Lightcarbon: LCR018-D (endurance all-road)

[GammaDriver]

absolutely no issue running 21mm rims.

You could even go 19mm inner width rims, because we can mount tires to anything - it doesn't mean you're right.  Depending on tire size, it could mean that you don't understand what you're doing at all, and that engineering concepts of mounted tire profiles and the aerodynamics of rims to tires befuddle you.  That's not something to preach is OK. 

[POTOOOOOOOO]

In my opinion, some of you are confusing brand fascination with what is actually happening. Extending a shipping lead time from one month to three or four has absolutely nothing to do with buying a 'premium' or 'custom' product. It’s a clear sign that something went wrong. It looks like LightCarbon (LC) simply decided to prioritize larger orders without bothering to inform individual customers who had already paid.

​What’s even worse is the inconsistency. On one hand, people point to the custom paint as an excuse, but on the other, LC claims the delay is due to a handlebar shortage. If a simple handlebar size is holding up an entire frame delivery for months, it makes LC look even more disorganized. How many orders do you have to overbook to turn a 4-week estimate into 16 weeks?

​As others have mentioned, the lack of proactive communication is incredibly frustrating. You don't get any info unless you go looking for it. At the same time, there is no option to cancel the order or receive a discount for the massive delay.

​At the end of the day, 'great quality' or 'custom paint' means nothing to me if I can't actually ride the bike. I am about to leave for a two-month trip on my old bike. As things stand, I won't see the LC frame until July at the earliest, even if they were to ship it tomorrow. This isn't a premium experience—it's a logistics failure.

It’s simple. Don’t buy from them if it’s an issue for you. Ask for a refund, and buy something else instead.

[2wheeledbarbie]

You could even go 19mm inner width rims, because we can mount tires to anything - it doesn't mean you're right.  Depending on tire size, it could mean that you don't understand what you're doing at all, and that engineering concepts of mounted tire profiles and the aerodynamics of rims to tires befuddle you.  That's not something to preach is OK.

again 19 mm would make very little difference on the size of the road tyres.  Heck I've got 25mm wide rims on my MTB.  Started off with 19mm running 2.35 inch tyres without any issue whatsoever.  Never held me back.  21 to 23mm  is nothing.  My OE wheels were 19 mm and my aero wheels are 23mm.  There is basically no difference to the look or feel of the tyres.

[Schneedolf]

In my opinion, some of you are confusing brand fascination with what is actually happening. Extending a shipping lead time from one month to three or four has absolutely nothing to do with buying a 'premium' or 'custom' product. It’s a clear sign that something went wrong. It looks like LightCarbon (LC) simply decided to prioritize larger orders without bothering to inform individual customers who had already paid.

​What’s even worse is the inconsistency. On one hand, people point to the custom paint as an excuse, but on the other, LC claims the delay is due to a handlebar shortage. If a simple handlebar size is holding up an entire frame delivery for months, it makes LC look even more disorganized. How many orders do you have to overbook to turn a 4-week estimate into 16 weeks?

​As others have mentioned, the lack of proactive communication is incredibly frustrating. You don't get any info unless you go looking for it. At the same time, there is no option to cancel the order or receive a discount for the massive delay.

​At the end of the day, 'great quality' or 'custom paint' means nothing to me if I can't actually ride the bike. I am about to leave for a two-month trip on my old bike. As things stand, I won't see the LC frame until July at the earliest, even if they were to ship it tomorrow. This isn't a premium experience—it's a logistics failure.

You are right about the logistical failures, but I disagree that this should be framed as a 'premium experience' gone wrong. By choosing a budget-friendly, direct-to-consumer route, we are essentially opting out of the premium service layer found with major brands.

At this price point, it’s also understandable that a manufacturer prioritizes bulk shipments over individual orders to keep their business growing. It’s definitely a lack of service, but it's also a reflection of the low entry price we paid. I hope LC continues to grow so they can keep offering these products to us.

[Schneedolf]

You could even go 19mm inner width rims, because we can mount tires to anything - it doesn't mean you're right.  Depending on tire size, it could mean that you don't understand what you're doing at all, and that engineering concepts of mounted tire profiles and the aerodynamics of rims to tires befuddle you.  That's not something to preach is OK.

I always adhere to this: https://www.continental-tires.com/tire-knowledge/tire-rim-combinations-etrto-standards/

[STEGPB]

Which bike brand offers configuration options? Why don’t they? Exactly. Custom paint is one aspect, but offering cockpits in four different widths and six different lengths alone adds significant complexity. One cannot conclude from this that they are unorganized or prioritize bulk shipments. This level of individualization directly reduces predictability in shipping times. That said, I agree they should still communicate this transparently.

