Ornan Bike gravel frame build

[s3si1u]

Hi y'all,

I'm working on a new gravel build at the moment and starting this thread to share some info on the frame and talk some shop

• The frame is frame from Ornan Bike: https://www.ornanbike.com/best-chinese-carbon-gravel-bike-frames-with-flat-mount-type_p106.html
  It was the model R730-D when I ordered, they seem to have changed the model number since. This frame is also carried by Top Fire and a couple of others. I ordered mine in size 480 without a fork. 429 USD without fork, 605 total.
  I've since found this same mold out in the wild sold as the Franco Grimes, any frame spotters seen this one under other names/brands?
• Whisky No.9 CX Fork: I originally planned to use a replica from Ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/303880803441. This replica is pretty awesome, I used it on my old Poseidon X. It took forever to arrive, so it's now for sale if anyone is interested  I will say the forks look identical except for the finish...even the steerer tubes look identical and the weight is the same. I ended up buying a real Whisky fork locally and will move forward with that one as I've already painted it.
  
• ZNIINO 90mm carbon stem from Aliexpress. Looks nice, cheap and easy to paint. Finishing was a little rough around the edges, but nothing a little sandpaper couldn't fix, I was painting it anyway. https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256801745113305.html?
• I'm gonna give this Elita One saddle a shot (model 3143): https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832622302239.html?
• Zipp Service Course XPLR 70 handlebars. My gf has the road version on her bike and I always thought they were super comfortable and they're pretty cheap, so I got the gravel version in 42cm for this build.
• XPLR groupset: Pieced it together used from various online sources. Rival XPLR derailleur, 40t power meter crankset, 10-44 cassette, and Force chain.
• For shifting and braking I'll be using: AXS wireless blips, TRP RRL brake levers, and Klamper copies. https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804206370295.html? I used these brakes for maybe 20 miles on my old Poseidon before we swapped the groupset to GRX 810 and sold the bike to my cousin. We'll see how these ride and I'll post some updates.
• Time Atac XC pedals
• Panaracer Gravelking SK tires in 700x38 for now. I have an old set of these in 700x32 tucked away somewhere as well that I may use for faster rides, but I may just get some slicker tires as well.
• Still working on a wheelset, I'll probably use an alloy DT Swiss set for a few weeks until I sort out some carbon wheels.

I'm already working on the paint job! I saw someone painting with smoke on motorcycle parts using a kerosene torch and thought it would look cool on a gravel frame. Here's what I have so far!
I'm about 60% done with paint. I've applied the slightly off white base coat and smoke effect, and then quickly sealed with a 2K clear coat as the smoke effect is quite dainty and will smudge and come off quite easily. The stem has been painted in a metallic bronze and the plan is to cover the white, uncovered part of the frame in this same bronze color, fading into the smoke. Does that even make sense?  I'll also be painting a couple small logos on the frame and repainting the Whisky logo on the lower right fork leg. Tbh I'm kinda liking the frame as is. I may just paint on the logos and forget about the fade, just leave it as is...what do y'all think? Shitty Paint sketch for reference 

[00Garza]

That's an ambitious paint job! Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

[brushwood69]

Great effort and will be very unique 

[jannmayer]

What paint did you use and how did you do the smoke effect? It looks amazing!

[s3si1u]

No special paints needed really. I just used Montana for the primer and base, Colorshot metallic for the accent color and Spray Max 2k clear coat. For the smoke effect I used a citronella torch from Walmart, the kind that comes with the long bamboo stick. I would assume any open flame that produces a black, sooty smoke should work for this. I took the torch and quickly passed it around the parts of the frame I wanted to take on some of the black smoke.
I watch a lot of painters and artists on YouTube and I'm always trying out their techniques on spare bike parts and steerer tube sections I have laying around for funsies.
This guy in particular was the inspiration for this paint job, he has a lot of really good stuff:

[MattL]

Wow this frame ticks almost all the boxes for me (except for the pf30), how is the perceived quality?Can't wait to see the final result!

[s3si1u]

The build is finally complete! Built it up myself except for pressing in the BB and cutting the fork. The shop did mention the BB (SRAM DUB PF30) was very tight to press in, but no issues so far. The ride feels smoother than my old Poseidon X. Not that the old gravel bike was harsh, but this frame definitely eats up more road vibrations. I've only got 10 miles on it or so, not too much to say yet regarding ride feel. A small amount of toe overlap, but I don't really mind. Tire clearance is quite good. The Whisky fork can easily fit 700x42, probably the same in the back, not too sure about 45mm. Frame quality is good as far as I can tell. No seatpost slipping yet, brake mount I think was pretty flat, BB opening had machine marks and was flat. Headset bearing seats are good. Some rough spots on the interior, it's not "pretty" but nothing concerning, I'm not about to stick a camera in there lol. The important bits are flat, the inside of the frame not as much but that's okay.

I'm using wireless blips for shifting, mounted right behind the brake lever and under the bar tape. It's a little strange finding a good grip for climbing with the blips in this setup, but otherwise it feels very natural and easy to operate with either the middle or ring finger.

