Is the front brake adapter the same as SL8/old X68 or the Standard Flat Mount adapter

Quote from: Jason_BladeX on September 23, 2026, 08:05:22 AM
That makes a lot of sense.

This is actually one of the reasons I'm looking more closely at the bearing choice for our next wheel builds.

If the goal is long term reliability rather than marginal gains, it sounds like a high quality steel bearing with good sealing may be the more sensible choice for a bicycle hub.

I'm curious what others think though, especially people who have put 10000+ km on their hubs. For those riders, what has actually failed first over the long term: the bearings, freehub, spoke hole or something else?

I'd rather optimize the wheelset around the part that actually limits its service life than spend money on something that only looks better on a spec sheet.

As someone, who really mistreats his off-road wheelsets, high pressure washing, bumps etc. Classic CX riding, honestly depending on the use case, normally the bearings rust faster than anyother things. Never had problems with spoke holes, freehubs etc.
It's always the bearing that makes problems like rough running first.
My recommendation would be, stainless steel bearings for road use, off-road hubs normal bearings as with the rougher terrain it's always more likely that they degrade faster than their road counterparts, no need for the stainless steel there.
Important in hub design to me would be that it's easy to replace all bearings, front hub normally is quite easy, rear hub bearings normally easy as well, but sometimes, the freehub bearings are a pain in the ass. (Newmen Fade Freehub, for example is absolute pain, as you've got to get the inner bearing through where the outer bearing sits..)

So my conclussion, easy serviceability should be priority number one, prio #2 hub design with bearings as big as reasonable, helps to have them live longer (esp. offroad), prio #3 the bearings you're choosing.

Cause if you mess up with prio #1 or #2, the customer is annoyed either with how long the service takes time or that they have to do it every 6 months. Normally not much people really care about the brand of the bearings. Also ofc ceramic bearings sounds nice on the spec sheet, but in my eyes people profit more if you put in a solid steel bearing they don't have to look at even once in the lifetime of the wheelset

Quote from: Lupus on September 21, 2026, 11:39:32 PM
Hi, everyone!
I was thinking about ordering a road bike frame from Tantan/Seraph, but I ran into a problem with a bunch of different phone numbers and websites that seem to belong to some weirdos: some people reply to messages once a day, while others don't reply at all. A third person quoted me $150 for painting, even though the price on Taobao is 200–400 RMB ($30–$60). I got the impression that these are just shady people reselling Tantan frames and making money off the paint job.
With this kind of attitude BEFORE making a purchase, I have absolutely no desire to buy anything from them, which is a shame, since they have the largest selection of frames.
Share your experiences—maybe there's a WhatsApp number that responds quickly and professionally, but I just haven't found it yet?
Just so you know, I'm not a newbie; I've worked with Tideace, Mondince, and Spcycle, and communication with them was quite smooth.

150$ is the normal price for paintjob at them also on their website seraphbikes.com
If you've fund it cheaper on taobao, then why not order over there?

Quote from: FlorianS on September 18, 2026, 07:06:29 AM
Thank you so much! Are you running 30mm or 32mm? These tires match perfectly, wow.

Those are 28mm Conti GP5000 STR, they measure ca. 30,5mm

Hope you can see the shape of the rim.

Measured 32mm outside where the tire sits and 33.7mm on the widest part

Quote from: FlorianS on September 16, 2026, 10:14:51 AM
Do you have pictures of the TAR55WS? Ordered them as well this morning but am really curious about the performance in cross winds. They kinda look U-shaped, totally different than their 50mm counterpart. Do they measure 34mm externally or 32mm externally as shown in the pictures on the Serenade website?

https://serenadebikes.com/product/25mm-inner-wide-carbon-spoke-wheelset-with-sr251c-hub/

Yes I'm running the TAR55WS, on a road setup
Will make some pictures tomorrow, I think its 32mm outside where the tire sits and 34mm on the widest part. Will try to measure and make pictures of it.

Can't say to much about wind performance as it's quite still this week in terms of wind, but on the few downhills i already did they seem to be quite stable.

