Look, if we could be riding top tier bikes and had all the money in the world we wouldn’t be here. I opted for the derailleur because it looks cool and it’s light. The same with the cranks. There are a ton of options I could have gone with, but again the weight and the design of what I bought was why I made my choices. I had actually never heard of Ingrid or 5Dev when these components caught my eye, I really had zero clue they existed. Now, knowing how this market works I do know that there’s no possibility of the cranks being cheap originals and there is a good possibility of the derailleur being the real deal. I have done lots of business with the Chinese over the past 15 years and have found everything from expensive high end overstock to flimsy cheap replicas and rejects/blems of popular brands. We’re here on a site dedicated to open mold and knock off goods, like it or not. I’m glad I turned on to aliexpress and I like that I can get durable, light nice looking components cheap.

I'm finished! So I started with the Meinier M09, didn't like the bearings so I switched them out to Enduro Max, including the bottom bracket bearings. The bottom bracket is glued in with LocTite fixative. I'm super impressed with the headset cups in the frame as well as the cable routing, which was a breeze. I cannot recommend this frame enough. It's a medium, 17.5" and I'm 5'8" with a 30" inseam and it's a little on the small side but I think I'd rather have this than a large. Here's the build list:
Origin8 headset on a Rock Shox SiD rlc (32mm stanchions) 120mm. Kalloy m35 stem, FSA Gradient carbon bars. SRAM Twistloc lockout for rear (debating on whether I want remote for front, it's an expensive upgrade) SRAM Gripshift 12 speed and shorty ergo grips. I have 29"x30mm Nomadik carbon wheels with Novatec hubs. Vittoria Mezcal front and Maxxis Recon rear. CNC rear cassette 10-52 oil slick (basically SRAM xx1 knockoff) SRAM X01 oil slick chain. 34t from chainring (round may put on a wolf tooth 32t oval i have) Goldix 165mm cranks (5dev knockoff) PNW pedals. One Up v3 180 dropper with a RYET carbon 3d printed saddle. Shimano 2 pot hydraulic brakes. They are CUES, they were cheap, I may upgrade I may not. A lot of titanium bolts. Ingrid long cage derailleur. Oh and a DNM AO38rl rear shock for 110 mm travel (190x51)

The ride? I thought it might be squirrelly with the 32mm SiD stanchions, but I love it. This bike is really light at about 27lbs and super nimble. It takes bumps and such well. I haven't done a ton of trail riding yet, but I commute to work 6 days a week mixed pavement and dirt. It's sturdy with just enough travel and flex, but the lightweight does often have me tempted to try and get air. Now the frame is advertised as utilizing a maximum 34t chainring. My cranks are mixed bag, shimano 24mm spindle with an SRAM 3 bolt direct mount. This does not allow for the 3mm offset recommended for boost 148. Instead I have a 1mm offset, I tried 3mm 34t and it rubbed on the chain stay. This does not seem to affect my drivetrain, maybe time will tell. The Ingrid derailleur was icing on the cake, I got a great deal on it and so far so good on the drivetrain! I can't wait to take it to the trails in my area, it's a really fast, nimble bike!

A few things, price, design and build quality.

190x50 or 190x45. The 50mm stroke shocks can be a little harder to find but they're out there. I believe that gives 110mm and the 44mm stroke 100mm travel. They aren't that hard to find at all, it's just that good rear xc shocks are pricey. Even on eBay I'm looking at $200 minimum, retail for good rear shocks is 400-500 bucks. I picked up a Rock Shox SiD RLC 2nd hand, recently serviced for $150 on OfferUp. I have the wheels, carbon with notated hubs and a CNC 10-50t SRAM clone with maxxis recon race rear Vitoria mezcal front. I think I'm getting a oneup v3 dropper and I'm going to go with Shimano xt two pistons front and rear.

Hi all,
Earlier in the week I pulled the trigger on a Meinier M09 carbon full sus cross country frame. From what I’ve read here the bearings in these open mold frames are trash. How many of you have experience with pulling the bearings from unfinished open mold frames? Is anyone reading rocking this frame?

I purchased this frame from all star bicycle in November of 2022 (with the BRAIN rear triangle) and rode it for a bit in 2022, all 2023 season, and now again in 2024. The bike has been issue free from a ride quality perspective. The BB has remained sound and I've removed and reinstalled BB cups a LOT of times as I've waffled between SRAM DUB and Shimano a few times.

Much like everyone else, I needed a spacer for the top dust cover when preloading the headset to prevent drag, easy fix. I also removed all of the pivot bolts and greased and applied loctite before torquing them exactly as the real Epic Evo manual calls for. I replaced the UDH hanger.

My biggest issue with this frame comes from how the rear triangle interfaces with the front triangle. The rear triangle holes that the brake hose and rear derailleur housing pass through -- the holes that are near the bb -- don't line up with the holes near the bb in the front triangle. They aren't even close. Attempting to assemble the bike in this state required me to remove the lower pivot bolt, swing the rear triangle away, run the hose/housing through the front triangle, and squeeze the two triangles together as hard as i can to even get the rear pivot bolt back in, which completely pinches the brake hose.

Its so bad that I had to take a dremel and sand away carbon to form a channel on the outer edge of the front triangle cable/hose openings near the BB, basically just making the openings wider so they'd align with the holes in the rear triangle. A bit sketchy. But it solved the problem.

Hundreds and hundreds of miles of sketchy singletrack, drops. jumps, and the frame hasn't made any scary noises. There were a few situations where I thought the frame was getting crunchy on me but every time it was just mud getting stuck between the two triangles and grinding on the hoses.

One more thing to mention: the official Epic Evo frame has two small washers that sit between the frame and the bolt heads that keep the top of the shock in place. This frame didn't include them. The washers are obviously useful for getting proper torque applied to those bolts. I was able to source some, but keep that in mind, those bolts aren't supposed to just screw snug directly against the frame.

My build is as follows:

• Rockshox SID Select+ 120mm fork
• Rockshox SIDLuxe rear shock
• Shimano XT Cassette, Cranks, Derailleur, Shifter
• Shimano XT 4 piston brakes
• Hunt XC Wide wheelset
• SRAM AXS 170mm wireless dropper post
• Specialized Zee cages with SWAT XC storage container
• Specialized Fast Trak 2.3" tires

I know I’m late to the game here, but I’m about to buy one of these frames. I’m replying to your post to tell you that anytime I cut carbon fiber parts, or grind or whatever, I use a light application of JB Weld on the cut area to prevent delamination. It dries smooth and has a little bit of flexibility. I’m sure lots of different epoxies could be used, but I would suggest a 2 part for longevity.