Chinese Carbon MTB Forums
News:
Happy Holidays!
See likes
See likes given/taken
| Post info | No. of Likes |
|---|---|
|
Re: Yishun R014/ Light Carbon LCR015 Vs. Velobuild VB-R-079
pic
February 11, 2021, 03:47:48 AM |
1 |
Re: Lightcarbon: New LCR017-D (or Yishun R1058-D)
It just so happens that the Taipei Bike Show is happening this weekend, and I will go check it out. I know Longteng has a booth, and likely other Chinese OEMs as well. I'll report back on anything interesting. (Let me know if anyone has any specific requests or questions in my DMs ... but I won't take requests for Hambini hairdresser pics, sorry....) Just got back from the Taipei Bike Show – today was B2B and not open to the public, sh*t!. I was dying to get in, so I ran down the street to the 7/11 and printed out a bogus business card and got in lol… Of the Chinese open mold manufacturers, I only saw LightCarbon and Longteng. Velobuild didn’t attend. (And I didn’t see a presence from other Chinertown favorites like Elitewheels, Ltwoo, Winspace, Magene, etc.) But I did get to see the LC017 and the LT266 in person, and got some intel on a new LT301 that will be released in a few months: LC017: yes the downtube is quite boxy, but in person it looks/feels a bit more rounded than what’s on their website. And the seat tube is rounded, not at all like the seat tube shown on their website. Here is a video that I took: https://imgur.com/a/PNHdhI5. It’s a niiiiice looking frame. Interestingly, I saw several high-end bikes at the show with similarly boxy down tubes with sharp edges, including the Giant TCR, a Bianchi, a Bianchi Raparto Corse, and a Java Volata that won a gold award at the show: https://imgur.com/a/NEb8cpZ. I talked to one of the bike designers and asked them about the design choice, and he said that they use less materials to keep the bike light weight, and squares are stronger than curved shapes. In other words, for an all-arounder, they sacrificed certain aero gains in favor of weight savings. I’m not engineer so I have no idea if this is true, I’m just relaying what one of the bike designers at the show said to me. LT266: from my amateur eyes, this looks like a really well-made frame. Alisa from Longteng was at the show, and she told me that it’s made from a one piece monocoque mold, so they can achieve a higher degree of uniformity and quality control. The tubes are more rounded than the LC017. Interestingly, she told me that they are testing an unannounced frame, the LT301, I’m posting the geometry and a short video here: https://imgur.com/a/XvH327j. It looks to have a more aero profile than the LT266 and LC017 but still weighs under 1000g. Alisa said they just finished testing the 54cm frame, and are going through tests for the other sizes – it will be a few months before they start selling it, although if anyone wants a 54, it’s available if you contact Alisa directly. (OT: I asked which brands Longteng acts as OEM for, the only thing I could get out of Alisa was that they make a few frames for Argon.) Does this help with my bike choice? I probably will go with one of these and not the Velobuild frames, since I’ve seen and touched them in person. Between the LC017 and LT266? I have no idea…. That’s all I have, cheers. March 07, 2024, 01:25:48 AM |
1 |
|
Re: VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame
Size 56 Silver Chameleon Paint Frame (no FD hanger): 1079g - I'm going 1x. FD delete saves 15g Fork (uncut): 406g Seatpost (with saddle clamp): 228g TOTAL: 1713g I'm going to assume the 950g advertised weight for a size M was unpainted, and the 180g seatpost didn't include the actual saddle clamp. The 410g fork weight however is accurate. No complaints to be honest. Both paint and facing surfaces look good too. For Reference... Giant Propel Size ML Frame: 1071g (both hangers) Fork: 361g Seatpost: 198g Total: 1630g Tavelo Attack size L Frame: 1041g Fork: 443g Seatpost: 156g Total: 1640g March 28, 2024, 06:14:39 PM |
1 |
|
Re: Velobuild GF-002
