Lightcarbon: LCR018-D (endurance all-road)

[NB87]

Today was Marly Grav. A 150 km gravel race through the south of the Netherlands, right in the Amstel Gold Race region.

It’s a UCI event where mere mortals get to race the same roads as riders like WvA. He won it in 4:08. The 150 km with 1800 m of elevation took me about an hour longer 😬

I’ll spare you the full race story, but I thought it would be interesting to share some thoughts on the bike after putting it through a proper test today.

Setup:
• Size 54 frame
• 380/120 cockpit
• Frame storage version (delivered early April, so updated seatpost + storage cover version)
• Zen 60/55 wheels, 24 mm internal width, 20 spokes front/rear, 3.1 mm
• Rear tire: Vredestein Aventura Seta 38 mm
• Front tire: Schwalbe G-One Allround 40mm
• 105 Di2 with GRX820 rear mech
• Ali carbon 165 mm cranks (forgot the brand, might update later)
• 52/36 Stone chainrings
• Ultegra 11-34 cassette

Positives:
The setup of the bike felt almost perfect. Apart from the rear wheel stiffness issue (that’s another story), I honestly can’t think of much I’d change.

This thing is FAST. The wheels definitely help, but especially once speeds go up on descents, the bike really comes alive. I could fully feed off those moments 😈

Handling is very good too. I usually do well once roads get more technical and twisty, and this bike absolutely rewards that.

And yeah… it looks amazing.

Negatives:
The saddle clamp system. Bloody hell, that was frustrating.
About 5 km in, I hit a bump and the saddle tilted. I was fully in race mode near the front of my age group, so stopping was not an option. I managed to force it back level using my weight and hand pressure, but it kept happening throughout the race. Probably 50 times or so. I had to constantly focus on sitting perfectly centered to avoid it tilting again. Very annoying.

Second issue: speed wobbles. When taking both hands off the bars at speed (maybe around 30 km/h, didn’t check), the front end wobbles pretty aggressively. Needed to grab the bars immediately to avoid what could have been a catastrophic wipeout 😅 Definitely sketchy. Edit: problem is gone. Possibly was caused by a crash earlier in the race, creating a bit of play/disbalance in the headset area.

Also noticed a rattling sound somewhere on the bike. I suspect the storage cover, but I’ll need to investigate. I like a quiet bike.
Edit: it was my multitool rattling around in the storage 

The bike and myself really got put through the wringer today.

Fantastic event.

[chaseme]

I'm looking to assemble my setup this week. Is the crown race integrated into the fork? Is it as simple as bearing onto lower fork-fork-insert fork-upper bearing-compression cring and spacers?

[paul_otta]

Great Insight @NB87!

This weekend I did a longer ride with my LCR018-D (Size 58) with an attached rear Rack Setup (Tailfin). And really loved the handling of the Bike.
I did kind of a Alp-Cross (started at the Border of Italy to end north the alps, 220k, 1500m) and really enjoyed the ride.

Positive:
- The Overall Position on the bike is really good for long rides. Even after 4 hours of riding I only stopped because I wanted to fuel not only by bars and drinkmix and eat something yummy.
- 35mm Pro5 Tires with the clearance of the frame is my sweetspot for this bike. I can easily detour through some gravel sections without worrying.
- my 1by Setup with 10-52 Eagle and the 44T Chainring perfectly suits my cadence - I can pedal over 60 kph but still got enough room left to get up 10%+ gravel climbs seated.
- the dynamo setup is super nice to get more visibility when going down the twisties - cars just give a bit more room and dont overtake others in stupid situations
- Tailfin is just the best

Negative:
- with the rear load the bike gets some speed whobling when riding no hands (for examble to change jacket/vest etc.) I didn expierence this when cycling without the rear load.
- rattling noise of the storage door (wendy told me that they are working on a v3 of the door with the lever going UP instead of DOWN to unlock)

Overall, after roughly 1.5k KM, I really like the bike. Would recommend it for similar use.

Funny thing: a woman shouted at me when I left the train station that she recognizes the design of my bike from the LB website

[JensenMacD]

Negatives:
Second issue: speed wobbles. When taking both hands off the bars at speed (maybe around 30 km/h, didn’t check), the front end wobbles pretty aggressively. Needed to grab the bars immediately to avoid what could have been a catastrophic wipeout 😅 Definitely sketchy.

Negative:
- with the rear load the bike gets some speed whobling when riding no hands (for examble to change jacket/vest etc.) I didn expierence this when cycling without the rear load.

What timing, I was coming here to ask about anyone dealing with death wobble... Has anyone had issues with this, when riding normally. If I go over 45km, on flat ground or downhill, I will get death wobble. I have checked/rechecked the headset and torque. Swapped out different front wheels/tires. Still get it. Not sure where or what to check next.

Quoted posts were about extra rear load but mine will happen with hands on hoods. Maybe I need to slide saddle forward or get an inline post, see if putting more seated weight forward??

[letsgethurt]

I'd personally try a Cane Creek Viscoset before messing with my position

[jstrawks]

The seatpost and storage cover have kept me holding off on a final decision. These new reports of high speed wobble are more concerning. I'm wondering what role wheel/tire choice are playing in this.

[POTOOOOOOOO]

Mine has been absolutely rock solid up to around 90kph ( haven’t gone any quicker than that yet )
Also fine with 40+ kph crosswinds.

I’m not saying people don’t have an issue, but it’s a set up issue and not a frame / geometry or flexing issue.
Obviously checking it’s been assembled correctly is a starting point.

