the name brands.  that would offer bigger profit margins per bike for only slightly more labor and fancier carbon costs.  just a thought. 

at 1100gms the frame is on the heavier side for a road bike (maybe because it's build sturdy enough to be a gravel bike?)  a 900gm version i think could easily be built up as a 7kg bike (1100gm carbon spoke wheelset, carbon cranks, etc) and offer the lightweight and aero combo and give those big brand high end bikes a real run for their money.

Until you learn that 4-6 watts is enough to outweigh 1kg of weight up to a 10% incline. Dropping 200g from a frame is effectively meaningless in real terms.
Most people carry a massive multi tool where they could go slimline and save similar weight.

I’m an absolute weight weenie, but efficiency will kill weight for the majority of bike builds, for the majority of people.

[jksu]

absolutely agree with you.

hitting the gym and putting out more watts >> 1-2lbs on the bike.  it's why i wasn't willing to pay for a carbon spoked wheelset, carbon crankset or a SL9 :-)

but it doesn't stop most of us of wishing/wanting the bike to dance under us when we accelerate or start a climb.  i was bringing the lighter frame option up just as a business opportunity for the hardworking folks at LC.

Until you learn that 4-6 watts is enough to outweigh 1kg of weight up to a 10% incline. Dropping 200g from a frame is effectively meaningless in real terms.
Most people carry a massive multi tool where they could go slimline and save similar weight.

I’m an absolute weight weenie, but efficiency will kill weight for the majority of bike builds, for the majority of people.

[bsharp77]

Pretty sure there’s been a few builds that have came in close to the 7kg mark.
It certainly doesn’t feel like a heavy bike to ride, if anything it’s one of the more enjoyable frames I’ve ridden in the past few years.

I was set to preorder an LCR020, but I’m getting on so well with the 018 that I just can’t justify the spend…this year anyway.

5000km in and it’s honestly an amazing frameset.
I’ve just ordered a set of Peters new 58mm aero wheels and a cheap carbon crank from AliExpress, which will give the bike even more options and keep me tinkering.