Hongfu FM-066/Chinese open mould frame thread

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LanceLegstrong
Posts: 1145
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 1:35 pm

by LanceLegstrong

Edopizzo wrote:
Fri Sep 23, 2022 9:45 pm
Edopizzo wrote:
Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:42 pm
Hello! Has anyone ever found a direct mount derailleur hanger for the Velobuild vbr-099? This is the standard one https://photos.app.goo.gl/ab6ruSXSJzd3GxQd8

Edit: I've read a few posts back and it's the same hanger as the vbr-168. I've also read the concern of the axle thread being on the inner part and I think it's somewhat dangerous.
I saw some pictures of Cube direct mount hangers and I think they look quite similar to ours, however the thread is on the outer cap which would be better. I have one friend who has a Cube so I'll ask him to try to fit his dm hanger
https://imgur.com/gallery/4m84EVO
Well I tried and it works perfectly! The onlt problem is that Cube hangers have a 1mm thread pitch, while the axle is 1.5mm. Cube axles use the Syntace standard so the non drive side is wedge shaped as opposed to the more common flat with ridges so it's not possible to use a Cube axle on our bikes. I have to find a proper axle then
What does the inside of the Cube hanger look like? There seems to be two very similar hangers and I'm wondering which is correct for the 168. In the link below you can see the differences. One is straight on the front edge and the other has a little notch. I think the notched one is the correct version but wanted to see if yours had the notch.


https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568016 ... _shipto=US
Specialized Tarmac SL7
Specialized Crux
Velobuild 168
Trek Checkpoint ALR

by Weenie


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LanceLegstrong
Posts: 1145
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 1:35 pm

by LanceLegstrong

Taking another chance on an open mold frame. I had bought a Tantan TT-X19 and you can read my whole ordeal with Tantan on this thread from around May 2020 onwards. Short version is I had multiple problems with the quality of the frame, Tantan was no help, I put in a claim with Paypal, Tantan threatened to doxx me and my home address, claim was denied, so I took the $600 loss. Really put me off open mold frames for a while, but I'm wanting to build a cheap crit bike and even alloy frames are over $1000 USD these days. So the plan is to go with the Velobuild VB-R-168. Similar geo to my current Tarmac, going to build up as a 1x for simplicity.

I'm looking at cockpit options. I went with the separate bar and stem because the integrated one didn't have the size I want (120mm, 400mm). But I think I'd like a one piece. The One Pro looks decent and seems to fit this frame, and not terrible at around $230. The Farsports F1 looks good too but it's almost double the price. Any other options? Trying to keep costs down.

Drivetrain will likely be a mixture of mech 105 and Ultegra I currently have on the gravel bike that gets ridden maybe 3 times a year. Can get a good deal on Rival AXS ($690), but seems like overkill for this purpose. Was also considering a cheap Sensah group.

Wheels will be what I have now, either Light Bicycle AR46 or Zipp 404 depending on how I feel.
Specialized Tarmac SL7
Specialized Crux
Velobuild 168
Trek Checkpoint ALR

Steve Curtis
Posts: 1314
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:20 pm
Location: Hampshire UK, Dublin Ireland and Geneva Switzerland.

by Steve Curtis

LanceLegstrong wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 1:17 pm
Taking another chance on an open mold frame. I had bought a Tantan TT-X19 and you can read my whole ordeal with Tantan on this thread from around May 2020 onwards. Short version is I had multiple problems with the quality of the frame, Tantan was no help, I put in a claim with Paypal, Tantan threatened to doxx me and my home address, claim was denied, so I took the $600 loss. Really put me off open mold frames for a while, but I'm wanting to build a cheap crit bike and even alloy frames are over $1000 USD these days. So the plan is to go with the Velobuild VB-R-168. Similar geo to my current Tarmac, going to build up as a 1x for simplicity.

I'm looking at cockpit options. I went with the separate bar and stem because the integrated one didn't have the size I want (120mm, 400mm). But I think I'd like a one piece. The One Pro looks decent and seems to fit this frame, and not terrible at around $230. The Farsports F1 looks good too but it's almost double the price. Any other options? Trying to keep costs down.

Drivetrain will likely be a mixture of mech 105 and Ultegra I currently have on the gravel bike that gets ridden maybe 3 times a year. Can get a good deal on Rival AXS ($690), but seems like overkill for this purpose. Was also considering a cheap Sensah group.

