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Re: Build Log - Carbonda hard tail for daughter's birthday.
Quote Nice - I hadn't seen those braided cables before!Those are the same braided hose Hope and Trickstuff use for their brakes  .Quote How are the Lewis LV4? I was looking at getting them, but they were just a bit too pricey for something that doesn't have a strong warranty here in Australia.They are pretty amazing for the price. There is plenty of power and the build quality is top notch, nicest brake I ever used. I got mine on Lewis's official shop on Taobao using an intermediary service called Superbuy and I spent like $270 in total with shipping but if I have an issue with them, I'm pretty much on my own though. My bike was stolen in January and i ordered a set again but for the new bike i'm currently building. Lewis also sell a cheaper versions of vertical brakes called CL2V (2 pistons) and CL4V (for pistons) but only in China as far as i know. Those are actual copies of the Piccola with the alu levers and prices are $164 for the CL2V and $192 for the CL4V on Taobao  .May 08, 2024, 02:39:41 AM |
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Re: Affordable lightweight frameset (not Winspace SLC 3)
Brands command a premium, for what benefit? With Giant being the exception (a brand that owns / is the factories), you have factories that make frames for brands, and brands distribute and sell. Each layer needs to eat. The further away from China, the more expensive the layer, and the less relevant (carbon bike market is now so commoditized with all frames looking the same and within 5w of each other). Therefore, the closer to the factory, the better the value & the less bullsh1t. It is telling that Pinarello has frames made in china and they paint them in Italy. You can get real custom... because of the paint. Factor is the same: their frame looks open mould, but you get to really tune... the paint. There's something to be said about where the expertise really lies. Take carbon layup. Is it Specialized that's really the expert, or Specialized suppliers? I dont have the answer, but it's important when thinking about light frames: as of now, T700 is ghetto. T800 is the gold standard, most legit carbon things are made with it. And then you go into fancy territory, with T1000, T1100, and increasingly, you see exotic things like M30, M40, and others. As brands brand (ie differentiate), there's also the question of how much a brand is making shit up (what does specialized's Fact carbon actually mean? Ditto with Pinarello's different carbon tiers). T1000 is "known" (rumoured?) to cost about 2x T800, so you will NOT see a frame made with T1000 for $500. If T1000 and $500 are seen on the same page, it means they (at best) INCLUDE T1000 in the frame, but it could be 1% - obviously, that's unregulated, Chinese are known to basically lie, and, maybe most importantly, you can't test it yourself -. The biggest benefit of higher tiers is you can use less of it for the same strength, so frames get lighter. And so, you're left with the usual questions: - Do you want to pay extra for a brand? The Chinese market now has brands, including Specialized equivalent brands (ie social media fluff fest). As a westerner, i'd say buying a Chinese brand is the worst choice possible: you pay a premium, but you're not in China, so you can't flex at the cafe your branded bigcock frame that nobody knows, and you can't lean on the bigcock bike shop for help / maintenance / support / warranty / i spent money here please be make me feel important and refer to me as your lordship. - If you buy a western brand, (1) you (usually) get to rely on your local LBS, (2) you get a frame that's been QCed (questionable truth), (3) and if you buy something high end, you buy a vibe around layup technology, ride properties, the secret sauce that makes it so that when you jump on a specialized, your hair grows back, your biceps get more defined, and the ladies look at you like "ooh myyyy". (3) goes back to my point above on who actually has the layup know how. So, a rational actor will wonder: how much more over an equivalent spec (features & weight) OEM frame am i willing to spend to benefit from 1-2-3? - If you buy an OEM frame, you have to trust that (A) the factory / broker actually exists (people on this forum still using paypal insurance scheme to send money to Farsports is money down the drain, as far as i'm concerned), (B) they will ship you what you ordered (when Airwolf on Aliexpress sells you a frame for 12 dollars made of full T1100, spoiler alert, they're lying), (C) they will ship you a frame that's not a dog, and that's been QCed enough (Light carbon shipping cheese, Tavelo with undersized BBs whose shells crack during install, and all the horror stories you can find on here with Airwolf, tantan, workswell, and so on). - On (C), because a seller will usually tell you not to worry, then ship you swiss cheese anyway, you have to factor in an element of risk: more often than not, seller A (after careful consideration on your part to choose that seller) will ship good frames, but occasionally, they will fuck up, at which point you need to be qualified enough to understand where they fucked up, and complain. Also, let's be honest, in many instances, people complaining about frames is USER ERROR, or such trivial niggles that the factory should indeed ignore the noises you make. And you have to complain loud enough, to a seller that is honest enough / has enough of an incentive to listen and help. And so, this forum is invaluable in helping identify (a) where the value is, (b) good sellers, (c) and bad ones. For light frames, it depends on what you deem light (and what tyre clearance you need). A lot of 2024 frames are around or below 1000g in Medium (starting with the Velobuild 268, which really is the standard of value). SP Cycle claims a 880g frame (30C, R025-SL), Yishun has an endurance frame at 900g, Long Teng claims their chonky boy 301 is 980g. I havent mapped out the lighter side of the market, because i'm over 80kg myself, but i would say: reach out to OEM with a good reputation on this forum, ideally order 2 frames and build 1 for a friend (or more), as you will command better care and attention, ask questions, accept the risk that no matter what you do, you may have problems to solve, but deal with someone who will more likely than not agree to help you rather than ghost you, and have fun. Or buy a Giant TCR, ofc, once you've swallowed the upfront cost, rarely do people regret buying a branded frame. Notes: - on light carbon, recent precedents make them look bad (1 example of awful cheese carbon, 1 example of a down tube you could deform by hand, off the top of my head, but they generally have great reputation, and they're linked to Yishun (if i'm not mistaken), which also has great reputation. - on tantan, plenty of people report horror stories, but they also OEM for big brands, and they are huge (assuming a constant error rate, the bigger you are, the more errors). As such, and because perfection is an ideal, nor a reality, they're probably still a good counterpart. - Airwolf has an error rate so high it makes errors part of who they are, so you probably dont want to buy frames from them. But i've been buying cockpits from them, and i love their cockpits. So even that is more nuanced than just "avoid airwolf" What do i know? I've been riding bikes for a long time, most of my friends ride bikes and many of them are champions, and i've built 9 chinese bikes in the last 2y. These opinions are my own and as a matter of course, i tend to agree with what i say, which doesn't make it truth. October 01, 2024, 03:02:53 AM |
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Re: Gravel frameset recommendations, anything I've missed?
