Chinese Carbon MTB Forums
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Wing & Carbonda
Taking the plunge into the world of Chinese carbon was interesting, to say the least. After much due diligence, I settled on the L FM936 & M FM1001 from Carbonda. I submitted my inquiry and Wing was quick to respond with pricing & general information as to how to conduct the transaction. Communication was superb throughout - including some potential "I might add 3rd, and 4th frame to the order" conversations - and I generally had a reply within 48-72 hours, if not sooner. Frames arrived well packed, and without any issues, shipping holds, etc. Upon inspecting the frames I found the FM1001 was a L, not the M that was ordered - an easy enough mix-up when pulling orders from the inventory, so I'm not pointing blame/fault at anyone, these things happen. I contacted Wing, who requested a few photos of the serial number and the small info tag on the inside of the headtube and corrected the mix-up almost immediately. A new M frame is being shipped out, and the L I currently have is repacked, and awaiting shipping tags. Wing said they would send me the tags, to ship to another US-based customer, as soon as they were ready. As someone who's worked in the cycling industry, in several different roles, for nearly 30 years, I have to say that this is an outstanding example of customer service! As my current role dictates, I have various bikes built up to showcase a range of products, but I try to use bikes that aren't from the "Big-3" or other high visibility brands. Thanks to my experience with Wing & Carbonda, I will definitely be using their frames for my future "showcase" builds! March 25, 2022, 01:06:35 PM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
Yep. That's mine. First off thanks to all the regular posters on this forum for all the knowledge they share! I was considering a 177 back in April, but when they introduced the 218, I decided to give that a shot instead. I ordered the XL frame on 4-18-22, they shipped on 5/6 and I got the frame on 5/12. I was pretty pleased with that speed. I went with matte black, which maybe helped getting it a little quicker. Wheels are elite SLT 50mm deep 29mm wide and the groupset is Sensa Empire. No issues with the frame, other than the challenges of getting the cables through the integrated bars. Being my first build, I didn't think it was too bad. I've only had time to get about 30 miles in so far, but no problem to report yet. I did put a little tape on my seat post, so I can check to make sure it's not slipping over time, as that's been an issue on other velobuild frames. My other bike is an aluminum endurance frame, so this should be a lot lighter and quicker. The bathroom scale has the 218at just under 19.5 lbs, my endurance bike is 25 lbs. June 19, 2022, 08:10:41 PM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
Sorry I didn't weigh anything prior to assembling. The cable housings run all the way through, no stops. I used foam liners over mine to keep them quiet. I hope you get yours soon - can't wait to see it! June 20, 2022, 05:01:59 AM |
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Re: I Am Slowly Getting Fed Up (Crybaby Rant)
What are some popular Chinese domestic brands? I'd love to get my hands on a Pardus, Dare, or DIZO frameset... Here's the thing, if you manage to get your hands on one of these brands it's because you're buying through a shipping agent or unproven seller where your back to square one of having no support Pardus is only in the business of selling complete bikes via dealers so getting your hands on a frameset in China means working something out with your dealer (expensive) or waiting for one to pop up on Xianyu (second hand/bulk goods platform). They have some overseas dealers but only in UAE and Malaysia IIRC. People on the forums love the Super Sport (cheap but decent starter bike like BROSS) and Spark EVO. The ZGL CR41 SL2 is an internet darling WW frame that was popular a couple years back when the company (huge OEM that supposedly weaves their own carbon) was still trying to promote their own brand. The Quick Zeit Pro (aka Carbonda CFR 1056) was also pretty popular. BROSS is a new, aggressively marketed brand that was supposedly started by the Cube OEM and official China agent, but their bread and butter is super inexpensive partial 105 endurance geo complete bikes rather than anything high end or racey. The mid range complete race bike segment is dominated by Giant and Merida. People like to recommend SCOM, UP-VINE and Weir (eponymous brand of a prominent LBS in Nanjing) for wheels. Farsports was actually in hot water for having super rude customer service in China but quite a lot of people do ride their in-house brand (not Wheelsfar). Winspace was also embroiled in forum controversy when they swapped parts without notice (Sapim spokes to Pillar due to shortage) so their reputation has basically plummeted. SEKA is slowly and steadily gaining in popularity for custom frameset builds while EXS is easily the most legit high end component brand. My personal favorites: Elilee (really nice frames, OSPWs & upcoming crankset, paint done by CarbonExpert), EXS (aims for the absolute best stiffness-to-weight in their products, makes cockpits, wheelsets and has an upcoming crankset IIRC), Pardus (proper in-house brand from a huge OEM), Caffeine Frameworks (custom steel framebuilder who experiments a lot with carbon, paint done by Unice Colorworks), CarbonExpert (carbon repair & painting), Kong 2 Studio (best custom painter in China IMO), Incolor (painting, crankset), Voicevelo/Voice for Victory (XC MTB frames, cockpits, seatposts, wheels), Builder Reserve (custom wheelbuilder), Trigon (OEM of Pinarello MOST & Shimano PRO cockpit components, their new AR01 frame is seriously cool), BLKTEC (cockpits and wheels, OEM is Trigon), HSCER (ceramic BBs), RCRACE (super boutique cassettes & TCR Adv SL ISP clamps), 0011 Cycle (hubs), Niuju (custom 3D printed headset covers for cable routing e.g. adapting Venge/SL7 stems onto Cannondales), S-PARTS (Ti screws) and Slipstream Cycling (clothing). June 20, 2022, 12:39:58 PM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
Just finished my build of the 218. It was an easy build and turned out better then I expected.
