chinese frame + part EXPERIENCE SO FAR

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enrics87
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:00 pm

by enrics87

Hello everyone, first of all, i've been, """""not much welcomed """"" from another forum because i was talking about chinese frame and groupset, eveyrone very upset apparently.
I'm quite new as bike rider, i have a cannondale caad 105, but something get my attention lately, carbon bike, and after a month of reserch, i've been stimulate to "prove" or find out, if build up a bike with chinese frame, for an AMATEUR BIKER , would be ok, and save quite good dollar compare to big brands carbon bike.
SO FAR I'VE been in contact with few company, i can tell the name, but in the other forum they cancel the link, (unfairl)
they look very professional, and very attentive on response my email, i know for sure that those days even this company (chinese) tested bike at least 20000 times, and with social media is very quick to spread the voice and video if the frame or material aren't good, i believe they not stupid, and is not like 15 years ago.
any way, i would like to build up my carbo bike, endurance , with a budget, and see how i go.
i've been in contact with those company that they very attenive and repsonsive.
if some one can help me to choose or to get some feedback.

the company that i've been in contact are :

https://www.lightcarbon.com/lightcarbon ... e_p15.html
frame and wheels frame 500 aud dollar + 630 wheels

https://www.workswellbikes.com for frame and wheels, price not send me yet

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001036 ... hweb201603_

at the moment with all those three full carbo bike , is going to be around 1500/1600 aus dollars.
what do you think, is it worth it, some experience bad or good things about it?
thank you very much.
just remeber that i'm not a pro, i do my km per week but nothing major.

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ms6073
Posts: 4289
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:24 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

by ms6073

One problem I see is that the crank in the groupset is BB30 which is not compatible/will not work with the LightCarbon LCR015-V/Workswell WCB-R-136 V Brake frameset which has a BB86 bottom bracket.

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- Michael
"People should stop expecting normal from me... seriously, we all know it's never going to happen"

by Weenie


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Vermu
Posts: 345
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2010 6:39 am

by Vermu

We’ve plenty of open mould threads here. Some make really good products.
Do the research and you’ll have a nice bike for decent cost. I reckon you’ll be judged. Just keep in mind this is ww, so paying attention to weight is essential


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robtx
Posts: 56
Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2019 3:55 am

by robtx

I've bought several Chinese eBay items and here is a rundown of them:
  • EC90 brand (not Easton) straight seapost, it sucked: heavy, stiff and undersized.
    Full carbon saddle was light, worked great, but short mounting rail section.
    Carbon bars (77mm reach), okay...low stiffness and not confidence inducing, replaced.
In short, only the saddle was usable.

Now, my Light Bicycle 46mm's have been awesome and I cannot imagine buying $2-3k wheels when I can get what I want for $1k.
Last edited by robtx on Wed Jul 01, 2020 5:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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ms6073
Posts: 4289
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:24 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

by ms6073

Also, take a look TraceVelo's video outining his experience with the Sensah groupset.

- Michael
"People should stop expecting normal from me... seriously, we all know it's never going to happen"

AMGRoadster
Posts: 274
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 3:57 am

by AMGRoadster

I am running Farsport Wheels and they have been great. That said I would be very careful who you purchase from and what products. Ask yourself is your life really worth saving a couple of dollars?

There are threads on this board extolling the virtues of Chinese Open Molds. According to the people posting you are an idiot for spending extra. That said if you look at the mileage they are saying they have ridden on the frames it is nothing. Their mileage over multi-years is what I put in on the bike in a month or two. So for me they hold NO credibility. It is like saying - Hey, look at me. I bought a knock off pair of LOUIS VUITTON shoes. They look and feel incredible. But I have only worn them once, in ideal conditions. But I swear they are better than the real thing.

