Lightcarbon: LCR018-D (endurance all-road)

[Bender87]

congratulation, may I ask you which size of tyres you have?

700 X 34c on a 23/30mm (inner/outer width) rim with 42mm in the front and 53mm height/depth in the back.

[chickadee639]

Finally it's here, Banana for scale: https://photos.app.goo.gl/nT3KeXnNwRXrJr938

Just few first impressions:

• There is a lot of paint on my frame (520) -> 1125gr with front and rear hanger and box cover
• Rear brake mounting is not completely flush, i would say it's not flatted after the frame come from the mold
• The paint around the front brake mounting points looks not so great
• Paint around the storage box edge looks a bit awful (maybe a bit of sanding to clean it would help)
• Paint around the top of the headtube has also poor finishing edge
• Have a bit of yellow paint on the underside of the top tube, don't know yet if it's on or under the clear coat
• The pouch has a good quality, not a 1€ AliX bag, more like 5-10€
• The BB looks flatted and has nice clean threads
• Got a second LC Light UDH in the accessories bag for free
• Handlebar looks superb to me (but only had two AliX cheap ones for comperrison so far)
• The storage box cover is made from aluminium, at least it feels like metal and not plastic

Overall I'm surprised by the quality of the frame, the paint job was a bit difficult due to the two/three layers of paint for the crystal blue effect and the edge to the white parts.
By sides the few edges mentioned above the paint job looks great, no "bad" edges from blue to white on the whole frame/fork.

Will take few pictures from the inside with my 3€-HD-endoscopy-cam the next days.

And i have to figure out how to remove the red color on my tires...

This looks amazing, thank you for sharing! I am currently discussing a very similar design with them (light color with fork painted differently inside etc., some decals). I have to say I'm not very happy with the communication. The color choice seems to be really difficult, as I do not want a straight up white but a very light grey. Can anybody explain to me how their color choice works? Are they limited to the exact colors in the YS catalogue? Can they mix colors? First they showed me catalogue of hundreds of Pantone shades to choose from only to tell me that a simple light grey is impossible. Can you comment on how your process of choosing the colors went? I'm just trying to understand at this point or go for the raw carbon to avoid this whole mess.

[cycloholic]

Mostly, the included bearing are complete crap. If you have to route a hose though it, then worth swapping for something stainless steel or corrosion resistant.
Or leave plenty of extra hose they can be chopped and reinstalled once new bearings have been fitted.

Enduro aren’t the best, but they are widely available and a reasonable price.

My Caledonia 5 came with headset bearings that lasted 6 months before I replaced them.
My friends winspace lasted just over 8 months.
Another friends BMC lasted around 12 months.

All were fully greased with Park HPG-1 when fitted.


I used 440C stainless enduro bearings as replacements on all 3 bikes, and they’ve fine for 24+ months.

Obviously it depends on the conditions you ride in. If it’s a summer only bike, the factory bearings might be ok.

Thanks for the information about the bearings. I don't want the hassle of changing the headset bearing after such a short period of time, and would like to fit a good one from the start. Does anyone have the specifications/size of the bearing?

[Hoogie]

Thanks for the information about the bearings. I don't want the hassle of changing the headset bearing after such a short period of time, and would like to fit a good one from the start. Does anyone have the specifications/size of the bearing?

Someone earlier quoted it was the MH-P16. Can't confirm yet as my (56) frame will be shipped on monday.

Headset bearings for anyone interested are MH-P16.

[Bender87]

This looks amazing, thank you for sharing! I am currently discussing a very similar design with them (light color with fork painted differently inside etc., some decals). I have to say I'm not very happy with the communication. The color choice seems to be really difficult, as I do not want a straight up white but a very light grey. Can anybody explain to me how their color choice works? Are they limited to the exact colors in the YS catalogue? Can they mix colors? First they showed me catalogue of hundreds of Pantone shades to choose from only to tell me that a simple light grey is impossible. Can you comment on how your process of choosing the colors went? I'm just trying to understand at this point or go for the raw carbon to avoid this whole mess.

I mentioned it on the first pages here, the color options are a "take it or leave it" thing. Maybe they do not have a own paint shop and outsource it and therefore don't have many options. Or it's overall company discission to have only this colors available. You can asked them directly why

My communication over Whatsapp was straight forward, take sometimes a day to response due to the time diff, but overall it was short and effective.

Don't hesitate to just asked any question to them, they want to sell you something, they will respond to your request.

[Konajra]

This looks amazing, thank you for sharing! I am currently discussing a very similar design with them (light color with fork painted differently inside etc., some decals). I have to say I'm not very happy with the communication. The color choice seems to be really difficult, as I do not want a straight up white but a very light grey. Can anybody explain to me how their color choice works? Are they limited to the exact colors in the YS catalogue? Can they mix colors? First they showed me catalogue of hundreds of Pantone shades to choose from only to tell me that a simple light grey is impossible. Can you comment on how your process of choosing the colors went? I'm just trying to understand at this point or go for the raw carbon to avoid this whole mess.

