Spcycle SP-G069 - Home made build

[ecm]

Hey everyone!

I'd like to share my experience building my latest bike: Spcycle SP-G069.
https://www.sp-cycle.com/spcycle-2025-new-g069-carbon-gravel-bike-frame-full-hidden-cable-udh-hanger-aero-carbon-gravel-bicycle-frameset-p5858054.html

First of all, I'm not a professional bike mechanic, but I've built 3 bikes at home before, so I've picked up a few things along the way:
01. Endurance Road Bike – My first road build, used mainly for training. I call it MARK #1, and honestly, I might never part with it.
 - Full alloy; Home made wheel with Shimano Hubs and tires 700x28; Groupset Sensah Empire 2x11
02. Aero Road Bike – The incredible Trifox X-8. It's lightning-fast on flat terrain and featherlight for mountain climbs. Perfect for long rides over 150 km. I absolutely love it.
 - Full carbon; Home made wheel with Shimano Hubs and tires 700x25; Groupset Sensah Empire 2x11
03. Fat Bike – My go-to for snowy winters here in Quebec. I really hate indor training...

This new project was pretty straightforward/rational:
 - I chose a gravel frame for versatility. The plan is to run two wheelsets: one for road (700x28c), one for gravel (700x47c).
 - I went with a mechanical groupset, the Sensah Empire 2x11. It's affordable, reliable, and suits my needs perfectly. No need electronic groupset, etc.
 - Use some spare parts, like JUIN TECH brake calippers, chain, cassette, etc.

Overall time spend:
 - 7 days to plan the build and make a budget. After all start to buy the parts. It's pretty hard to check all correlations between those parts.
 - 3 days to build the road wheelset. Sealed bearing was out of question. I prefer Shimano hubs Cup and Cone + pillar spokes (triple butted)
 - 14 days to assembly the bike

My goal is to share some insights from the build process, especially since a few steps were quite unusual and might help others venturing into similar DIY builds.

Overall, I've read some issues related with this frames like: Poor of paint, brake point mount not so well finished, etc. In my case: Zero issues with the frame.

I've got XS frame size. It's sound weird because all my frames where size M or 54. But in the end of the day, the most important it's keep the measures with you body.
This Spcycle XS size it's almost the same as Trifox X-8 M(54) size. Works fine for me: 1.78 cm height (100 kg weight aprox).

Soon I'll come with some news

[klindsey00]

Not sure what all changed between the g068 and g069 besides maybe the fork, mine had no mounts and a trail flipper. It is based on the canyon grail geometry which is skewed in the larger direction. Been running mine as a road setup with 35mm gp5000 AS and it does pretty well. I'm able to keep pretty good speed during my triathlons. Going to be fitting 45mm tires for the winter, My biggest worry is clearance on the sram battery on the FD.

[Ludo]

Nice looking bike! Been happy with my 2 SPcycle built, 3rd one will be Hongfu, we’ll see if there is any significant differences

[lidation]

Nice! Great minds think alike.    I have chosen the same frame for my build as well.  I was originally planning to use it as a gravel bike but it rides so nicely so I just rode it on road. Been riding it for ~ 600 miles and it had been great.

My build is:
SP-G069 frame XS
LightCarbon gravel integrated bar HBR08
XM Carbon speed 38mm depth 28mm wide wheelset
1x drive train (front 34T, rear 10-36T SRAM, Wheeltop EDS GeX wireless)
Dropper Post (Fox Transfer SL 70mm)

[ecm]

JUIN TECH GT - Hybrid Brake Caliper Surprises

My first hiccup with the JUIN TECH setup came right out of the box. Since this G69 frame is designed for 160mm disc rotors, I naturally bought a pair of 160mm rotors (duh!).
But during assembly, I noticed something weird: the brake pads weren’t fully engaging with the rotors. WTF?!?!

After digging around online, I discovered something unexpected: with JUIN TECH hybrid calipers, you must size up your rotors. WTF?!?!? 
There’s no way to run 140mm rotors with them. Here's the deal:
 - If your frame’s minimum rotor size is 140mm, you need to run 160mm rotors with JUIN TECH.
 - If your frame’s minimum is 160mm, go with 180mm rotors.