Just realized i never posted pics of the 2 GF002 i built. The orange is mine. I ghetto painted it myself. Farsports wheels, hookless (so my fat ass can hit rocks tubeless without worrying about breaking the rim) Conti Terra Speed 40C tubeless w sealant - nice, but wears out fast. Sensah 2x11 mech. Horrendous FD. Wouldn't recommend Sensah, i built 4 bikes w Sensah 2x11 mech, had a RD die for no reason, and Sensah told me to eat a *ick. And the FD is trash. Jagwire keb-sl brake housing. I do not love the brakes now that i have ltwoo er9 hydraulic on my road bike. in fact i will not build another non hydraulic bike for myself (i'm 80-85kg though). All frames are Medium. I had a lot of fun with the bike last year, put 3.2k km on it, as well as quite a few hours on the trainer. This year it's in fact been by home trainer bike, and it's developed a bunch of creaks i need to diagnose (almost certainly my fault / sweat). The road one is the VB 168 with gangster deep wheels (Farsports too). I find it helpful to see them by side to realize how different the geometry is. It was my 1st gravel bike. I quickly then bought another road bike, because this absolutely does not feel like a do it all road bike. The geometry just doesn't work for me on the road (too high, too slack, doesnt feel good going down hairpins). The vast, vast, vast, vast majority of my riding is road. I kind of wish i had more occasions to ride gravel, because i did enjoy it. But i find myself going for the road bike all the time. My buddy with the black one is a runner so he bought it mostly because he's a lawyer and wanted a pretty bike / FOMO. He's happy with it though, the bike is a head turner. He uses it as a road bike. April 19, 2024, 03:02:18 AM |
1 |
|
Re: VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame
The new frame VR-R-268 is a product of the present trend in pro bike racing. So here few points. #1. Aerodynamics is the major element that pro racer looks for. The pro riders know their CdA and how to decrease it. The more aero you are the faster you go for the same power. #2 CdA is the quantitative measurement of aerodynamic drag. The "A" is the frontal area of both the rider and the bike presented to the wind in the direction you travel. You can decrease the "riders part" of the A by being on the drops instead of seating up. VB has paid a lot of attention to this part. #3 Cd is the coefficient of drag. For example if you place a flat disk in a wind tunnel and make the A=1 the surface area will be 1 but the force the wind actually exert on the disk is a little higher let's say 1.15. So the CdA will be 1 x 1.15= 1.15. Now instead of flat disk, place cone with the tip forward and a front area the same A=1, but now the coefficient of drag will be far lower so the total CdA will be far lower (that is the reason why bullets for example are not flat at the front). Here VB has done a superb job in decreasing the Cd. #4 VB aerobike like the VR-R-268 is aimed at decreasing the Cd even if in some cases you may have a little weight penalty. Lower seat stays with a flat top, aero seat-post, kamm tail the downtube and a very nice combination of the seat-tube and rear wheel-tires to make the air flow smooth. The seat-post in the present bikes is more exposed comparing with years past so an aero seat-post is a must. VB has done a great job here. 5. The rider also has a "A" and "Cd". The "A" is obvious the more down the rider is the smaller the "A" but the "Cd" is not as clear, racer used to adopt the "puppy paws" position (which now is ban)etc. The point here is that the position on the bike has changed and VB has done everything possible to allow this change. The seat is more forward as much as you can without braking the UCI rules "The tip of the saddle shall be a minimum of 50 mm to the rear of a vertical plane passing through the bottom bracket spindle." This forward position allow to open the leg body angle so you do not hit your body when you pedal. VB zero-offset seat-post goes along with this trend. Also rider use short saddles to go around this rule. 6. Along with #5 the back is flat and when racers place hand on the hood but keep the forearms flat (the most aero position) it is important than the angle between arms and forearms is 90 degrees or less so the distance between between brake hood and saddle is smaller than in the past, so you want a short top tube. To accomplish this aspect, pro racers are choosing smaller bikes than before. VB has a small frame and a 9 cm stem as the smallest. VB is ok here, even it could have offered an 8cm stem. 7. Components are also part of this trend. Cranks are shorter that were in the past, for example Tadej (176 cm) is using a 165 mm crank, Filippo Ganna (193 cm) iirc use a 170 crank for the hour record, MVP (184 cm) is in 172.5. The smaller cranks offer aero advantage, and also you are working in the area where mechanically you are stronger. Of course you need gears that you can spin. VB is compatible with all the component manufactures. 