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Re: Airwolf YFR068 - 2023 Gravel Frame
How much time does it take to complete the painting? Around 8 weeks. January 25, 2024, 10:35:40 AM |
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Re: Airwolf YFR068 - 2023 Gravel Frame
Well my build is 90% complete. Waiting on some power meter SRAM Force cranks to finish the build. Running some loaner cranks for the time being. Mixed feelings about this bike. The quality of the paint (see pic of example - it chipped really easily. Has happened in a few locations), issues with the headset plug (as others have noted) and misaligned brake caliper mounts were low points (normal methods for aligning brakes didn't work, needed to really play around to eliminate brake rub). Overall required excessive fiddling to get things right, in my opinion. The bike rides well enough, but it seems noisy and the wheels I chose are probably too stiff. I can't tell if the noise is the chain/cassette combo? Open to feedback, based on my componenet selection - maybe I'm made some bad choices. Once I get final parts on it, I'll weigh it. I'm not shooting for weight weenie but I think it'll end up light as a result of all that carbon. Here are the specs: - SRAM Force AXS brakes and shifters - SRAM GX AXS rear derailuer (went mullet on this build, good for where I live) - Garabuk 10-50 cassette - SRAM Rival cranks with 42T cassette (upgrading to SRAM Force with PM and 44T when it arrives) - Shimano 160mm ICE-tech rotors - SRAM GX chain (for now) - WheelsFar Wheels. 50mm deep, 24mm internals, 30mm external width, DT350 hubs with aero Sapim spokes - GravelKing SK 43mm tires - 400mm handlebar and 110mm stem on 58cm frame - Specialized Power Comp Saddle (not what's on in pic, but have since swapped it out) Anyone else find specing and building bikes to be almost more fun than riding them? April 17, 2024, 02:49:09 PM |
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Re: Airwolf YFR068 - 2023 Gravel Frame
Finished for now. Everything seems pretty rock solid! Went with the eGR as I wanted to keep it budget. All in, this bike has cost me AUD$1750, and it’s quite the bike for that cost!
August 03, 2024, 04:09:28 AM |
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Re: Airwolf YFR068 - 2023 Gravel Frame
I've used the SL7 bearings and the SL7 compression ring. I've sanded the edged of the cap so it sits flush. I think I did al the right things. It compresses fine at first, just slips a tiny bit after a couple of harsh gravel roads. I had some creaking in the headset so I loosened everything up to grease up the bearing, but then for the life of me couldn’t get it back to a position that didn’t give me headset play. I ended up combining two hobbies I never thought would combine - woodworking and bike, and clamped the bottom of the form and the stem, then tightened the stem, then the expander plug and it’s fixed it. Perhaps give that a shot? Below is a picture. August 11, 2024, 03:47:49 AM |
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Re: Airwolf YFR068 - 2023 Gravel Frame
I finally got everything built up and am mostly very happy with the bike. I opted to get the airwolf 24mm internal wheels with novatec hubs and those have been amazing. The only issue I had with the wheels was actually with the hub, which I wasn't expecting. I got centerline hubs and the interface on the front hub for the brake rotor did not want to accept any brake rotor (I tried a few). I finally was able to use a mallet to get the rotor far enough onto the hub that I then could use the BB tool and sinch it down. We'll see if that causes any issues but I think it'll be fine. As far as the frame, I had no problem routing the brake lines after using a rasp on the entry points in the fork and rear triangle. The only issue I've encountered is headset play. I purchased the SL7 compression ring but just could not get the brake lines to run cleanly through it from the fork. The lines run in front of the fork and then the SL7 compression ring would split them to the side and then I would run into issue with the headset spacers on top because they need the brake lines to be in the front again. So I used to compression ring that came with the bike. I did use the SL7 bearings and have had no issues with the fork rubbing on the top tube. But I just cannot seem to work out all of the play in the headset. I had the problem a user explained above where the expansion plug would work its way out of the top of the fork. I fixed this by adding locktight and also tightening down the bolts on the stem a little so they kind of holding the plug in place while I would tighten the top cap down. That process has worked well but I still seem to have a bit of play after every ride. I am wondering if the headset spacers, which do not seem to be great quality and don't look like they fit together perfectly are the issue-maybe they don't seat correctly and then work loose during a ride. Anyway, here are some pictures and a full parts list. Overall, I am very happy and I would buy this frame again (considering building one for my wife). As an aside, I am using the ZTTO Ultralight 12sp 34t cassette and it has been... okay. There is a fair amount of noise with in the drivetrain which is annoying to my and sometimes my shifting isn't super clean. I may just bite the bullet and get a force cassette and hope for better luck. I'd appreciate any advice you guys have on this. Let me know if you have any quesitons about the parts or build process! Wheels: Airwolf 30mm wheels with 24mm internal; novatec hubs Tires: Panracer Gravelking SS 38mm Shifters/FD/RD/Brakes/crankset: Sram Force AXS Saddle: Ergon SRX-3 Cassette: ZTTO ultralight 34t chain: KMC X12 (is this my problem?) Brake rotors: Bucklos centerlock floating rotors October 11, 2024, 02:59:31 PM |
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Re: Airwolf YFR068 - 2023 Gravel Frame
Regarding stem, it's unique to this design (it's a d-shaped steerer tube), so you're very limited in what you can use. The best bet is to use what comes with the bike and make sure you get the proper length.i have cut 2 cm, lenght of seatpost is 400mm so it's longer than standard 350  now is fine, yesterday was my first ride, and boom WoW this frame is really smooth and i feel thath frame is really fast
November 08, 2024, 01:02:30 AM |
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