Here's my recommendations.

- not many frames these days with round seat posts or non internal cable routing. I'd suggest compromising on those things to ensure that the rest of the build is overall as you want it
- ditch all the 9 speed kit and go straight to 11 or 12 speed. Might as well go straight to 12 because the initial cost isn't much more than 11
- if you want easy maintenance, go hydraulic disc brakes. They're dead easy to set up, bleed, and you only have to do it once every 12-24 months. Heaps of good YouTube videos out there on it. Mechanical disc brakes are more fiddly, brake worse, and often don't work well with fully internal setups.
- there's not really such a thing as 'most reliable'. We have very limited sample sizes here. Most of them are good, most of the time - you just have to hope you don't end up with a dud.

- frame: Cecotti RF33 or SPCycle R088 or Velobuild VB-R177 ($500-600 USD) - the Velobuild uses a round post so that's something in its favour.
- groupset: L-Twoo RX 12 speed ($150 USD) or if you can stump up the extra, the new L-Twoo ER9 ($350 USD) or just jump straight to 105 Di2 ($600 USD) (but you'll need to stretch the budget)
- crank: Riro Racer R9 ($45 USD)
- bottom bracket: whatever fits for the Shimano crank ($20 USD)
- cassette: Zrace 12 speed ($30 USD)
- chain: Shimano M6100 ($20 USD - buy locally to avoid fakes)
- wheels: Tagoola ($350 USD)
- saddle: whatever you like off AliExpress ($15 USD, or $40 for 3D printed)
- stem/bars: kalloy stem ($10-20 USD) + Kocevlo carbon bars ($35 USD) if not going fully internal
- tyres: Continental Grand Prix TR 32mm ($25 USD x 2), or 30mm if you go with the Velobuild

Key thing with AliExpress is to wait for sales periods, stack with coupons and use cashback offers.

Hello,

Searching through the web, I stumbled upon the Mondince website and 2026 FM116 model specifically. It has:

• FULLY INTERNAL CABLE ROUTING
• T47/UDH
• 31.6MM CLAMP
  
• 27.2MM SEATPOST
• 850 (+-30)g weight for 54 size
• 32mm tire clearance

link: https://mondincecycle.com/product/2026_super_light_road_endurane_bike_frame_fm116.html?_gl=1*1823ms7*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..*_ga*MTkwODk0NjI3MC4xNzUyMDcxMzEx*_ga_NN7HB5R2VR*czE3NTIwNzEzMDkkbzEkZzEkdDE3NTIwNzEzNzIkajYwJGwwJGgw&gclid=CjwKCAjwprjDBhBTEiwA1m1d0ljacnrgba_tQ2R4OKTUaRsc66P_FybKIQWEHiO3vF5xnTSxK0cmQxoC7TYQAvD_BwE

Do you have any knowledge or experience with that company? The specs look very nice for an all rounder bike, I haven't asked for a quote yet, and am still looking for some lightweight climbing frameset like Ican FL1, that would be very versatile and easy to maintain. Im still not sure if they make direct to consumer sales though, but someone mentioned a gravel frameset on this forum that was linked to mondincecycle.
What are your thoughts on this FM116 frame?

Did you actually read the 17D thread? Have you seen all the people with swiss cheese internals, sometimes squishy, sometimes not frame walls, sometimes clean inside, sometimes trash AF, poor customer support, and so on?

The X21 is the same open mould as my LTK 268. I can tell you i'm not swapping mine for a LC 17D

Hey!
I am riding the Tantan X-21 Frame since about three years and I am still quite happy with it. Made some changes (headset/Bb) and know it is pretty straight forward.
Since all the hype about the lcr017 Frame and the good reputation of lightcarbon I am considering a change of the Frames and Cockpits.
Do you think the change is worth it?
Thank you!

that's interesting. Do you have more details?

Since I have a little over 2,000 km on the bike, I thought I’d do a short update.

I'm a little conflicted about the bike, but it has nothing to do with any problems with the bike itself—rather, it's about the bike it's intended to replace.
I built it to replace my Rose Reveal endurance bike, as I wanted something that looked faster and cooler so I could show off my race rig in front of my mates on a coffee ride and try a more aggressive position. Since I don’t race, actual performance and aerodynamics make little difference to me. I was mostly going for looks, weight, and fit.

The bike is awesome. Frame quality is really good—it's stiff, and it’s the lightest bike I’ve ever owned (currently 7.3 kg ready to ride, with pedals and Garmin mount, in the largest size). So far, so good.

The cracks are starting to show, however, when I switch back to my old bike for some rides. After riding exclusively on the Speeder for a few months, it's instantly clear how much better the Rose is—at least for me.
Comfort is just a night-and-day difference. I wouldn’t say the Speeder is necessarily uncomfortable—I'm pretty happy with my position (even though I still struggle with saddle choice)—but my old bike is just on another level.
I don’t usually notice things like “compliance” or “rolling resistance,” but the Rose just floats over rough surfaces in comparison. I have the same tires set up tubeless on both, at the same pressure. I also used the same saddle. So the difference really comes down to frame and seatpost compliance.
Frankly, the Rose has a gimmicky, super-flexible seatpost which—until now—I thought didn’t make much difference. But the front-end comfort is also superior on the Rose, so it's not just the seatpost.

I initially planned to sell my endurance bike as soon as the new build was finished...
But now I have to keep both bikes 

Exactly, apart from that I can‘t stand the look of the TT-X18  Will probably go with the Ceccotti C27 as I can get it for sub 500 incl shipping + taxes. Won‘t pull the trigger before gettong a quote from long teng for the 268.