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Re: Lightcarbon: LCR018-D (endurance all-road)
Finished the build tonight at long last. What a beautiful bike - the raw carbon gloss finish really is amazing and I’m so glad I went for it. Bike was so easy to build. A quick 5 minute test confirmed the bike is solid as a rock and as comfortable as you would ever hope for - the geometry is superb. To be able to climb straight onto a bike and feel instantly comfortable and at home says it all. Ultegra 8170 is absolutely ridiculous. Silent to the point where I wasn’t even sure I changed gear and so fast across the range. Weighed in around 7.35kg with pedals which is right on target. Hope to get an hour out on it tomorrow so hopefully will be able to report back after that, but initial impressions are really, really positive.   
November 11, 2025, 05:50:15 PM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: LCR018-D (endurance all-road)
I now have put a few hours of riding into the LCR018-D so just want to give everyone the final specs of the bike and a quick initial impression. Specification: Size 54 frameset Raw carbon, gloss finish, laser silver decals (absolutely superb - despite my love of hyper chameleon finishes, this raw carbon is by far my favourite finish). 380/80 Handlebar Inline Seatpost Ultegra 8170 Groupset with titanium bolt upgrades on the groupset and throughout the bike Frames & Gear UDH Direct Mount Hanger CeramicSpeed T47 BB Go-Zone 45mm Carbon Wheelset, 24mm internal, CX Ray Spokes, brass rainbow nipples, GP5000 30mm Tyres, Ridenow TPU tubes Galfer Wave Rotors, Swissstop 34RS brake pads YBN S12 TIC rainbow chain, waxed with Dynamic Wander Wax (soon to be moving to UFO Ultra Endurance Wax) Lightcarbon 3D print saddle and carbon bottle cages Lightcarbon titanium garmin mount Assembly: Putting the bike together was a pleasure - has to go down as the easiest bike I have ever built - and this is my first disc brake bike so that is saying something! Everything is finished to a very high standard, no problem routing any cables - handlebars are easy to route through as well - everything just works. Di2 battery holder in the seatpost is custom made to fit and is a really nice finishing touch. Another feature not really mentioned is the little GoPro mount which attaches to the Garmin mount in where the mount meets the bar - not out front at the actual Garmin faceplate. This is such a great little addition - it allows me to add a light to the bike but keep it nicely tucked in close to the frame - so compact and neat and not something ive seen before, so kudos to LightCarbon for this! Initial Impressions: If there is one word I would use to describe this bike, it would be smooth. It's exactly as I hoped for, and exactly the bike I wanted. Is it as responsive as a TCR? No. Is it as fast as an Aeroad? No. Dont get me wrong, its fun and a pleasure to ride, but im trying to give an objective feel of the actual ride compared to some other bikes. BUT - its smoother than anything else ive ridden, and im willing to bet I might actually be faster over 4-5 hours on this bike than the other 2 listed, because this bike does not beat me up at all. It is so easy on the body that after 2 hours I find myself physically in far better shape than I would be on any of my other race bikes - and thats the key. I bought this bike for endurance, and it's ticking all the boxes - and then some. I went for Ultegra 8170 Di2 and ive never been as blown away by a groupset. I've been using 9150 Di2 on my Cervelo S3 which is very, very good - but this 8170 is ridiculous. Absolutely silent and shifts faster than any groupset ive ever used - even the front shifts feel like a rear shift - so smooth, fast and quiet. I wasn't expecting that much of a difference - but it is a big difference to any groupset ive used and I couldn't recommend highly enough. Ive added the little button "exaggerators" that slip in under the hoods to make the hidden buttons more pronounced (I got them off Aliexpress) - what a difference they make! I can press even with winter gloves and feel the clicks so clearly - a small but massive improvement. Another big motivator for this bike was the shift to disc brakes - I have hand and wrist problems at the minute and needed something to ease the pressure and force going through my hands - especially on wet winter roads. Overall, I am delighted with disc braking. Bleeding the 8170 was so simple as to be a joke - took 5 minutes to do both front and back. Aligning the rotors did keep me busy for half an hour as I wrapped my head around it, but now all set and silent. I was surprised by the gradual nature of the braking - to me it feels much like a very well setup rim brake bike, but the key difference being that it feels the same even in the wet! So this is a huge improvement. Im using Swissstop 34RS pads, so maybe other pads would give a different feel, but I am very happy with how these perform. Another interesting bonus is the lack of external cables. The bike looks so sleek and clean - and to that point, no cables makes cleaning down the bike SO much easier! It is such a well rounded package overall, so smooth, confidence inspiring in its stability, still agile and absolutely silent, which always brings a smile to my face when riding. One point to mention is the handlebars. I love the look of the design, and the sloping shape gives an extra few mm of height to the shifters. However that sloping shape is not great for riding on the tops as it angles your shoulders in towards each other and feels rather cramped. As someone who loves to climb, I can see this being a slight point of annoyance in the future, so I may revisit the bars after a while and think about changing them out. Its a small point, but something worth mentioning. It will be interesting to see when the good weather comes around again what I think of taking my Cervleo S3 out again - the LCR018-D is such a well rounded bike that covers every scenario so well, that I can see it becoming my go-to bike for most rides. Future Plans: There's not much more to do to the bike, but I have a couple of things i'd like to try. 1. A "best" wheel upgrade for the good days. A 50/55 ish deep set of wheels around 1200g to really make the bike shine. The Go Zones are great, and the brass nipples give me all year round confidence, but at 1380g they are a do it all workhorse. Id love a set of all out performance wheels for big days out. I'm trying to decide between DFS Carbon custom build, Serenade 50mm, Aero Raptor 50mm, XM Carbon custom build, or 9Velo - any thoughts here much appreciated! 2. A second fork. I have my current fork cut with a couple of extra spacers for maximum comfort, I'd love to get another one and cut it slammed for better aero performance on fast days. Its not that big a deal to switch the fork out, so currently debating the cost if an extra fork and an extra caliper. Sorry for the rambling, hope this is of some use to users on the forum. Anything else you'd like to know about the bike, just reach out and I'd be glad to help. 
