My mechanic found another source of clicky sounds: the rear bottle cage bolts. He regreased everything.

I hadn't heard that as a separate sound so looking forward to a very quiet bike later this week when I get out on it again!

It's been winter here in Australia so haven't ridden the LCR-018 that often, plus been trying to fix an ongoing annoying creak in the seatpost.

But I did my first long hard ride as part of a local 'gran fondo' style event last weekend, 190km, relatively flat and fast in a group of 40-50 on the way out and about 20 of us on the way back. The bike was everything I had hoped it would be when I bought it, really responsive to putting some power into the pedals, climbs way better than I expected, the high stack allowed me to stay in the aero tuck position for extended periods and lots of turns on the front of the group.

I haven't got my fitness back up (after a health issue) for racing again yet, interested to see how it  handles in a crit. Not sure I'll go wider than the 30mm tires that measure 33 on my rims, it feels good as is, so stable railing turns at high speed on the flat or down hills.

As mentioned previously I came from a Supersix that handled beautifully in all situations except being a bit skittish on high speed descents. I'm way more confident on the LCR (maybe that's not a good thing because I'm descending faster lol).

Took my bike into a new mechanic today and straight away he said he thinks the bottom of my seatpost is knocking against the seat tube when I'm climbing seated (which is the main time it creaks, stops as soon as I stand on the pedals), he's seen it before, so likely he will cut it a bit shorter.

Zen wheels are 55F/60R. 24.5mm IW, 34mm external width at widest point, 30mm tires are about 33mm WAM.

I matched a PR on a 1.6km downhill segment today, it feels more stable descending vs the SSEvo, I would love to try the new Conti 35mm STRs on another difficult descent I do sometimes, I reckon it would feel a lot less sketchy.

I would say the LC feels stiffer, power transfer through BB very responsive (tests show this too, was mentioned further up in the thread), but at same time it is just as comfortable, more so because the higher stack is perfect.

I read the comments about all the issues with storage cover coming loose but also the sizeable impact on headtube and bb stiffness in this thread, so decided to remove it. I always wanted a  Storage compartment, I haven't used a saddle bag for ages because hate the look. Funnily enough, I thought about speccing top tube bolts and with another production wrinkle, mine came with them. So I'm trialling a small aero top tube bag with electric pump and a few other bits.

Just finished my build. Colours didn't match my order (royal blue and matt carbon) and the extra cage bolt on the downtube was added above the original two instead of below per my request, but it looks great and rides really nice, got to be happy with it for what they charge!

Coming from a 2023 Supersix Evo gen3 (which I loved except for the bars were a bit low - steerer was already cut when I bought it 2nd hand, compares very well so far. I wanted a higher stack and longer front centre, the bottom bracket with Elilee carbon cranks are super stiff (I opted for no storage compartment), so I will probably use this bike for both racing and endurance rides and sell the SSEvo.

58/XL size frame weighed about 1070g, bars 320g, fork 440g before cutting steerer, total build ready to ride at 7.55kg, right about where I wanted to end up.

I read through the whole thread while working on my order with Jim without being able to see the photos. Finally had my registration approved and now enjoying going back to see everyone's frame colour choices!

Learned a lot from everyone's experiences with little niggles.

Also changed my mind on the downtube storage and took it out because I realised the BB and head tube stiffness difference was enough for me to notice in my fast group rides and racing.

I reckon this frame will make a real impact on the longer rides and races, particularly the ability to hold aero position for long periods at a time!