Wheels will be what I have now, either Light Bicycle AR46 or Zipp 404 depending on how I feel.
Velobuild are probably worse than tartan in my experience. Hope it works out for you.

LanceLegstrong
Posts: 1145
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 1:35 pm

by LanceLegstrong

Steve Curtis wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 3:34 pm


Velobuild are probably worse than tartan in my experience. Hope it works out for you.
Really? They seemed pretty well liked on here. Was it a quality issue, customer service, or both? One of the big things that put me off Tantan was the complete lack of acknowledgement that the bike had problems. I sent multiple pictures of the issues and they kept insisting that it was my fault. I had a similar issue with the thru-axles being too short, and even sent pictures of them being too short, and they said I was lying. I tried putting in a claim with PayPal and that's when they threatened to post my name and home address on all of their social media claiming I was a scammer. That was the icing on the cake. I really don't feel like going through that again.
Specialized Tarmac SL7
Specialized Crux
Velobuild 168
Trek Checkpoint ALR

Steve Curtis
Posts: 1314
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:20 pm
Location: Hampshire UK, Dublin Ireland and Geneva Switzerland.

by Steve Curtis

LanceLegstrong wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 5:27 pm
Steve Curtis wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 3:34 pm


Velobuild are probably worse than tartan in my experience. Hope it works out for you.
Really? They seemed pretty well liked on here. Was it a quality issue, customer service, or both? One of the big things that put me off Tantan was the complete lack of acknowledgement that the bike had problems. I sent multiple pictures of the issues and they kept insisting that it was my fault. I had a similar issue with the thru-axles being too short, and even sent pictures of them being too short, and they said I was lying. I tried putting in a claim with PayPal and that's when they threatened to post my name and home address on all of their social media claiming I was a scammer. That was the icing on the cake. I really don't feel like going through that again.
I've posted about them in detail, but Christ at Velobuild will promise the world until the frame is delivered. Then it's tough.
They won't assist in any way, or the blame is 100% with you.

Mine was painted to wrong colour, the wrong size bars, the wrong axles, parts missing. Low quality.
The new bars which I had to buy were also sent with parts missing, the stem I ordered also had parts missing and fundamental quality issues.

Lots of lies and chasing before I opened a case with PayPal who stepped in to help.

I still have the frame but it's relegated to a hack bike with a front end I managed to cobble together so the bearings didn't rattle in their seats.

I deeply regret buying from them, and frankly would rather pay two or three times more for a Carbonda or similar.


Check everything when it arrives.

X5SAE
Posts: 75
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2023 7:16 pm

by X5SAE

Damn, Lance, that's awful.

My Velobuild has had some minor quality issues, but overall it's been okay for the price.
Road
Cube Agree C:62 SLT 2021 (frame+fork) DA 9270 6.9x kg - ride-ready 7.25 kg w/pedals, cages, sensors, Wahoo mount

Gravel
Velobuild GF-002 Force AXS 7.5 kg, ride-ready 7.775 kg w/200 ml Stan‘s, pedals, cages, sensors, Wahoo/Cateye mounts

LanceLegstrong
Posts: 1145
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 1:35 pm

by LanceLegstrong

Steve Curtis wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 5:40 pm
LanceLegstrong wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 5:27 pm
Steve Curtis wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 3:34 pm


Velobuild are probably worse than tartan in my experience. Hope it works out for you.
Really? They seemed pretty well liked on here. Was it a quality issue, customer service, or both? One of the big things that put me off Tantan was the complete lack of acknowledgement that the bike had problems. I sent multiple pictures of the issues and they kept insisting that it was my fault. I had a similar issue with the thru-axles being too short, and even sent pictures of them being too short, and they said I was lying. I tried putting in a claim with PayPal and that's when they threatened to post my name and home address on all of their social media claiming I was a scammer. That was the icing on the cake. I really don't feel like going through that again.
I've posted about them in detail, but Christ at Velobuild will promise the world until the frame is delivered. Then it's tough.
They won't assist in any way, or the blame is 100% with you.

Mine was painted to wrong colour, the wrong size bars, the wrong axles, parts missing. Low quality.
The new bars which I had to buy were also sent with parts missing, the stem I ordered also had parts missing and fundamental quality issues.