Arnomatic
Posts: 62
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2020 12:44 pm

by Arnomatic

I've had the same carbonzone frame for 7 years and never had an issue with it. As far as I can tell the build quality is great. There's something to be said for having confidence in your parts though. My bike started out all chinese carbon, cracks started appearing in the stem, and something about the handlebars made me scared every time I hit a small bump in the road. I've since changed every component to a trusted brand, but the frame continues to ride well. When I was able justify the cost of branded components, I felt more confident on the bike and suubsequently rode it more. It's a tough debate.

Vespasianus
Posts: 283
Joined: Thu Jun 11, 2020 10:15 pm

by Vespasianus

What I have generally found is that with Chinese carbon, if it is going to fail, it does it early and easily. I have light carbon wheels on my MTB and have ridden the crap out of them. Going on close to 5 years and they have been great. I would buy from them again.

I ordered a seatpost from a company called HULKSPORTS on Amazon. Seat broke in my hand like a small stick. I would not buy from them again.

So, I have some good experiences and some bad.

Also, be careful of reviews as the Chinese companies will pay you money to remove bad reviews and pay you more for good reviews. This is not just a bike thing, but they do it for all their products.
Cinelli Superstar - Campagnolo H11
Tommasini Custom X-Fire gravel - EKAR

Cycomanic
Posts: 391
Joined: Tue Feb 04, 2020 11:10 pm

by Cycomanic

Vespasianus wrote:
Wed Jul 01, 2020 1:22 pm
What I have generally found is that with Chinese carbon, if it is going to fail, it does it early and easily. I have light carbon wheels on my MTB and have ridden the crap out of them. Going on close to 5 years and they have been great. I would buy from them again.

I ordered a seatpost from a company called HULKSPORTS on Amazon. Seat broke in my hand like a small stick. I would not buy from them again.

So, I have some good experiences and some bad.

Also, be careful of reviews as the Chinese companies will pay you money to remove bad reviews and pay you more for good reviews. This is not just a bike thing, but they do it for all their products.
You mean like the product-placement advertisement the big bike companies pay to GCN and co?

Vespasianus
Posts: 283
Joined: Thu Jun 11, 2020 10:15 pm

by Vespasianus

Cycomanic wrote:
Wed Jul 01, 2020 4:38 pm
Vespasianus wrote:
Wed Jul 01, 2020 1:22 pm
What I have generally found is that with Chinese carbon, if it is going to fail, it does it early and easily. I have light carbon wheels on my MTB and have ridden the crap out of them. Going on close to 5 years and they have been great. I would buy from them again.

I ordered a seatpost from a company called HULKSPORTS on Amazon. Seat broke in my hand like a small stick. I would not buy from them again.

So, I have some good experiences and some bad.

Also, be careful of reviews as the Chinese companies will pay you money to remove bad reviews and pay you more for good reviews. This is not just a bike thing, but they do it for all their products.
You mean like the product-placement advertisement the big bike companies pay to GCN and co?
No, that is disclosed. In the case of buyer reviews, you can be paid to remove a review or write a good review and nothing is disclosed. What it is more similar to is something like google reviews - were the company can decide not to allow a negative review to be published.
Cinelli Superstar - Campagnolo H11
Tommasini Custom X-Fire gravel - EKAR

MichaelB
Posts: 993
Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2008 4:31 am

by MichaelB

enrics87 wrote:
Tue Jun 30, 2020 10:48 am
Hello everyone, first of all, i've been, """""not much welcomed """"" from another forum because i was talking about chinese frame and groupset, eveyrone very ...
What forum was that ?

As you've already seen, sometimes there are hidden traps that can lead to expensive mistakes (need to order different parts) or just hassle getting it to work. With sooo many 'standards' around, it can be a minefield !!

Shrike
Posts: 2019
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:08 pm

by Shrike

Built a Workswell, unsure of the model, but think it was an FM066. Loads of them in this thread (think mine's in there too):

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=113717&start=1080

Frame weighed around 850g and the custom paint job was a 30 dollar extra. Total cost landed to UK was 504 USD.

Really good bike and as a guy who was riding an S5 (2017 model) after it, I just honestly couldn't say the S5 was worth the extra cash. FM066 is what $500. S5 frameset is $3500?