[zealot128]

Regarding current delivery times, i also asked LC, they told me the current batches are all sold out, and 30-45 build time for black option. (Add the 14 days EU shipping I had, custom paint could be more). That also apparently goes for the other frames, Gravel, LCR17.
Handlebars: I also got a list of available stock of handlebars. It varies quite a bite between all combinations of Stem X width, so YMMV for a particular order, but that should not be the bottleneck right now.

I can only agree with other commentors like Schneedolf, NB87 and POTOOOOOOOO: it's not something to expect from a custom ordering at that price bracket. Lightcarbon operates on much slimmer margins than brands that have warehouses full of stock already shipped to your country.
They are also a very small brand, imagine a small/medium company - I only counted about a couple of dozens employees (frame fac/head office), not comparable to the likes of XDS/X-Lab, Giant etc. at all.
Also hard to scale, and from what I gathered they rather want to grow slowly and sustainable to keep quality level high and business risk low (looking at all the brands who fire employees ATM).

But i feel you, Sucks to wait - For sure! I really enjoying it very much, looking forward to my first race next week.
So if you need a frame for this season, that is unfortunately not gonna work.

[ScotAm123]

Ride Feedback

Did a regular 30mile (1800ft climbing) loop yesterday on the lcr018d. Already done this route many times on a trek domane and a tarmac sl7, so can compare it between the two. Road surface is poor in places, plenty of climbing in the route. Expectation was for the lcr018d to sit in between the two.
Had a fear the seat post would slip or the front bottle would go flying out due to the cover mechanism, but they never.

Clocked my fastest time , which surprised me. Did have some tailwind on way out, but I've had this before or on the way back. Speed doesn't mean much I know, but I've done this route 10+times each on other bikes. All three bikes weigh about the same.
Climbing: Better than the trek, tarmac being more nimble surpasses this.
Comfort: Better than the Trek and SL7. Delighted with this. This is probably its greatest attribute.
Speed: This bike is not slow !
Hopefully the seat post holds up, will find out in due course.

Negative
I experienced a rattling sound, and it appears its the storage cover. Frame was delivered last year, so must be the first version of it. Really need to get this resolved as otherwise I'm super impressed with the bike.

[NB87]

Ride Feedback

Did a regular 30mile (1800ft climbing) loop yesterday on the lcr018d. Already done this route many times on a trek domane and a tarmac sl7, so can compare it between the two. Road surface is poor in places, plenty of climbing in the route. Expectation was for the lcr018d to sit in between the two.
Had a fear the seat post would slip or the front bottle would go flying out due to the cover mechanism, but they never.

Clocked my fastest time , which surprised me. Did have some tailwind on way out, but I've had this before or on the way back. Speed doesn't mean much I know, but I've done this route 10+times each on other bikes. All three bikes weigh about the same.
Climbing: Better than the trek, tarmac being more nimble surpasses this.
Comfort: Better than the Trek and SL7. Delighted with this. This is probably its greatest attribute.
Speed: This bike is not slow !
Hopefully the seat post holds up, will find out in due course.

Negative
I experienced a rattling sound, and it appears its the storage cover. Frame was delivered last year, so must be the first version of it. Really need to get this resolved as otherwise I'm super impressed with the bike.

I agree that this bike is comfortable and definitely not slow! I'm going to use it for racing both gravel and crit and certainly don't feel like I have a disadvantage. Maybe even an advantage because I can sit in an aero position for a long time due to the comfy position.

Regarding the rattling sound, you might want to check the computer mount. That's where I had some rattling sound and had to add some material to prevent it.

I think they have solved the seatpost and cover problems.. I did a 150k gravel ride last weekend and also had 0 issues regarding this. The road was bumpy at times and I'm 85kg, so it was definitely a good test!

[POTOOOOOOOO]

230k so far this week since building my 18D.

So far 10 KOMs and I prefer it to my Caledonia 5.
Some were previously commenting on the frame stiffness- I’ve found no issues whats so ever. The front end is stiffer than the Caledonia which I thiink is a good comparison.
Hard to judge BB stiffness due to different cranks, wheels and tyres - they all add an element of bend into the mix.

Super impressive - I’d absolutely buy another frame from LC. Kinda makes allot of other more expensive stuff feel rather irrelevant.


Edit to correct typos

[bsharp77]

Great to hear all the positive ride reports coming in.
3000km on the LCR018-D for me now and honestly - its just getting better and better.

Finally getting some decent weather, and I can now see the speed thats been hiding in this frame.
Just set an all time record yesterday on a 32km loop that I do once a week as my "flat out" training ride. (over 60 recorded rides on this exact route).
I didn't just beat my old Aeroad time, I smashed it by 0.5km/hr.....and this is with it in what i'd call comfort mode - I am going to drop the bars by around 1.5cm soon!

