LTK266-D-SL, race frame, 680g, <800g w/paint & metal parts (M), fits 35mm+ tires

[klrdd]

The Seatpost is 30.3mm at the widest and 29.8mm long. Ive also sized some of the different parts of the wedge area in the attached photo.

Overall, the wedge sits like 2.5-3mm down into the hole and not flush, This is a pretty silly oversight from LTK, though Ive been riding my frame without the rubber cover and its fine.

That said, ive been working on a replacement 3d Printed cover, but I still dont have the hang of designing for these kinds of things that are part intended to be stretched and part intended to be compressed out of TPU. I attached an STL file (not sure why the step upload is failing) with my current design that I have not yet printed. These are $3.00/print at a MOQ of 15 and dropping to $2.50 at 20. If I do a run of these, i will have plenty of extras.

I'll happily pay for one  of your 3d printed covers once you work out the design. I've made peace with the Longteng rubber thing (mostly because I can't see it while riding) but its the most unsightly aspect of my bike as of now. And I do want something there to minimize water and sweat ingress.

[oker_s]

I'll happily pay for one  of your 3d printed covers once you work out the design. I've made peace with the Longteng rubber thing (mostly because I can't see it while riding) but its the most unsightly aspect of my bike as of now. And I do want something there to minimize water and sweat ingress.

me too, my frame is shipped now! cant wait..

[Sakizashi]

Overall, I find it really interesting that someone designed a proprietary seatpost like this in the first place, that is actually wider than the standard 27mm round one, is not particularly aero, and limits the offset options to whatever a single manufacturer produces. And it is also not like LongTeng are trying to earn extra money by selling this as an extra. I am trying to get into the head of the company that designed this frame as I don't understand what could possibly be the motivation to design a new non-standard seatpost that does not make extra money, neither it solves any problem that other designs have.

I was also surprised at the dimensions when I first measured them, but in some ways, it makes sense. This seatpost is really light for its length. The carbon part is sub 100g for a 380mm part. The shallow D shape may also be one of the reasons why the bike doesn't feel too stiff, and it's likely more aero than a round one. I think they were optimizing for weight and stiffness in specific directions, given the materials used in this frame. However, in terms of owning a frame, I would have preferred a round one.

I assumed that the rubber cover was a generic item, but on closer inspection it looks like the design was intentional. It's one of those places where spending a little more time on it would help the overall aesthetics of this frame, but its also normal for a factory direct offering. Given the relatively low cost of these accessories, I don't know why Permeants or TideAce arent spending a bit of effort to polish up the details on this frame.

[stepahin]

Hi! Is Permeants ST-09 the same frame as LTK266 but with branding? Someone from China recommended Permeants ST-09 to me, but I couldn't find a separate thread about it.

[klrdd]

Hi! Is Permeants ST-09 the same frame as LTK266 but with branding? Someone from China recommended Permeants ST-09 to me, but I couldn't find a separate thread about it.

Yes

[jamez]

How many more than me are considering a size XL ?
I can run a L, but I think a XL would be better since I could run it almost with no spacers.
And also considering I will probably use quite big tires, and have 47/48 shoes I think toe overlap would be a bit better on the XL also.

Im stuck deciding between the LTK266 and the LCR018-D. Having the XL option would make the choice easy probably.

[stepahin]

How many more than me are considering a size XL ?
I can run a L, but I think a XL would be better since I could run it almost with no spacers.
And also considering I will probably use quite big tires, and have 47/48 shoes I think toe overlap would be a bit better on the XL also.

Im stuck deciding between the LTK266 and the LCR018-D. Having the XL option would make the choice easy probably.

I'm stuck choosing between the LTK266 and the LCR017-D. I just like the look of the LCR017-D a bit more, but the fact that you can build a 5.95kg setup with the LTK266 / ST-09 is really impressive https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1K3VSzKEiK/ As I understand it, the LCR017-D is heavier by 150-200g, but in what other ways does it better than LCR017-D? Please help me decide.

[jamez]

I'm leaning towards the LTK266 because of its weight and its tire clearance, so the LCR017 is not interessting for me.
I will probably use it in the winter a bit also since it can fit my studded 38mm tires. And I'm probably gonna slap some SKS speedrockers on it also if they fit ok.
I like LTK266 "neutral"/discrete looks vs the LCR018.
The LCR018 seems a great value including bars and a headset that actually fits

[Sakizashi]

I think if you want to nerd out on things that don't matter much, this frame appears to closer to a higher-end frame from the last couple of years than most other bikes on this site in terms of construction and materials. Looking at Winspace's bikes this seems closer to the SLC 3.0 or SLC 5.0 than their other bikes or closer to Seka's RDC. Per the information summarized on the first post, its not all sunshine and rainbows as some details need sorting. However, because this frame uses parts that are available at most bike shops, many of these issues are resolvable should they arise in the future.

Things that led me to pull the trigger on this specific frame were tire clearance, UDH, and compatibility with 3rd-party parts like FSA headsets. The proprietary nature of bikes these days really annoys me, but buying from a small brand or direct from China and having to pay $30 in shipping + wait a week for spares is something I didn't/don't want to deal with. I dont have to do that this bike. Most of the potential wear parts and things likely to break are things I can source from my LBS.

[cLs_elite]

I'm joining the team — I’ve placed my order for the frame as well. I asked Alisa about the headset issue, and apparently it’s been identified and resolved. The standard headset they provide should now fit properly.
I’d also be interested in one of the 3D-printed covers.
Can’t wait to start the build!

