Good frame company bad experience with BXT

[Lukesjr]

Hey all,
New to this forum.  I have been building bikes for over 20 years (I am almost 50!), built up 4 "china bikes" (plus about 15 others, surly, lynskey, etc). For china bikes, road bike (don't remember brand), Airwolf hardtail, seraph gravel, and most recently a carbonmaina (bxt) full suspension bike (FM078). The BXT bike frame has been trash since I got it.   The bearings weren't seated properly, because the frame tolerances are out of spec.  This caused pivot bolts to break mid ride because of the out of perpendicular torque applied to the bolt.  I emailed carbonmania who gave me a bxt email.  Emailed them several times, they asked for pictures, etc.  When I sent them the last pictures of the frame measurements that seemed to be out of tolerance, they ghosted me.  Neither carbonmania nor BXT will respond to any contact.  I will never buy from them again.

Anyways, I am posting because I want to build up a full suspension trail bike.  Don't want to make the same mistake of buying from a crappy company again. 

requirements
Front fork travel 140-150
BSA BB
no through headset cable routing
reasonable price.

Any recommendations on a good company that stands behind their product?

I read a bunch of the forum posts and it seems like people like light carbon,  carbonda, or ican.  Ican seems a bit pricier than the others.

[casual_build]

Personally, I've only bought from Carbonda. I got a FM936 two years ago and a FM1002 a month ago (although it hasnt shipped yet).

I've seem multiple people complete warranty claims with Carbonda. While some people have received frames with improper measurement (bad linkage or head cup) carbonda seems to always come through and send the proper replacement. I lost a pivot bolt a few months ago and carbonda sent me a new set for 25$.

Personally, I only plan to buy from Carbonda in the future. They have modern geometry and brand name quality. Although, I am interested to hear if anyone has had trouble with them.

[FullCarbonAlchemist]

Second the Carbonda recommendation, I’ve been very happy with my FM1002. The 1001 would fit the bill of what you’re looking for.

[Lukesjr]

thanks for the reply, I was looking at the FM1001.   The only thing that puts me off on that frame is the 1/2 x 1/2 headset.   

[FullCarbonAlchemist]

thanks for the reply, I was looking at the FM1001.   The only thing that puts me off on that frame is the 1/2 x 1/2 headset.

That’s how I felt about it when I was making my decision, and I definitely wouldn’t suggest the Carbonda OEM headset which lets water in (when rinsing/washing the bike), has funky tolerances with stuff like the upper bearing spacer and needs top cap spacers which other more precise headsets don’t, corrodes and creaks too easily even when slathered with grease.

But I haven’t noticed any downside once I switched to an FSA 1.5/1.5 headset. I ride extremely hard on some brutally rocky enduro trails with lots of vertical and the bike has been flawless. Very mild rear end flex due to the full carbon linkage but nothing out of the ordinary and it’s over 5lbs lighter than my other enduro/AM bike that uses a stiff but heavy alloy linkage (GT Force LTS).

[Lukesjr]

Thanks FullCarbon, appreciate the response.

[jonathanf2]

I appreciate the review. BXT currently has the one of the cheapest BSA threaded gravel frames on AliEx. Though if they can't follow-up on a warranty issue, I'd definitely consider shopping elsewhere.

[FullCarbonAlchemist]

Not only do they ghost support inquiries, their rate of issues with their frames is quite high from everything I’ve seen. Some people have done okay with their hardtails but I definitely wouldn’t trust their full suspension frames.

[jonathanf2]

Not only do they ghost support inquiries, their rate of issues with their frames is quite high from everything I’ve seen. Some people have done okay with their hardtails but I definitely wouldn’t trust their full suspension frames.

Is BXT only a distributor or the OE manufacturer? If a distributor only, do you know whom they source their frames from?