The updated storage door is performing great (thanks for the help in getting one Steve!) and since putting some Silca carbon paste on the seat post (highly recommended and worth it over other brands) it has been solid.
I just had a custom Varia mount 3D printed for the seat post which looks really nice - I'll upload a photo once all is installed.

What a bike this is for the money. As mentioned, it's performing so well that im questioning whether to even bother with a flat out aero bike.
It will be very interesting to see what LC have in store for us this year - for the quality they provide at this price point, im prepared to wait as long as it takes! :-)

[Mndrvld]

Here is my recently built LCR018-D in size 58, raw carbon color with a glossy finish.

The components used for this build are mostly parts I still had lying around or parts taken from my previous bike.
About myself; I’m 1.92 m tall and have an inseam of approximately 91 cm.

Frame: Size 58 with storage compartment
Handlebar: 400x100
Stem: Zero offset
Groupset: SRAM Rival with Force power meter crankset and Goldix 10-28 cassette
Wheelset: DT Swiss ERC 1100, 45 mm deep
Tires: Conti GP5000S TR 30 mm front, 32 mm rear
Saddle: Ryet Carbon
Bottle cages: Tacx
Bottom bracket: CEMA Ceramic DUB
Handlebar tape: BBB FlexRibbon
Pedals: Look Keo 2 Max

Bike weight = 7.8 kg (pedals, mounts, bottle cages etc included)


Building up the frame went very smoothly. No remarks there at all. The only “downside” is that the steerer tube does not sit flush/horizontal with the top of the stem, which means you cannot place spacers above the stem to experiment with the handlebar height in search of my optimal position. I noticed there is a 3D-printed alternative on the forum, so I’ll try that at some point in the future.

First impressions of the ride quality after about 500 km: I don’t live in a mountainous area, so my feedback is mainly based on rides on flat roads, with the occasional short, punchy climb, as well as rides with a lot of crosswind.

I can only be positive about the frame so far. It feels stiff, comfortable, stable, and in my opinion quite responsive/direct. I can’t really compare it to high-end frames, as I’ve never owned one myself. My previous frame was an Orbea Orca, and the difference compared to that frame is significant. In short: nothing but a big smile so far.

As many others have already mentioned here, I also experienced a creaking seatpost on the first ride. The seatpost that was supplied is the latest version, fully wrapped with friction tape all around. I was able to solve the creaking by adding a small amount of electrical tape around the seatpost, together with the necessary amount of carbon assembly paste.

That was it. Enjoy all riding your bikes this weekend!

[KRoser]

Iam also happy to report that after 2500km I absolutely love my LightCarbon build.
This is my current setup.
I only changed my wheelset from carbon spokes to steel cxray spokes, I have no idea why but I much prefer feel of steel spokes even thou wheels are 150g heavier and I put 180mm brake rotors thanks to aftermarket UberBike adapters, I think those 180mm rotors are absolutely amazing and if you are maybe 90kg+ I would absolutely recommend to consider them, braking power is amazing, no clicking or ticking sounds even after long descends and rotors and pads looking like new even after those 2500km.

So yeah very happy so far no problems with seatpost or whatnot.
Only thing I regret is not going for raw black glossy paint , that according to pictures in this thread looks pretty amazing .

[Serge_K]

Iam also happy to report that after 2500km I absolutely love my LightCarbon build.
This is my current setup.
I only changed my wheelset from carbon spokes to steel cxray spokes, I have no idea why but I much prefer feel of steel spokes even thou wheels are 150g heavier and I put 180mm brake rotors thanks to aftermarket UberBike adapters, I think those 180mm rotors are absolutely amazing and if you are maybe 90kg+ I would absolutely recommend to consider them, braking power is amazing, no clicking or ticking sounds even after long descends and rotors and pads looking like new even after those 2500km.

So yeah very happy so far no problems with seatpost or whatnot.
Only thing I regret is not going for raw black glossy paint , that according to pictures in this thread looks pretty amazing .

Nice! could you please link to the exact adaptor you've used, and confirm which caliper you're using exactly? i ve bought the wrong thing before... Interested for the front.
Also, what tyres / size are you running? Are the wheels 50mm?
Thanks!

[KRoser]

Serge_K: It is exactly this one
https://uberbikecomponents.com/collections/flatmounts/products/uberbike-flatmount-adapter-180mm-front

It comes from UK so I have to pay import tax, there are some other brands making this adapter with just diferent logo, if you search "flatmount 180mm adatper" on google and pick one that looks same as this one you should be fine, it is for standard shimano 105 R7170 caliper.

Those rims are from Farsports 58mm rear, 50mm front.
Tyres are
front: GP5000 32mm (34.3mm measured)
rear: GP5000 STR 32mm (35mm measured)
with TPU inertubes
I build those wheels myself on H-Works SR330 hubs and cx-ray spokes, they came up pretty solid, hands down my favorite wheelset I have ever own.