I guess it's subjective, but all else equal, between ordering from Alix and from Peter, I'll always order from Peter because with him, you spoke to a human, you're not just an order number. Yyyyy when ordering from sp cycle AliExpress or online shop You also talk with a human and he even has a name and is very helpful. I know you try to shill Peter hard everywhere but lets not make a comedy out of it with false claims like that 
October 18, 2024, 01:58:20 PM |
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Re: Any thoughts on the 145% Chinese tariff on purchases?
Strong advocate for the tariffs. Hopefully our companies make more of an effort to manufacture goods locally now. Sucks we can't get our frames as cheap anymore, but it's a price we have to pay to Make America Great Again. Z. You're an idiot. No one is going to start manufacturing in the US. Even brands that started in the US and recently moved manufacturing to Asia said they are not coming back. This will only lead to higher prices and small brands closing. April 28, 2025, 08:03:16 PM |
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Re: Velobuild AERO GRAV Frame
Finally received mine today. XL ordered on the 30th of May Pros: - The quality seems really good overall. No paint overspray, headset cups are almost perfectly smooth and the bearings fit perfectly without rocking. - handlebar spacers are machined aluminum. Frankly it's heavier than plastic but I've had problems with spacers being too soft causing play and loosening headset in the past so I'll take alu any day. - you get an option off offset or no offset seatpost and I've got both - geo seems really good for me at least on the paper - it was very cheap Cons: - I'm a little disappointed by the paintjob: I ordered a transparent green clear coat over the raw carbon but they used a lot of black paint to cover up some of the areas of the frame and the whole rear part of the bike including the bb is just plain black so the paint just looks like a "somewhat" green to black fade at best but In most light conditions it just looks completely black. It was a 60$ paint job so I got what I paid for. - the frame is very heavy. Without a rear derailleur hanger, with bottle cage bold and the front derailleur hanger it's 1247g - cockpit does not come with a computer mount - no di2 plugs or battery holder included weights: Frame size XL 1247g Fork uncut 472g Cockpit 100x420 397g Seatpost 0mm offset 215g Seatpost 20mm offset 237g August 20, 2025, 07:32:40 AM |
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Re: Velobuild AERO GRAV Frame
I've had the chance to put in some longer rides over the last few weeks with my new setup – a couple of rides on 40 mm Challenge Strada Bianca tires, mostly on tarmac and some Cat-1 gravel. First impressions: I’m really happy with how the bike performs. Both in terms of ride feel and on Strava segments, it’s noticeably faster on road and light gravel compared to my Cube NuRoad. The frame definitely seems to offer more aero potential, and the fit is spot on for me. Honestly, for minimalists, this bike could easily be a true “one-bike-fits-all” solution – as long as you’re not doing road races, it covers just about everything. I even find myself reaching for the Velobuild with the 40s for pure road rides instead of my SL7, just because it’s so much fun. It almost rolls as well as a road bike, but can handle gravel no problem. Last week, I took it out for some proper gravel sessions, including some seriously rocky sections and even singletrack. It’s quick and agile, and the 48 mm Thundero tires definitely contribute a lot to the ride quality. It also performs impressively well on 2.1” Thunder Burt tires, proving its versatility across different terrains. The Zipp SL80 bars are also growing on me – didn’t love them at first, but now I really appreciate the grippy, textured tops, especially in aero hoods and puppy paws position. Only minor regret: in hindsight, I might have chosen the frame in “gloss over carbon” instead of matte black. Still debating whether to go 1x13 with the drivetrain, too. All in all, super satisfied with the bike. It may get its first race outing this weekend. And… the next China frame project is already in the works – more on that soon! (P.S.: Please ignore the bar tape color, just a test run 😅) 40mm 48mm 2.1" Tire clearance 48m: Tire clearance 2.1" September 03, 2025, 07:08:46 AM |
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Re: Build me an endurance road bike
This is a message board not a service; do your own research and then ask specific questions about build decisions, products, manufacturer reputations, etc.. I'm seeing a lot of these posts lately. It's pretty self centered to start your own topic like this. You can ask questions about a certain frame, groupset, wheelset in the respective, existing topic threads for those products.
September 14, 2025, 01:14:18 PM |
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Re: Build me an endurance road bike
The fact that i mention 2 frames that suit my needs should probably indicate that i have read tens of threads before opening one. If everyone who was debating between two similar frames started their own egoistic topic.... If there is certain information you want about a given frame, ask it in the thread. Think of this forum as a remarkable information sharing resource for a pretty opaque and otherwise challenging-to-navigate area of the bike industry. It's been a great help for me over the past few months. September 14, 2025, 02:24:31 PM |
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Re: Build me an endurance road bike
You have a terribly pretentious attitude. Go to a shop and they'll build you a bike.
September 14, 2025, 08:10:05 PM |
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Re: Build me an endurance road bike
Have you read the post or only the title ? Surely this will motivate people to help you
September 15, 2025, 12:42:40 AM |
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