November 14, 2025, 03:28:54 AM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: LCR018-D (endurance all-road)
Please excuse this question if it sound silly; do I need two of these bearing for one headset?Yes - one for the top, one for the bottom. Today I´ve recieved the pictures of my frameset. A bit more colorful then all these black beauties  Lets see how the decals shine in daylight - they should have the same color as the dropouts but look a bit darker. In the End, if I cant stand it, Ill get matching ones later on... Its a 58 - should arrive in the next 15 days November 21, 2025, 11:16:25 AM |
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Re: AERO GRAVEL Frame: which one?!
I vote for the velobuild 
December 13, 2025, 10:32:29 AM |
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Re: AERO GRAVEL Frame: which one?!
+1 for the ICAN Graro. Stiff & fast.
December 13, 2025, 12:40:41 PM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: LCR018-D (endurance all-road)
After spending a foggy and cold day in the workshop, the bike is ready and I did a short 20k spin to shoot some proper photos. First Impressions of the Ride - great position - can imagine going 10+ hours on this - good and fast acceleration and direct in corners - but not as a full on racer (which is good) - absolutly silent Partlist: Frameset: LCR18-D 58cm Wheels: LB WR45 with Sapim CX-Ray / CX-Sprint, Son Delux and Carbon Ti X-Hub SL Groupset: - Force E1 Brifters with Hope RX4 Calipers - Force E1 Road Powermeter Crankset with Raketa 42T Chainring - 1295 10-52 Cassette - Rival D1 XPLR Derailleur with Garbaruk Cage (to shift the 52 Cog) - XX Chain - DUB Road T47 BB (used 1*3mm DUB Spacer on the drive side) - SRAM CLX-R 160mm Discs Tires: Michelin Pro5 35mm, Cyclami TPU Tupes Bartape: Burgh X Cages: Canyon CF SLX with Titan Screw Specials: Sinewave Beacon 2, Allygn EdelMÜ Weight: 8.55KG (without all the Dynamostuff, the bike would end up somewhere at 7.95KG) The building process was super easy. I´ve build a lot of bikes and I did not had any errors or problems. Of course, the routing of the cables takes a while but is not that bad to be honest. Some things Lightcarbon should think of changing: - Adding some sealings to the Headset (Im happy that I changed to Stainless with good seals) Its basically all open. - changing the position of the Seatpost Locking screw (barely possible to reach it with a torque wrench) - chaging the mechanism of the Saddleclamp: its pure shit - go for something easy to adjust like thomson or all the others. This design is hard to reach and a pain to change a few degrees. Who ever came along with this design should be punished by mounting saddles with this post until the end of life...  Other than that: easy peasy. Tipps / Recommendations: - For all the DUB/SRAM users. Get yourself the WolfTooth DUB T47 BB Tool. Great design, very solid. - Get Stainless Steel Headset bearings, use loads of grease - Tape down the front hose to the fork steerer - Apply loads of grease to the whole front steerer (especially whats IN the frame) by that, you prevent damage due to the rear hose rubbing on the steerer in the headtube) December 14, 2025, 08:50:11 AM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: LCR018-D (endurance all-road)
My 58 size bike is assembled. I was worried that maybe frame will be small. I am 192cm tall and my inseam is 90cm. Seat post is not even half way up so this size should also fit taller riders than me. Can’t wait for a nice dry day to test it out. December 18, 2025, 04:18:59 PM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: LCR018-D (endurance all-road)
Another thing that is good to know about. I was pulling my hair out why it is not working during my build for hours. I wanted to have one 5mm spacer above Light Carbon HBR17 handlebar for some potential future handlebar height adjustments, but when I did put normal round spacer above my stem headset was preloaded just on one side and headset topcap started to rub frame. Then I figure out top face of handlebars is not completely straight and perpendicular to steerer tube. So I had to printed out my own headset spacer with 2mm angled surface and now it works perfectly. Iam not saying that is good or bad just "non-standard" and a thing to be aware of if you need adjust your handlebar height. Original topcap that comes with a handlebars works perfectly out of a box it is just when you need to adjust your handlebar height and put some spacers above handlebars. I think you will need this angled spacer if you will ever need to adjust your cockpit height and put some spacers above stem, because I have no idea how to do that with stock parts without custom printed spacer. Hope that helps someone. December 31, 2025, 06:32:02 AM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: LCR018-D (endurance all-road)
How many months did most of the people here to wait upon invoice payment to receive images from LC on their frames prior to shipping? Thanks Make sure you actually request QC images, for the record. February 04, 2026, 07:17:19 AM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: LCR018-D (endurance all-road)
kjerts: Nice one, love to see some 3d printing Yes, very nice. The original has wider groves around the screw holes for the computer insert, but there is no movement when mounted. I made a new print with ironing activated and the finish got much nicer. Could actually gone even shorter for my Bolt, but it looks good February 04, 2026, 12:52:16 PM |
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