Quote from: Lotnik on July 09, 2024, 02:23:11 AM
Are this price from Lightcarbon is with shipping? If not add around 120 USD for shipping. It ends up as standard price for a wheelset.

I am in Japan so the shipping was quoted to be 61 usd on top of the wheelset. I suppose this is normal then?

So, I have been shopping for a pair of wheels for my overkill commuter bike for a while, and I originally intended to go with a pair of ICAN wheels, which I have previously used and was very satisfied with. However, I also wanted something a little bit more unique/flashy. I either wanted a wavy rim or a butterfly weave pattern, which I quite liked from Winspace. (Though the Hyper wheels that have this weave pattern were a little bit out of my budget range, and most importantly, I just don't want to deal with carbon spokes on a daily commuter that I throw around and lean against things all the time. You could argue that I shouldn't be getting a pair of carbon wheels to begin with, but nonetheless, I have commuted on the ICAN wheels for almost seven months with no problems.)

Anyway, I remembered that YiShun/LightCarbon also provide wheel-building services for individual buyers too. So, I got a quote from them for the price of a pair of their butterfly-weaved rims (BRD28-45C) built with DT-350. They quoted me a price of $585, which I thought was a little bit too good to be true. Almost all other Chinese wheels built with DT-350 are upwards of $800, and LightBicycle (not to be confused with LightCarbon) quoted me $900 (same with WheelsFar). I know these OEM factories are buying the hubs in bulk and getting special deals on them, but at retail, a pair of DT-350 hubs costs at least around $270, which leaves only around another $270 for the rim, the spokes, and labor. Even if labor costs are dirt cheap in China, this is still concerningly cheap.

Maybe I have been conditioned by the bigger companies to think that a good pair of wheels should cost upwards of $800, but the reality is that I am still a little concerned with this price. I know that YiShun is a very reputable OEM with huge manufacturing capacity and many bigger customers, but I have also seen some horror stories of their products arriving cracked. I am wondering if I should go with someone like LightBicycle or WheelsFar, or if I should test the waters with the Yishun wheels. Any suggestions would be appreciated, especially from those who have firsthand experience with the company. Thanks in advance.

P.S. a set of wavy rims (RBD50C) from YiShun built with DT-350 will cost 729 USD, and I am not sure how to feel about this price as there are very few reference points

Quote from: zerstorer on May 06, 2024, 11:35:20 PM
I used to have a similar power imbalance. You may need shims or insoles. However, just lowering the saddle 1.5cm for me made the balance equal.

I have worked with both a professional coach and a fitter. Position is much more comfortable for me now but I still can't get my imbalance to improve.

Quote from: kbernstein on May 05, 2024, 01:32:54 PM
They also have powermeter pedals promising to compete with assiomas. Wish they made PM cranks again though
But what happened to sensah?? I think they were the second teased electronic groupset from china after wheeltop but i've not heard about it in over a year

Joe said rim brake will be available later so they are not the same shifters

PM Cranks are mechanically speaking an inferior design to spider PMs. For spider PMs they are build with a pair of sheer gauges that can naturally filter out components of applied torque that are not due to rider pedaling, while crank based PMs rely heavily on post-processing to clean the data to a usable level. You also only need one side to measure true L/R combined power (though the power decomposition to L/R is still more or less guess work), which is especially good if you have a pretty big L/R difference (For me it's 56/44, so a left-side-only setup would overestimate my power by quite a lot)

Quote from: patliean1 on May 04, 2024, 07:37:16 PM
Very fair point about the current pricing of both Winspace and Tavelo. But if they are both in fact sourced by Adapt, it's a shame we don't see more bike builds and conversations on their frames on this forum. Especially if we are to assume the quality/fit finish is nearly the same if true.

The question becomes:
1. Does Adapt not (easily) offer up B2C sales?
2. Are people generally just not interested in their frames?

If it's the latter then it's odd to use the Winspace open-mold talking point if people just aren't interested in Adapt's offerings to begin with.

I have contacted people i know in the industry and the answer is:
Adapt does not offer (easily) B2C sales at all. You need some pretty deep connections to get them to entertain such an idea.

Quote from: Eddy_Twerckx on April 30, 2024, 05:40:13 AM
Yea, I had the same reaction as you guys to that thread. Maybe one useful post for every 10 petty arguments about various things.

Just looking at the bike itself, it looks well made. I can't say I have any experience with Seka but the details look great and it's a really nice finishing kit they're including. I am always wary about aero claims and honestly don't really put much weight into them after seeing that Cade video where there was like 5W between the Foil and Addict in real world riding conditions. Arguing over 1-2W in test conditions just seems silly. But the weight is nice if true.

My big question is the price. I know it's not an open mold frame but it's still a tough ask for what they're charging (I think around $2,000 USD). Like I said, I'm not experienced with Seka but I think they're going to have a hard time selling them in the US for that price without years of quality behind them. This isn't saying they're not quality, more that they don't have the well known name. Winspace charges similar and has a pretty good following after years of putting out quality bikes. But even still, they are a tough sell to a lot of people who don't want to spend $1,500 on a Chinese frame. I think Bross is in the same boat, albeit they can throw the Cube name around to show they make quality bikes.

Either way, I'm interested to hear how it rides. The integrated cockpit looks really nice and I'd almost be tempted to pick one up for a different bike if the price is right. Maybe not the best name (I know it's a sword but it's still going to have a connotation that's not great) but the size options are great.

Also, anybody else getting Red Bull vibes from the special edition paint job?

Before factor opened a new factory in Taiwan, Seka and Factor were made in the same factory I think.

Hiii yall. First time posting.

With the recent drop in groupset prices I snatched a set of R8170 at a very good price, and as I am planning on moving later this year to a new country I would love to celebrate it with a new bike.
I was initially really found of the Seka Exceed RDC frame as it's light, looked really good with the new 2023 paint schemes, has relatively relaxed geometry, and at a price that I felt was fair if not a bit on the more expensive side given the competition from other Chinese brands and OEMs.

However, after some digging on the Chinese forums, I have seen some alarming posts regarding the reliability of this frame which all featured a broken chainstay. The first two photos attached comes from a rider who claimed to have crashed at around 30kph and said the crash wasn't a serious one. Of course, I know whenever an accident occurs there's no guarantee that the frame will come out unharmed, and this could very likely be an isolated event. The next pair of photos came from a guy on Douyin who claimed the non-drive side chainstay cracked on itself. Seka followed up by sending him a new frame under warranty, which was nice I suppose. However I also wonder what the warranty process would be like oversea, and more importantly, if this crack were to develop further during a ride, how dangerous it could be.

The last set of photos also comes from another guy claiming that the frame cracked during a normal ride, where he noticed a creaking noise from the BB area and soon discovered the frame had cracked at the drive-side chainstay. As far as I could see, no follow ups from Seka for the first and third guy.

In Cam's video featuring an ultrasound exam on this frame, I remembered the technician saying that the frame "does not have a lot of margins for errors...", which was very likely referring to how few materials were used to achieve the claimed weight of the frame (and likely high-modulus carbon too). Given all three cracked frames are the RDC model, it really makes me wonder if this is the result of the low margin of errors. I certainly know stories of other frames cracking too, whether due to accidents or just riding over bumps, but given the tedious warranty process and trouble dealing with a company within China, these incidents made me wonder if I should stay away from Seka and look elsewhere. Agile seems like a really good choice despite its horrendous logo and color schemes.

Does anyone have any thoughts on whether or not I should still go with Seka? Or anyone has any recommendations of a frame of similar price and has a similar look?