New to bike building, excited to start, looking at frames as starting point

[cvrle1]

Frame has been delivered today 

Box was in good shape, no damage to it. Packing inside was as usual for most of these frames. paint looks great, didnt see any issues like chips, cracks, dents, scratches, etc.  Frame is 99% fine, just saw some sloppy looking rear and fork dropouts. Please do let me know if you feel this is more than just cosmetic issue.

Here are few pics.

[cvrle1]

More pics

[cvrle1]

Any feedback from anyone? Would appreciate very much any sort from folks, just in case these could be issues that I am not aware of. Like I said I think it is just cosmetic, but want to be 100% sure. Thanks in advance.

[volan]

Looks pretty good to me. I belive it's eps molded - no wrinkles inside. Dropouts are what I've seen on mine chiners. Happy building and riding!

[gribs]

I've seen better finished dropouts and brake mounts, but I've also seen worse. See if it goes together cleanly and go from there.

[andyitslit]

Mount the thru axles and see if there's any play.

[cvrle1]

Mount the thru axles and see if there's any play.

Such a simple thing to do and and makes so much sense that I didnt think about doing it *facepalm

Just did it now and both thru axles went in smoothly, was able to screw them in without issues, they lined up properly. They are both snug with absolutely no movement at all.

[andyitslit]

Good to hear! I think I'll be ordering this frame as well.
Have you picked a BB to use yet?

[cvrle1]

Good to hear! I think I'll be ordering this frame as well.
Have you picked a BB to use yet?

No, not yet. Thats going to be next part to look into, along with few other cheaper components while I research, and save some $ for wheels and groupset.

[cvrle1]

Wanted to post a bit of an update and get some feedback if possible.

I have purchased Ltwoo ERX groupset, so that is taken care of. Next up I am looking at the wheels. I have created 2 different looks using ChatGPT, so would like to get feedback on which way would you go if you were in my shoes.  Frame color is pearl mint green and I could go with white wheels, saddle and bar tape, or keep it black. Thanks for the feedback.

[Ludo]

Black for me

[panel]

Black for me. The other one looks like a fixie 

[Bender87]

White for, but only because I also have white tape and rattle.

And it looks good with the mint green.

[cvrle1]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. White just looked different enough that it made me think about it more than just dismissing it right away. I know that it would be more work to keep clean, but someone mentioned that white bar tape would get dirty really fast and thats it. It will never be white again, and that is something I definitely didnt think about.

[Bender87]

I think it's depends on the tape, I have some more plastic touch one which holds pretty good up. The 3d printed saddle gotten a bit yellowish from some rain rides die to all the dirt from the back wheel.

Edit: It's 1000km "old" and had it through the winter with rain/snow and all.