No issues with the frame, but here's some build dislikes and potential changes:
- Gearing. The 40/44 bottom gear is great, but the top end (40/10) is not enough for road/non-gravel riding. Might switch to a 42 or 44 chainring, Maybe one of them cool cassettes with a 9 tooth cog??  Maybe 2x? We'll see.
- The silver TRP brake levers looked sick af as I pictured them in my head. They look a little funky now that they're installed. I should have gotten either the black chrome or carbon version. That being said, the braking power sucks and the hoods feel a bit small, so I might switch out to the TRP Hylex system if I can't get the calipers to bite a little better. The rear brake in particular is quite weak as expected. There's a crazy tight bend from the chainstay exit to the caliper. Might try some compressionless housing and better rotors.
- Shopping around for a nice (cheap) carbon wheelset. I'm thinking 25mm width and around 30-38mm depth. Currently running an old DT Swiss R470 wheelset with no complaints, but you know. I need me a sick carbon wheelset. 
- Also shopping around for a Force/Quarq right crank arm for the same reason as above  also to save a little weight.

Overall, I'm quite happy with the outcome of this build. Overall weight is 9kg/20lbs. I didn't weigh anything individually. I'll probably bring it back to the lbs for a quick lookover/brake adjustment/etc.
PSA: Don't forget to torque the stem clamp bolts! Had my first fall already, glad to get that out of the way 

[coffeebreak]

I'm using wireless blips for shifting

What are these exactly?
Bike looks great btw. Sick color job too!

Edit. Never mind: https://bikerumor.com/sram-wireless-blips/ interesting little piece of tech!

[s3si1u]

Quick update on the Ornan gravel build!

So far, so good. The frame itself is holding up great and rides very well. A bit of toe overlap with the shorter rake of the Whisky fork, but it's not a big deal and I've since learned to work around it.
Truth be told, this has mainly been for fun rides, brewery/weed spot runs, spare bike for my friends to ride with me, etc. Hasn't seen too much gravel and been ridden mainly with flat pedals so far. I plan on getting the Time pedals on and back out to some gravel this weekend. 

I've replaced the TRP RRL brake levers and fake Klampers with the TRP Hylex setup and braking performance is now on par with any other hydraulic brakes I've used. No fault of the old setup, just not a good match for this frame. I've also gone for a shorter stem, from 100mm to 90mm for a comfier ride.

Next upgrade will be a Garbaruk cage  Also waiting on a 44t Stone chainring and 35mm Gravelking slicks for "road mode". The current 40t is just too small for fast road rides. Also still searching for carbon wheels, but I'll be making my mind up and ordering a pair soon. Any suggestions?  The current DT Swiss alloy do the job just fine, but riding with my road wheels it just comes alive and rides so much better. I'm sure a decent carbon gravel wheelset will have the same effect and make this bike that much more fun to ride. I'm also looking to replace the Elita One saddle. It's alright, actually very good build quality, my butt just doesn't love it. Time to look for something different.

Overall, I'm very happy with this frame. This is a perfect do-it-all bike if you can only have one but also ride gravel frequently, especially so with the Whisky fork. Highly recommend if you can get over the PF30 BB.

[daniel87]

It looks great!

How was it getting in touch with that company and working on the frame.

I'm thinking of ordering a road frame from this company, but there's not much information about them in the road  gallery, so I'll ask you.

Have you had any seriously bad experiences with that frame so far until now, or a lot of assembly errors?

[s3si1u]

It looks great!

How was it getting in touch with that company and working on the frame.

I'm thinking of ordering a road frame from this company, but there's not much information about them in the road  gallery, so I'll ask you.

Have you had any seriously bad experiences with that frame so far until now, or a lot of assembly errors?

Hello!

No issues with the frame at all, I'm quite happy with it! I would buy from them without hesitation if they have a model that you like. Which road frame are you looking at?
I find errors in assembly are not usually a fault of the frame The build process was as easy as any other frame I've built up, nothing to note and no manufacturing defects. All surfaces were faced also.

[daniel87]

Hello!

No issues with the frame at all, I'm quite happy with it! I would buy from them without hesitation if they have a model that you like. Which road frame are you looking at?
I find errors in assembly are not usually a fault of the frame The build process was as easy as any other frame I've built up, nothing to note and no manufacturing defects. All surfaces were faced also.

Thank you for the reply.

I will build R888-C probarbly. And im glad to hear that you had not any issues

[s3si1u]

One final build update! 
I'm thinking this will be the last update. I've come to the realization that when I first built this bike, I didn't really know much about gravel geometry and what I built here is not a true "gravel" bike, at least not for the kind of riding I've grown to enjoy. What I created is essentially the sickest endurance bike of all time lol. The short wheelbase and more compact "allroad" geo make it a great bike for city riding on nasty surfaces, curb hopping, endurance rides, short fun rides, easy/flat gravel, etc... it can even fit 700x43 tires. It's truly a perfect do-it-all one bike solution. One of my favorite iterations of this bike is with 700x35 Gravelking slicks, a longer stem and my road shoes/pedals for riding on the road. Unfortunately, it's also good at eating a lil shit on rutty singletrack. Hence, I'm now in the search of something very different geomtry-wise. I still dig this bike and plan on keeping it around (with a different groupset) for its newfound allroad/endurance purpose, but what I really want is something with drop bars better suited for the rutty trails and technical offroad stuff I've come to enjoy.
Anyway, here she is in her current state. The latest upgrades include:
- Ryet carbon wheels
- Aliexpress Ingrid crankset with a genuine 44t Ingrid chainring
- GX AXS derailleur
- X01 cassette 10-50
- XX1 copper chain
- a fleet of Panaracer and WTB tires that I swap out depending on the ride 

I'm now in the search for a more "progressive" gravel frameset and I'm having trouble finding a carbon frame with my desired geo and specs, so this time around I think I'll be going for a steel frame with custom geo from Marino Bike this time (prices are reasonable af). https://www.marinobike.com/