So, to fix the issue, I went with 180mm rotors. Yeah, they felt oversized at first, but to my surprise, they performed brilliantly on the initial rides according with my weight. I'm not a light rider (100 Kg)
The braking power is solid when you need it, and the modulation is way better than what I’ve experienced with full hydraulic brakes.

[ecm]

INTEGRATED HANDLEBAR - Fitment Issue (and Solution)

The integrated handlebar set didn’t align perfectly with the compression ring, which caused complications during final assembly.
The only step left was adjusting the cockpit: specifically, tightening the stem bolts and the compression plug bolt.

As the fork spacers began to snug together, I noticed the handlebar movement became extremely stiff (almost locked)... and yet there was still noticeable play in the fork. At one point, I managed to eliminate the fork play entirely, but the handlebar was nearly immobile.

I opted not to use the original dust cap from the frame due to incompatibility with the integrated handlebar. Instead, I used a handlebar and fork spacer set from RXL to maintain compatibility.
Upon inspecting the RXL dust cap washer, I found that the contact point between the compression ring and the RXL dust cap was deeper than the original: a gap of 1.3 mm was missing.

The Fix
The solution was simple, though not immediately obvious: I installed washers between the RXL dust cap and the compression ring. I purchased a set of RISK washers (28.6 x 34 mm), which included six pieces of varying thicknesses.
In my case, I only needed 1.0 mm + 0.3 mm to bridge the gap.

Final Thoughts
Working with an integrated handlebar setup can be frustrating (it's a hell!), especially after everything seems assembled. But in the end, this adjustment resolved the issue.

The cockpit is now tight and play-free, and the handlebar moves smoothly and effortlessly.

[Tijoe]

FYI, I ran Juin TECH GT-P 4 Pistons Hybrid Hydraulic Road Disc Brake Calipers on my original gravel build.  They worked great on flats for occasional and regular stopping, but as soon as I used them on long steep descents, I found out that they are horrible.  These brakes have too small of a volume of hydraulic fluid in them and they would quickly overheat expanding the fluid and causing the pistons to push out and lock up the pads on the rotor.   I used them for one season then had to spend more money on full hydraulic brifters and calipers.   (One of my few buyer remorse and wasted purchases on Aliexpress.)
 
I still use one of them on a disc mount front fork I installed as an upgrade on my old Merlin road bike I use for riding the sun Road in GNP in the spring.

[klindsey00]

I've kinda been fighting a similar issue with my g068, one of the compression C rings is too short so I think i need some shims because I either get play in the headset when braking, or its too tight and the handlebars do not turn smoothly. I switched out the metal C ring for a plastic one that came with the Handlebars which is taller, Now the play is gone and the bars turn smooth but I don't like the fact that it is plastic. I think is i pull hard on the bars it moves still. Why would they change the height between the metal and the plastic one :/

[ecm]

04. SEATPOST - Saddle bolt not well fitted

It’s not entirely about the frame itself, but gravel bike geometries can be a bit unconventional(weird!). Compared to a traditional road bike, the seat tube on many gravel frames tends to have a steeper angle.

I went with an RXL carbon seatpost, and after installing it, I noticed that the front and rear bolts were right at the edge of their threading. Barely enough to keep the saddle level. But it's not safe!

My first thought was: I need better-fitting bolts. But it’s not as straightforward as swapping them out. There are a few key measurements to keep in mind:
Head Height: 6mm (M6 in this case)
Head Diameter: 10mm (to keep the full engagement in the mounting point)
Thread Pitch: 1.0mm (you might need a special caliper to measure this accurately if not standard)
Wrench Size: 5mm Allen key

I ended up choosing Wanyifa titanium bolts, which are impressively well-made. I ordered two different lengths:
 - 45mm for the rear clamp – 10mm longer than the original
 - 30mm for the front clamp – 5mm shorter than the original

Now everything fits perfectly and works fine!

[klindsey00]

I'd just go to a hardware store and get bolts and not worry about it