Seven times more expensive.

Not the fairest comparison, you'd need to get an aero Chinese frame and compare, and the S5 was definitely better, more aggressive and responsive, no way would I say the FM066 was the same level, but it's certainly not twice the bike, and definitely not seven times the bike!

That was years ago though, and the early aero Chinese frames were just coming to market and they looked dated. Now though, I bet they've got excellent aero models and I'd be up for trying one in the future when time allows for such frivolity. If I saw a stealthed out F12 copy I'd be super tempted. Love that organic frame design language. Alien technology. Would buy, and you know that after it's built you have something special looking and worth the effort of going open mold. The biggest downside of going open mold is that you end up with something generic looking as their paintjobs are very simple.

Building the bike was no problem at all. Was like building a Cervelo from that era. Same standards all round. Sold it in the end because I got into Zwift and didn't need so many bikes.

Before the the FM066 I was riding a Bianchi Infinito CV. Given a choice between the Bianchi and the FM066, I'd. definitely have went with the FM066. Racier, more fun. Harsher but well, you know, tyres sort that stuff out.

+1 for open mold from me.

none
Posts: 291
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2018 11:29 pm
Location: NE PA

by none

I have not been racing on road bikes for over 15 years.
I don't ride competitively on my local group rides with hilltop challenges or lampost sprints.
I do enjoy a nice steady paceline cruising for miles at 25+ mph..
I have built three Chinese carbon frame bikes since SEP 2017. All of them are cheap, under $400 (with discount/rebate).
I kept two of three since the first frame was the wrong size sent to me, I received full refund and got to keep the frame.
I sold the built bike (7.52kg) to a neighbor that I ride with regularly, he's put over 4k miles on it and I don't hear any complaints from him.
Image

The second frame is more aero, I just liked the look of the frame and wanted to try it out.
This is time I got the correct frame size, and it went together with steep learnign curve of internal cable routing, trial & error in cable housing lengths. (8.25kg)
Image

The third frame is a replacement frame sent to me by the seller of the first frame, this time in the correct size.
Since I really wanted to try a Cervelo S5 replica from China: (7.54kg)
Image

For my typical riding, they serve the purpose well.
I've put about 2k combined miles on the two that I've kept since 2018.
Besides the initial setup of the bikes, they operate pretty well for day-to-day usage.
The seatpost tend to slip until you figure out a way to secure it.
The front derailler mount seems to be slip out of position in the first few miles.
Typical teething problems with newly builts.
I'm happy with my purchases of Chinese carbon frames and likely will do it again when I wear out one of them.

enrics87
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:00 pm

by enrics87

Vespasianus wrote:
Wed Jul 01, 2020 1:22 pm
What I have generally found is that with Chinese carbon, if it is going to fail, it does it early and easily. I have light carbon wheels on my MTB and have ridden the crap out of them. Going on close to 5 years and they have been great. I would buy from them again.

I ordered a seatpost from a company called HULKSPORTS on Amazon. Seat broke in my hand like a small stick. I would not buy from them again.

So, I have some good experiences and some bad.

Also, be careful of reviews as the Chinese companies will pay you money to remove bad reviews and pay you more for good reviews. This is not just a bike thing, but they do it for all their products.

Thank you for you feedbakck, light carbon so far they look quite professional and standard quality on it.

enrics87
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:00 pm

by enrics87

Hello guys, thank you all for your feedback, so far what i can see that many peope still skeptic about chiense frames and acessories.

my questions is, is it worth it in the end the of the day, for an AMATEUR, 200km a week more or less, to get for example
the frame and wheels from CARBON LIGHT, and set it up a quality 105 o ultrega group set?
in the end of the day, what's the value of my bike comapre to a big brands?
if i invest 700 dollars for frame 650 dollars wheels, 1500 dollars group set and labor from someone, i have a total of amost 3k bike,
i would like to understand if in my hand i have a potentially 7-8 k bike?
thank you all

by Weenie


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

www.starbike.com



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