July 27, 2022, 02:36:55 PM |
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Re: High end big brand OEM road rims 38/45/50mm on sale!!!
Hi Peter,The hubs are customized from Taiwan hub factory, I am not so familiar with hubs design, they are 36T rachets however. If you want to order wheels with original brands hubs, like I said, we do have many options. The more important points are carbon spokes and high end quality rims, carbon spokes cost more than 5 USD/piece, so you can tell where the money goes. BTW, the prices I mentioned, they are particularly for the members here, I talked to the forum founder on this, we even don't list these on sales onto our website. If you are not new to this forum, old members here know we just offer quality products and good service after sale. Thank you so much. September 03, 2022, 08:41:31 PM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
Wow! That happened during a ride? You’re OK, I hope? Not dead yet, it fell apart while I was checking on it at home... I was testing the bike out on a nearby bridge in town (highest point near me about 100m in elevation) I had to bail after topping out at 30 mph after experiencing some sketchiness. Lets just say the arm was hanging on by dear life by just a c clip clearly not intended for the job. It's thin as you can get with somekind of low grade steel and this is where im guessing they've cut corners. I've noticed this with the washers and bolts as well. The lip that was supposed to retain the clip is also probably not recessed enough as it came apart so easily. Its a bummer, for sure but Im just glad it didnt happen at speed. But this bike put a big grin on my face today. Especially whilst descending. I can’t overstate how much I love how this thing handles corners. It feels just so nimble. But, the low BB takes some getting used to. I got 175mm cranks and I clipped my left pedal on the ground once because I started pedalling out of a corner to early. That’s the downside. But it’s worth it because it’s super fun! Yeah the bike is very nimble and and fun. Its a huge change from my other heavier bikes (gravel and commuter) and I'm pretty happy with the initial impressions. October 09, 2022, 09:56:29 AM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
Hi VBR218 owners. On the edge of ordering a XXL frame. The geometry would be good for me. In fact, the dogma F is a relatively relaxed superbike geometry from my POV. The only thing that bothers me is the GC performance review on the fact that the frame would be stiff "vertically". I don't really care about the sluggish critic. im 6'4" 235 lbs and coming from a endurance frame and i find it really comfortable. its all in your fit. i ride a 32 on the rear with 68 psi and a 28 with 65psi on front i put 420 miles on it since last month. including a road race last sunday. its more all i was expecting an then some. p.s. don't thread lock grub screws on the handlebars October 27, 2022, 11:44:07 PM |
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Dengfu R12
My Dengfu R12 Assembled with the new Shimano 105 DI2   October 29, 2022, 01:16:41 PM |
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Cyclami TPU tubes - more TPU tube options!
I just found these on Ali: Updated the link with better pricing: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804682104591.html The claimed weight is 38g, which is a tad more than RideNow TPU tubes. From the looks of it, the Cyclami TPU tubes utilize what appears to be a threaded alloy valve stem which should be more durable. RideNow TPU tubes utilize plastic valve stems and I've had issues with air leakage (I received a replacement). Anyways good to see more options coming out of AliExpress. If they perform as well as the RideNow tubes, these should be quite good. Sometimes I feel more cutting edge than my cycling buddies who have no clue there's a whole other world of cycling options available! 
October 30, 2022, 04:09:13 PM |
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