I just picked up a Cleary Scout 24 for my kiddo on a whim because it was cheap ($200), local, and in decent shape (namely the tires). Unfortunately, it's a tank of a bike, weighing nearly 29lbs. I got it cheap enough that I could use it for parts building a lighter frame, and started eyeing the Meinier 24" carbon frames.

One thing that is readily apparent is that the geometry for these frames (the Chinese carbon hardtails) is a bit wonky.

Using the Manitou Junit 24" forks as a base, the a2c measurement of a 100mm 24 inch suspension fork is roughly 455mm, so at 80mm travel it would be right around 430mm.

That's good because the BXT, Meinier, Tideace 24" frames seem to use 430mm as their reference.

However, they are also saying the HTA at that 431mm a2c is an oldschool 70º.

When I look at 24" Spawn, Commencal and Trailcraft options, they are 68º HTA with 80mm-100mm forks, but they have similar BB drop - right around -25mm. Which is good, because in order to really benefit from the slacker HTA, we also need a lower a BB drop.

If we were to raise the cheap carbon frames via taller forks to a more modern 67-68º HTA, they would likely have no BB drop at all.

So it seems like we're left with "Modern Geo, Lightweight, Expensive" - pick two.

Any updates on this?

Looks like Hong Fu also has this frame the HF-FM476 for $495 shipped to the states, but very little information otherwise.

Can we use thread to share info on the chinese carbon cyclocross framesets?

Knowledge base topics:

Prices:
FM058 - $550 shipped

Weights:

Threaded BB or Pressfit?

Disc or canti?

Max tire sizes?

What about downsizing to 27.5 in the 29er frame and using the Trailblazer 2.8?