Lots of lies and chasing before I opened a case with PayPal who stepped in to help.

I still have the frame but it's relegated to a hack bike with a front end I managed to cobble together so the bearings didn't rattle in their seats.

I deeply regret buying from them, and frankly would rather pay two or three times more for a Carbonda or similar.


Check everything when it arrives.
Damn, sounds like we had very similar customer service experiences with our respective purchases. What you went through sounds very similar to my experience with Tantan. And not what I'm wanting to hear when buying a frame.
Specialized Tarmac SL7
Specialized Crux
Velobuild 168
Trek Checkpoint ALR

User avatar
cino
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2017 5:50 pm
Location: North London

by cino

Bit of advise if you want to buy a Tantan frame. Don't buy from them direct , but buy through their Ali express shop . As I understand it , if you buy through their Ali store you pay Ali express who then pay Tantan , but only when you are happy with your purchase.
Given Tantan don't get your money till you are happy ,would suggest ,to me, that they are far more likely to check everything before sending , plus if there is an issue you are in a stronger position . I ordered my Tantan frame this way , and it was perfect , so didn't
need to test this .

User avatar
Miller
Posts: 2764
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:54 pm
Location: Reading, UK

by Miller

LanceLegstrong wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 1:17 pm
I'm looking at cockpit options. I went with the separate bar and stem because the integrated one didn't have the size I want (120mm, 400mm). But I think I'd like a one piece. The One Pro looks decent and seems to fit this frame, and not terrible at around $230. The Farsports F1 looks good too but it's almost double the price. Any other options? Trying to keep costs down.
I've been looking at this one from Nextie although they're not listing your exact stem/width combo.
https://www.nextie.com/accessories-handlebar-NXTHB01

Edopizzo
Posts: 50
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2022 6:47 pm

by Edopizzo

LanceLegstrong wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 12:04 am
Edopizzo wrote:
Fri Sep 23, 2022 9:45 pm
Edopizzo wrote:
Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:42 pm
Hello! Has anyone ever found a direct mount derailleur hanger for the Velobuild vbr-099? This is the standard one https://photos.app.goo.gl/ab6ruSXSJzd3GxQd8

Edit: I've read a few posts back and it's the same hanger as the vbr-168. I've also read the concern of the axle thread being on the inner part and I think it's somewhat dangerous.
I saw some pictures of Cube direct mount hangers and I think they look quite similar to ours, however the thread is on the outer cap which would be better. I have one friend who has a Cube so I'll ask him to try to fit his dm hanger
https://imgur.com/gallery/4m84EVO
Well I tried and it works perfectly! The onlt problem is that Cube hangers have a 1mm thread pitch, while the axle is 1.5mm. Cube axles use the Syntace standard so the non drive side is wedge shaped as opposed to the more common flat with ridges so it's not possible to use a Cube axle on our bikes. I have to find a proper axle then
What does the inside of the Cube hanger look like? There seems to be two very similar hangers and I'm wondering which is correct for the 168. In the link below you can see the differences. One is straight on the front edge and the other has a little notch. I think the notched one is the correct version but wanted to see if yours had the notch.


https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568016 ... _shipto=US

It's the one with the notch supposedly. The one I tried was from a Cube Cross Race Pro grey´n´flashyellow 2020. You can find it on bike discount although I haven't bought it yet

LanceLegstrong
Posts: 1145
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 1:35 pm

by LanceLegstrong

Edopizzo wrote:
Fri Feb 03, 2023 5:42 pm
LanceLegstrong wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 12:04 am
Edopizzo wrote:
Fri Sep 23, 2022 9:45 pm
Edopizzo wrote:
Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:42 pm
Hello! Has anyone ever found a direct mount derailleur hanger for the Velobuild vbr-099? This is the standard one https://photos.app.goo.gl/ab6ruSXSJzd3GxQd8