Does anybody know if the DT Swiss Ratchets would work in the SR 228/248 hubs?

Quote from: jonathanf2 on September 11, 2026, 11:11:03 AM
I'm starting to plan ahead and see what sub-1199g wheels are available to buy in the next few months.

On the low end I found sub 1150g 50mm depth, 24mm IW / 30mm EX wheels for under $500 USD:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256811982519396.html

On the high end, I found 50mm depth wheels that are 975g, but cost right under $1400 USD:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256812814638085.html

I'm a bit partial to anything in the 40-50mm depth range, but are still lightweight enough for climbing and fast pace on the flats. I found a couple in-between the $400-1500 USD price mark, but I'm open to other options. Any recommendations and/or opinions would be great. Thanks!

The first link leads me to a wheelset that is 1250g...

Regarding the sound, I guess there's the general difference between the "classic" two ratchet set, like DT Swiss Ratchet, there's also already a little difference in sound to the EXP system, but if I understood correct, in the Elitewheels, the ratchet is already part of the freehub?

Got my new wheelset yesterday.
55mm height, TAR55WS, so 25mm internally. Ordered it with SR248 hub, Pillar 1420 spokes.

Wheels seem to be true, weight is 1370g, 30g lighter than expected. Got it without spoke holes, as i didn't state clearly I wanted it with, so my mistake, but not that big of a deal to me, unfortunately no drainage hole, should have stated this more clearly as well.
At first glance I thought I was nuts, but the spokes seemed to be wider than the Pillar1420 on my other wheelset, measured it, well yeah 2.2mm wide not 2.0mm wide, gave Serenade a short message, they explained they had no Pillar1420 in the correct length and "upgraded" my wheelset to Sapim CX Ray. I don't complain about that

Unfortunately I need to spacer the brake disc at bit out, in comparison to my other wheelset and 0,4mm don't seem to be enough compared to the Goldix R180SL, so I've got to wait for the spacers.

Totally unrelated, on the front everything matched with my other wheelsets, but holy F why can't shimano build discs that don't need to be trued straight out of the box. Paying 40-60€ for a piece of aluminium and steel, just so I need to true it...

Did anyone try to build the frame with a normal stem/handlebar setup?

I know deda/fsa offer their solutions for the ostro v2, but my idea was to go with a normal round stem, just need an idea for the headset cover..

Quote from: MarioCanario on August 19, 2026, 09:38:14 AM
i got the following mail from wendy today.

they divided the pricing into 3 groups:

• 869$ - black matte with or without LC logo,
• 1069$ - LC Standard designs 
• 1169$ - Client's own customized design

Great to see them hearing on reasonable feedback


see the screenshot below

Just got the information from Wendy that they reversed their decision regarding the $300 fee.

Yes, you are allowed, but please make it clear that it's for without any decals and just ud carbon black matte.
Meanwhile, we hope to receive more order with our brand logos .
Ud carbon black matte with our brand logos also costs US$869/set for LCR020-D paired with HBR020 handlebar .

I think that's great decision! Also I will reply to her, that if they make the option to put their logo on the frame free and only charge for custom paint, a lot more people will take the option with the LC logo

Quote from: Franovvski on August 18, 2026, 10:45:33 AM
Same question

Should be compatible, at least the freehub ratchets are. Mine broke and I replaced it with one for DT from AliX

Quote from: FrostedDyslexia on August 17, 2026, 01:46:49 PM
was this confirmed across multiple conversations? because the way this is worded, it seems like it must be some sort of communication problem.

even for chinese oem this makes no sense. in one month time no one will feel bad about an increased frame price but seeing 300 for mandatory decals option will always feel bad 

Customized painted LCR020-D 56cm (either your cusotmized design or LIGHTCARBON logo )  costs US$1169/set ( US$869 frame + US$300 customized fee )
Unit price includes Frame +fork+seat post +clamp +headset +headset spacers + thru-axles+ handlebar HBR020+UDH rear hanger