[stepahin]

Guys how exactly do you order the frame and how long does shipping take? If we're talking about the Permeants ST-09, it costs $1135 on Taobao and up to $1360 on AliExpress without shipping. As I understand, you buy the frame like LTK266-D-SL directly from Long Teng for much cheaper. What's the final price? And shipping?

If I got it right, you have to buy a compatible headset and better looking seatpost cover separately? And handlebar too. Are there any other differences from the Permeants?

[klrdd]

Guys how exactly do you order the frame and how long does shipping take? If we're talking about the Permeants ST-09, it costs $1135 on Taobao and up to $1360 on AliExpress without shipping. As I understand, you buy the frame like LTK266-D-SL directly from Long Teng for much cheaper. What's the final price? And shipping?

If I got it right, you have to buy a compatible headset and better looking seatpost cover separately? And handlebar too. Are there any other differences from the Permeants?

I'm going to make this a learning experience by asking you to read the thread  where we detail all of these questions. I even post pictures of my invoice. (Short answer is it was just under $1k USD shipped to the USA and you do so by emailing Alisa. But please read the thread. It doesn't take that long.)

[stepahin]

I'm going to
I'm going to make this a learning experience by asking you to read the thread  where we detail all of these questions. I even post pictures of my invoice. (Short answer is it was just under $1k USD shipped to the USA and you do so by emailing Alisa. But please read the thread. It doesn't take that long.)

Yes, my bad, I'm sorry, I found it myself right before your reply.

How do you feel about it now after some time? How would you choose in my place if I'm stuck between LTK266-D-SL and LCR017-D? I'm between 49-52 size so both frames fit me in size. Here's what I understood, correct me if I got something wrong or missed anything:

LTK266-D-SL — 100g lighter weight, geometry is more safe just like the SL8 and other popular frames, has 35c clearance instead of 32c like LCR017-D, slightly more expensive by say $100-200 (near $900-$1000), unclear situation with the headset. For some reason, there aren't many photos of cool builds yet, here, on fb ig reddit and even chinese rednote, probably because the frame is a whole year newer than LTK266-D-SL. It's just harder for me to fall in love with it when there are few examples of cool builds.

LCR017-D — looks a bit better to me, the geometry is aggressive, but it can be adjusted with spacers and a shorter stem, the frame is 100g heavier, can't really say it's "Super Light" not in one row with others ~700g, everything is good with the headset, choice of handlebars, lots of experience and others' builds, clearance is only 32c but it's not like I really need anything more than 30c, total price will be about $800-$900.

I live in the mountains and want to build a 6-7 kg bike with 50-65mm wheels (no point, I just like how it looks), give Magene QED a chance, and try lightweight Elilee cranks.

Also, in the case of LC, I want to do a complex crazy paint job in the spirit of Cannondale X Rapha, they said they can do all of this, but can LT do it?

What to do, what to do...

[klrdd]

No worries 

I am enjoying the bike! I wish I had more time to ride it lately.
It is hard for me to say too much on the choice between these two frames, but I can try. I did consider the LCR017-D before the LTK came on my radar. But I didn't want to compromise on tire clearance: I wanted something 'future proof'. Initially in fact i was looking at some of the endurance frames but I didn't want to go to a bike that was any heavier than my 2015 BMC, because I loved the feel of a 7kg bike. With the LTK I could hit ~7kg in a large without actually doing any weightweenie nonsense--in fact, with doing the opposite and adding massive heavy tires set up tubeless, instead of 25mm clinchers with TPU tubes like I had before. That is what the LTK afforded me.

I can't advise on geo for a frame so small compared to mine (L/56) where there are different compromises, but I can give some insight about my choice. For my size, the Lightcarbon is almost 10mm longer but the stack is about the same, so I would just use a 120mm stem instead of the 130mm I got for my LT. I don't think it would affect me much. The LT has a slightly slacker head angle (72.5 vs 73) and more trail, which I prefer -- but at your size both are going to be pretty slacked out by necessity, and I wouldn't know the differences in feel tbh.

If you want to get to 6kg, it's just a fact it will be easier with the LTK. If I ran 30mm gp5k tires (-200g) and some of these ultralight wheels you're seeing in the threads from Zen, Serenade, and XMCS (-300g) my build would get close to 6.5 in a size large with no additional weightweenie business. In addition to the frame, the fork and the seatpost from LTK are significantly lighter than the Lightcarbon ones.

The situation with the headset (for me at least) is quite clear: Get an FSA No55 headset separately, and then buy any aftermarket bar/stem that is FSA compatible (the vast majority are). Do that and no problems at all.

I hope you think my photos are one of the few examples of cool builds

Regarding paint -- I would reach out to Alisa. Also maybe explore some of the older Longteng frame threads to see what people have done in the past. Clearly Lightcarbon can deliver on that. I'm not flashy though I have gotten a ton of compliments about the paint job from friends lately, perhaps the autumn light is doing the green gloss extra favors.

Good luck!

[Blueberry]

@klrdd what is the standover height of your bike? I'm trying to decide between M and L. My inseam is 81cm and when I mapped it up in bikegeocalc it looked like it would be about 78cm standover for the L but it was a little hard to tell. I've had it be slightly off before, probably because I estimated the wheel diameter wrong.