This link is for the frame colors:
"Below link are our optional color codes for your selection(color codes must be the ones listed on our website):
https://www.lightcarbon.com/decal-painting_n43"

The pantone list is only for the decals: "Optional logo color codes : https://www.pantone-colours.com/"

Both links were sent to me by Wendy.


The colors you can choose from are indeed very limited. That is why I went for the Eurobike paint design and changed all the gold to dark grey. I asked if the marble effect good also be made with a white pearl base color but that was not possible.

[cycloholic]

Can anyone tell me what dimension 1 is on the frame? This is a restriction for fitting the Magene TEO P151.

[Hoogie]

This link is for the frame colors:
"Below link are our optional color codes for your selection(color codes must be the ones listed on our website):
https://www.lightcarbon.com/decal-painting_n43"

The pantone list is only for the decals: "Optional logo color codes : https://www.pantone-colours.com/"

Both links were sent to me by Wendy.


The colors you can choose from are indeed very limited. That is why I went for the Eurobike paint design and changed all the gold to dark grey. I asked if the marble effect good also be made with a white pearl base color but that was not possible.

Interesting, my bike was painted in Pantone 109C (Yellow) with black decals... So there might have been a change in color policy then since early september when I ordered.
I even got a picture of 2 color examples before deciding (see picture). Jim has not indicated that all pantone colors are available, but the 109 is not on the page you mentioned (although 109 is very close to Yellow C).

[Konajra]

I have no idea, I ordered mine on 20th of september, but from what I understood I could only choose from the color chart on their website and could use the pantone color chart for the decals. Might just depend on who you are dealing with.

[Hainesy]

I enquired about custom colours and Wendy confirmed that it had to be off the list on the page shared higher up the thread.

I'd also be interested in knowing specs of the headset bearings (and where to source decent alternatives in UK / Europe) as I'd rather install decent ones straight away if they're liable to failure.

I see Hambini knocks them out with impressive sounding waffle! https://www.hambini.com/product/mh-p16-headset-bearing-40x52x7-45-45-k4052h7-mr128-th-070e-mr170/

[Bender87]

Can anyone tell me what dimension 1 is on the frame? This is a restriction for fitting the Magene TEO P151.

It's around 55.5mm - 56mm.

[Yends]

well.. it totally caught my eye, the similarity

[CyclesNoir]

I'm not fully up to speed on the various functions on Chinatown, so I'm hoping links work appropriately here.

My 56CM LCR018 arrived yesterday - 8 days to US from ship date.  Not bad at all.  As you can see, packaging was solid and well protected.

I think most people's questions about the bike and components have been answered.  Still I thought the photos I took last night from unpacking and weighing might still be of interest.

Overall, quality seem very good. 
1) Inside and outsides of tubes are clean and look as they should.  BB and brake mounts have been properly faced.  No issues with the paint job. 
2) Seatposts have half and full cm markings on the back, as well as minimum insertion noted.
3) I'm new to UDH, so it took a while before I was comfortable with how tight the fit was in the frame.  Nonetheless, it installed fine. 
4) The storage compartment closes very firmly, but if the catch slips while the cover is installed, it would be a bear to take off.  I'll look at that a bit more closely before storing anything in the downtube.  BTW, the storage bag appears to be of very high quality (material/seams/zipper) although I haven't check its fit in the downtube.
4) Installing the rear brake hose is easy-peasy (just push it through from the rear). 
5) The handlebars look like they will also be easy to thread (conveniently large openings). 
6) Headset bearings look fine for now.  I don't mind disconnecting hoses from the brake levers to change bearings - so not worried about cutting hoses. 
7) My tool fit the bottom bracket fine, but my largest torque wrench is 3/8 drive and I need one that's 1/2.  So off to Harbor Freight tomorrow. 

BTW I have a set of 45mm LightCarbon gravel wheels for this frame.  So far they seem nice.  DT Swiss style of rachet.  I ordered with CX-Ray spokes (I think that was a $70 upcharge - or about $0.70 per gram saved, which is a pretty good price to weight savings).  These arrived in September, and I didn't reweigh last night, but I believe they came in at 1440 gm.
 
As you'll see in the photos, I have both the 0mm (185 gm) and 15mm (180 gm) setback posts.  Ditto for the 100x380 (360 gm) & 80X400 handlebars (325 gm).  Similarly, I have a LightCarbon 3D printed saddle and an Aspide Saddle, not sure which I'll run, but show weights for each.  And I have lots of headset spacers, the picture is a sample which represent what should be the most I'll ever put on the bike.  The weight is shown of the bungs/seatpost clamp/seatpost-cover both with and without the battery holder (which I won't be using).

Finally, the frame with nothing installed came in at 1140 gm.  Again this is a 56 cm, w/ black mat paint with some gold logos.

the photos can be found here:https://photos.app.goo.gl/FjqEnvsMaFZnk2fo7

[Bender87]

Black and Gold looks also nice and the model name on the seat tube is also a good position.

Might invest in some decals with the same design on my frame.

[POTOOOOOOOO]

A quick question for someone who has a frame in hand.
Can you tell me the thickness (hight) of the bearing cap / spacer please. I’m trying to work out the frame stack with any mandatory spacers needed.

Thank you