6. In pro racing mixing areas with good asphalt with unpaved or gravel road are becoming very common. Having a frame that accepts different width tires is important so you do not need to have a different bike for each terrain. VB has done a great job here allowing as to use tires up to 32. Many other frame manufactures have aero bike but basically designed around the 28 mm now standard in road racing. With this VB frame you can have 2 sets of wheels like a road with 28mm tire and wider rim wheel with a 32 mm gravel tire and if you want to do some rough single track gravel you just change the wheel. 7. Aerodynamics are important in flat terrain but also during climbing when you have a head wind, or the grade is not very steep, having you body down help, you can feel it on your legs and also if you have the correct setup, you may see the CdA not increasing. Few of the pro's climb with the forearm flat on the top of the handlebar. 7. The only part the VB has not touch for aerodynamics is the flared handlebars. The UCI set also rules there and a small flare would be OK. This rules changed in Jan 2024 included the brake levers angles and it may change again. In summary VB offers a high quality frame with almost all the features that are trending in pro racing, before I got it I look around and I could not find one that I could place a check mark in each of the features I wanted with the exception of VB-R 264. I have been trying to explain why the the VB-R-268 is my choice. VB has many frames with different features and for many of us may be better. I have more than a month since I start to ride, which I do everyday, in different terrains, with a 28 tire you can do most of the gravel. Sometime next year I will get a "gravel" wheel to do single track. Chris has been great with fast replies to all my questions, so to have a good online service is also important part of the frame. I am very happy with this bike. Note: I got and extra seat-post and seat-post clamp when I placed the order for the frame, I like to have them as spare and the price was very reasonable. The seat-post seem very solid and very nicely made so most likely I will never need them. October 18, 2024, 07:20:33 PM |
1 |
Re: VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame
I bought additional seatpost (30$ or smtng); you just pay for the seatpost that's listed on their site, and tell Chris you want the seatpost for VB268 as a reserve. - if you want one, ofc. Stupid question, but why would you need a spare seatpost? November 07, 2024, 09:24:07 AM |
1 |
|
Re: TT-R18 new frame 2024 from Tantan
"Super light" 1050g What a joke November 12, 2024, 06:55:13 AM |
1 |
|
Re: Is an Chinertown build really worth it?
For me choosing parts, reading reviews and researching stuff is part of the fun. Plus building your own bike makes you better at working on bikes. So far i've been able to fix any issue on my bike and know every little detail about it. My Velobuild with Shimano 105, carbon wheels and powermeter crank cost me 2200€. Hard to get a name brand bike with similar stats for this price. But if you want no hassle, no figuring out stuff, no facing issues and perfect after sales support this is not for you. Then i would recommend buying a pre built bike from a reputable seller. February 07, 2025, 03:20:30 PM |
1 |
|
Custom Paintwork Gallery.
I was just wondering if people would like to submit pictures of their builds with a description of the paintwork, colour, finish, cos etc. I was hoping to create a repository of pictures so indecisive people like me can make a better decision when purchasing an open mould. I want to buy a BXT 135 but am overwhelmed by the choices of finish. Do i go Chameleon 05 or translucent 03, what do they even look like in the real world? Post away..... April 22, 2025, 10:08:14 AM |
1 |
Re: Can we migrate this forum to a modern forum? I'm tired of the broken pages.
I meam I'm new here (his is my first post), but it would be great if there was thread page navigation, jump to latest post when entering threads and at a push a better search function. But look and feel of the forum (as an oldie) is all good by me... 
June 08, 2025, 03:15:00 AM |
1 |