Edit: I've read a few posts back and it's the same hanger as the vbr-168. I've also read the concern of the axle thread being on the inner part and I think it's somewhat dangerous.
I saw some pictures of Cube direct mount hangers and I think they look quite similar to ours, however the thread is on the outer cap which would be better. I have one friend who has a Cube so I'll ask him to try to fit his dm hanger
https://imgur.com/gallery/4m84EVO
Well I tried and it works perfectly! The onlt problem is that Cube hangers have a 1mm thread pitch, while the axle is 1.5mm. Cube axles use the Syntace standard so the non drive side is wedge shaped as opposed to the more common flat with ridges so it's not possible to use a Cube axle on our bikes. I have to find a proper axle then
What does the inside of the Cube hanger look like? There seems to be two very similar hangers and I'm wondering which is correct for the 168. In the link below you can see the differences. One is straight on the front edge and the other has a little notch. I think the notched one is the correct version but wanted to see if yours had the notch.


https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568016 ... _shipto=US

It's the one with the notch supposedly. The one I tried was from a Cube Cross Race Pro grey´n´flashyellow 2020. You can find it on bike discount although I haven't bought it yet
Ok cool. Thanks for the reply. I may pick one up off Ali and see how the quality is.
Specialized Tarmac SL7
Specialized Crux
Velobuild 168
Trek Checkpoint ALR

Edopizzo
Posts: 50
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2022 6:47 pm

by Edopizzo

LanceLegstrong wrote:
Fri Feb 03, 2023 9:29 pm
Edopizzo wrote:
Fri Feb 03, 2023 5:42 pm
LanceLegstrong wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 12:04 am
Edopizzo wrote:
Fri Sep 23, 2022 9:45 pm

https://imgur.com/gallery/4m84EVO
Well I tried and it works perfectly! The onlt problem is that Cube hangers have a 1mm thread pitch, while the axle is 1.5mm. Cube axles use the Syntace standard so the non drive side is wedge shaped as opposed to the more common flat with ridges so it's not possible to use a Cube axle on our bikes. I have to find a proper axle then
What does the inside of the Cube hanger look like? There seems to be two very similar hangers and I'm wondering which is correct for the 168. In the link below you can see the differences. One is straight on the front edge and the other has a little notch. I think the notched one is the correct version but wanted to see if yours had the notch.


https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568016 ... _shipto=US

It's cheaper on bikediscount or bikester


It's the one with the notch supposedly. The one I tried was from a Cube Cross Race Pro grey´n´flashyellow 2020. You can find it on bike discount although I haven't bought it yet
Ok cool. Thanks for the reply. I may pick one up off Ali and see how the quality is.

Hazzer19
Posts: 48
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2021 7:03 pm

by Hazzer19

LanceLegstrong wrote:
Wed Feb 01, 2023 1:17 pm
So the plan is to go with the Velobuild VB-R-168. Similar geo to my current Tarmac, going to build up as a 1x for simplicity.
I'm on my third Velobuild frame (1 raod / 2 gravel) and they have been great. Everyone is aware of the bit of extra work you need to put in with these builds and sometimes finish is not perfect, but well worth it IMO

FactoryMatt
Posts: 1014
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2015 4:35 am

by FactoryMatt

anyone know who makes this frame?

https://alcavibikes.com/

Image

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



LanceLegstrong
Posts: 1145
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 1:35 pm

by LanceLegstrong

Frisco wrote:
Mon Jun 20, 2022 2:07 am
johnbos1 wrote:feel free to let me know if you have any suggestions!
If you’re going through all that effort, consider the design and load on the whole thing. You might want to consider redesigning it by moving the axle thread from the hanger onto the exterior side cap plate so the M2 countersunk bolt is not carrying a big load. Or consider a longer axle so you can add an external lock nut. I had an open mold gravel frame with a similar hanger, and that design was the worst part of the frame. It always made me nervous that the M2 countersunk would fail and the entire hanger would fall out, because once the axle was torqued the entire cap plate would start to get pushed out from the frame just like your photo. the M2 is the only thing holding it all together and if the M2 fails and the cap falls off without you noticing, you don’t have much margin keeping the hanger under the chainstay.
Agree with this. Having the threads on the hanger (inside the frame) doesn't sound safe, and like you said, puts a lot of the force on the small M2 bolt. If that loosens or breaks, the frame is now not supported or locked in. The Cube hanger fixes this by swapping the threads to the outer piece. I bought the wrong one unfortunately. The notched hanger doesn't fit the VB-R-168 and the outer piece is too small.

Also wanted to share my build process of a VeloBuild VB-R-168 here: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=172167
Specialized Tarmac SL7
Specialized Crux
Velobuild 168
Trek Checkpoint ALR

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