A steering damper is a sticky plaster trying to address a weight distribution, or other issue.

[Bender87]

The seatpost and storage cover have kept me holding off on a final decision. These new reports of high speed wobble are more concerning. I'm wondering what role wheel/tire choice are playing in this.

Could be also a bad balanced wheel? I mean i haven't this kind of issue, but i also balanced my wheels with weights in the rim.

[JensenMacD]

I agree it could be a setup issue. That is why I am coming here and hoping someone may have been in a similar situation.

Not sure what in the setup, I have been over the bike a few times and cannot find anything that loose. Before I get down into steering dampeners, I would try taking out the enduro bearings and putting the stock ones in. See if that changes anything. Some are also running enduro bearings without issue and I ordered the proper (ACB 4545 1.5 40x52x7) replacement.

I went down the rabbit hole of balancing my first set of wheels that I got wobble on. Balanced and still had the issue. Different wheels, still got wobble.

Last night I just pulled all the spacers, loosened all bolts, made sure everything was seated and retorqued. Hoping maybe a partial resetting of everything helps. Also going to slide the saddle forward a bit for weight distribution.

If not, then I will pull the headset apart, put the other bearings in and hope that helps.

[KRoser]

Bender87: Yeah in my experience it is pretty much always front wheel balancing. Sometimes it just add up (tyres are not perfectly balanced + rims + valves ect) and then it can all meet up to pretty big shake, it is not bad or anything sometimes manufacturing tolerances just stack up, I have seen 3000+USD wheels shake like crazy.

My LCR018-D is absolutely solid, even at 85km/h speeds (I did balanced my wheels).

[POTOOOOOOOO]

I agree it could be a setup issue. That is why I am coming here and hoping someone may have been in a similar situation.

Not sure what in the setup, I have been over the bike a few times and cannot find anything that loose. Before I get down into steering dampeners, I would try taking out the enduro bearings and putting the stock ones in. See if that changes anything. Some are also running enduro bearings without issue and I ordered the proper (ACB 4545 1.5 40x52x7) replacement.

I went down the rabbit hole of balancing my first set of wheels that I got wobble on. Balanced and still had the issue. Different wheels, still got wobble.

Last night I just pulled all the spacers, loosened all bolts, made sure everything was seated and retorqued. Hoping maybe a partial resetting of everything helps. Also going to slide the saddle forward a bit for weight distribution.

If not, then I will pull the headset apart, put the other bearings in and hope that helps.

I can absolutely say it’s nothing to do with the enduro bearings. I have them in mine also.

45kph on flat ground is a strange scenario for it to happen. It’s usually a downhill thing.
It can be as simple as gripping the bars too tightly- again, that’s usually a downhill thing.

Post a picture of the bike - curious if you have an extreme saddle position or huge stack of spacers upsetting something.

[JensenMacD]

I figured it would not be the bearings but at this point, if what I did last night does not solve it, it becomes a game of trying a few things.

I initially thought may have been the 58mm front wheel but I have still got the wobble with an alloy wheel with a different tire. I do have a a bit of spacers above/below as I dial position but nothing I think is crazy. I have some extra extra hyd hose stuffed in the handle bars to give me the length I need to cut/reconnect once I dial the stack. I have the shifters hard wired, so there is 2 cables for the shifters. Again, none of that to me would cause the death wobble.

[Kuhar]

I see from the photos here that most owners have the 0 offset seat post option (which LC also say is their default choice), what's the basis selecting this as I thought most bikes comes with an offset post for balance/weight distribution.  My understanding is 0 offset is if there are fitment issues but may compromise weight distribution (causing weight too forward).


Also, has anyone ordered and paid through Paypal gift (friend & family) option to save the 4.5%?  Aware there are risks associated with this if things go wrong, but LCs customer service response shown in this seems to be good so wondering if anyone has paid this route.

I paid through Paypal gift (friend & family) and save 40€, they asked me to pay 1$ first to test and then I made full payment without any issue.

[POTOOOOOOOO]

If you’re sitting right at the back of the saddle, it could be something to investigate.
However, if you’re sitting mid saddle it’s no further back than mine (7.5cm behind the bb with a saddle measuring 250mm in length)

I do quite a lot of weights so my chest bulk puts quite a bit more mass forward - counterbalancing my arse.
And I have around 11cm of saddle to bar drop which also moves weight forward.

Moving the saddle forward and up will give you the same seat height but shift the COG forward. It might be worth trying as an experiment.
It’s free and quickly reversible.

As a side point - I have a cervelo S3 in a size 51, I love that bike but I wanted to try a size 54 ( supposedly my correct size )
So I picked up a size 54 and rode them back to back for a while. I’d always get wobble on the 54, but never the 51.

I eventually solved the wobble with a more forward saddle position and 10mm longer stem. I still preferred the 51 but the 54 was just as stable after that change.

[NB87]

I've got a 0 setback seatpost and the saddle almost in maxed out forward position with 120mm stem.

So in my case I can't believe it's weight distribution.

I did however crash earlier in the race when the whole group slowed down all of a sudden. I was braking really heavily and went from nose wheely to hitting the wheel of the guy in front and then I got catapulted off the bike. Maybe that impact caused some kind of disbalance in the setup.

I've ridden about 1000km now with the bike and during the race was the first time that I experienced the speed wobble. And I have definitely ridden without hands on the bar before yesterday.

I will check it and update here.