Here are some of my experiences with the bike, as well as the build details and weight.
Size 54 glossy - raw carbon, no storage
Reserve 42/49 wheels (25 mm ID) with DT Swiss 350 hubs.
Red 165 mm cranks.
Force 35/48 chainrings and 10-36 cassette
Force dual sided PM
Older design Rival flattop chain because I cut my Force chain one link too short. Will get another Force chain soon.
Force RD, and Rival FD.
Force E1 Brakes
Pirelli PZERO Race TLR 30 mm tires, tubeless
120 / 380 LC bars
0 setback seatpost - got the -15 in case but definitely don't need it.
LC SD02 Saddle
LC BC205 cages
Lizard Skin 2.5 mm bar tape
SRAM BB
Enduro SS bearings
Ultegra pedals
Weight with 30 mm Pirelli's, LC computer mount, pedals = 7.8 kg calculated with my digital bathroom scale.
First photo - with Michelin Pro5 35 mm tires and Panda Podium / Ahyka Aero bottles.
The Michelins were comfortable and fast rolling, measuring 37 mm on the rims. Seems like plenty of rear clearance and huge fork clearance. These tires are good for light gravel such as the rail trail near my house. The bike itself is not very forgiving, other than the nice riding position and longer wheelbase. My optimal case with these tires is mixed roads where gravel gets where you want to go, rather than choosing this for dedicated long gravel rides.
The Aero bottles seem fast, but they're smaller than the standard large bottles that I'm used to and have a significantly lower flow rate. I wasn't happy with the low flow and installed the LC BC205 cages for standard bottles. These cages were nice enough that I mounted the second set on my gravel bike. After one ride with some rough gravel that included fast downhill sections, they seem secure and quiet.
I had a bike shop cut the steer tube and advised them to cut 4-5 mm below the top. I forgot to pre-grease the bearing areas and when I greased and put the handlebar back on, the stem was just above the top - so back to the shop. They sanded the extra length off without removing the brake cables and retightened everything. Not sure I believe that they cut it properly the first time as they insisted, and that the grease somehow seated the headset stack better / lower. I believe they likely made a mistake.
But this had me thinking that if grease is helpful in properly seating the headset bearings, maybe that is something that folks should look at who are troubleshooting speed wobbles. If for any reason the ungreased headset bearings were hung up on some piece of carbon or resin and slightly misaligned, that might cause some wobble that grease could help settle things in.
With the bars setup from the shop, my first fast group ride wasn't confidence inspiring. On fast downhill with high (~30-40 kph) crosswinds, the bike didn't feel stable, feeling like a speed wobble above about 60 kph. When I got home, I found that the shop didn't properly tighten the compression plug and it pulled up even with the top cap creating 4-5 mm extra space in the headset stack. I suspect that they thought it was self-tightening with the top cap screw. Not sure if this is a thing on other plugs.
Once the plug was tight, everything was a lot more stable. But, another day with higher (40-50 kph) head and crosswinds, I had some instability that I suspected was from the big Michelins and the rim OD difference. It felt like a flutter even at moderate speeds, so I was considering a change to my 30 mm Pirellis. That decision made for me when the next day a pack of razorblades was spread over the road and shoulder near the hardware store while I zoned out riding by. One ruined Michelin later and the Pirellis were going on for sure.
The 30mm's are more stable in the strong head and crosswinds that we're having this year in the UT mountains. comfort with the 30's is good, even on our less than perfect roads, though I'm avoiding longer gravel road rides where I was comfortable on >10k of decent gravel with the 35's.
With about 650km on the bike, I love the fit, narrower 38 mm bars, bar shape, and rear-end comfort. The bike is stiff, fast and comfortable. It's definitely an aero feel - stiff with the deeper tube shapes. The back end seems to be a bit more forgiving than the front, probably due to the dropped and thinner seat stays.
This bike is stable to at least 80 kph. Above that speed I'm still more cautious than many in my Weekly group ride, especially when the downhills seem to have asphalt undulations that I suspect are from the cold winters, plus the wind. But I think I just need to learn to let it run.
It's also very stable on uneven or dirty / gravel littered roads. The week before I got my bike, I was able to demo a Dogma F. It had its positives like feeling quite smooth while remaining eager, and it was an excellent climber, but it was frightful on anything sketchy. A larger size would probably have suited me better.
The LC bars have a very comfortable shape. I really enjoy the wide aero center portion with the slight curve and forward cant.
The SD02 saddle is comfortable, though I sort of miss my Selle Italia Boost SLR. I bought an SD01 as well since I wanted to compare, but my recommendation is stick with the SD02. Both saddles seem to have the same shape and the SD02 has more padding, but certainly not soft or overly padded. Didn't try the SD01 and listed it for sale.
My seatpost is the newer one with full grippy tape. Thanks to forum tips, I had pre-greased my seatpost wedge interfaces, and saddle bolts. Initially I had some minor noises, which were all attributed to the seatpost and saddle clamps, but it was totally quiet after re-tightening the wedge bolt and adding more torque to the saddle clamps, which also prevented the seat from tilting on impact. Added some Muckoff carbon paste to a portion of the seatpost and a little on the carbon saddle rails between the clamps.
