Chinese Open Mold Gravel / CX Bikes

The spirit of Grav-lo-cross. No but seriously, cyclocross and gravel go here!

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maurice1
Posts: 143
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2022 12:51 pm
Location: Jura

by maurice1

xluthfi wrote:
Tue May 16, 2023 3:06 am
Hi,
anyone got some review for AirWolf YFR068?
https://airwolfcarbonbike.com/product/y ... 4-56-58cm/

i thinks its good geometry, its very very samiliar with Aspero. with good value, seatpost, dropbar, stem included
Someone here got one
http://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,4 ... l#msg44121
I would have bought one if it had just a little more tire clearance sadly

R314
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2019 10:03 am

by R314

Would you able to identify this frame? It looks to be an open mold aero all-road frameset.

https://images.bikefunint.com/product-v ... 1_jpg.webp
https://images.bikefunint.com/product-v ... 1_jpg.webp

by Weenie


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R314
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Mar 28, 2019 10:03 am

by R314

robbosmans wrote:
Mon Jun 12, 2023 12:08 pm
That’s not open mold lol, https://superiorbikes.com/en-en/bikes
I know who is selling under a brand name. But i highly doubt that was baked in Poland

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

by ms6073

robbosmans wrote:
Mon Jun 12, 2023 12:08 pm
That’s not open mold lol, https://superiorbikes.com/en-en/bikes
I imagine that is a private production run of what is otherwise an open-mold frameset.
- Michael
"People should stop expecting normal from me... seriously, we all know it's never going to happen"


sivan
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2014 6:40 pm

by sivan

uilewuit wrote:
Mon Oct 09, 2023 1:46 pm
https://www.bikeradar.com/news/new-merida-silex/
Carbonda CFR707 spotted?
almost but not the same . small differences in frame design .

RDY
Posts: 2354
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:31 pm

by RDY

It's almost identical. It would be surprising if Merida haven't licensed the mold / original design from FlyBike. For a company like Merida to seek to copy almost exactly one of their frames would be bizarre.

maurice1
Posts: 143
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2022 12:51 pm
Location: Jura

by maurice1

RDY wrote:
Tue Oct 10, 2023 11:12 am
It's almost identical. It would be surprising if Merida haven't licensed the mold / original design from FlyBike. For a company like Merida to seek to copy almost exactly one of their frames would be bizarre.
Are you saying you suspect merida is working with carbonda to make small tweaks of the 707? I hope that doesn't mean the 707 will become unavailable like the 505 was :(

jever98
Posts: 1175
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:02 pm
Location: Seattle

by jever98

No way that Merida would do that. They're one of the biggest manufacturers in the world.
----
No longer in the industry

RDY
Posts: 2354
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:31 pm

by RDY

jever98 wrote:
Tue Oct 10, 2023 9:02 pm
No way that Merida would do that. They're one of the biggest manufacturers in the world.
It would be far more odd for them to independently copy most of its features ...

jever98
Posts: 1175
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:02 pm
Location: Seattle

by jever98

If you look closely, they're not identical. Merida produces >1M bikes per year and holds (or held) 49% of Specialized (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merida_Bikes). Carbonda is a reseller... So extremely unlikely that Merida will be working with them. Maybe they produced the 707 all along, who knows.
----
No longer in the industry

elzilcho
Posts: 41
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2016 7:39 pm

by elzilcho

RDY wrote:
Tue Oct 10, 2023 9:13 pm
jever98 wrote:
Tue Oct 10, 2023 9:02 pm
No way that Merida would do that. They're one of the biggest manufacturers in the world.
It would be far more odd for them to independently copy most of its features ...
Most of its features?! It has dropped seat stays the wrap around the seat tube...in a different location. Nothing else is the same, look at the fork, top tube, rear triangle...

RDY
Posts: 2354
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:31 pm

by RDY

elzilcho wrote:
Wed Oct 11, 2023 12:50 am
RDY wrote:
Tue Oct 10, 2023 9:13 pm
jever98 wrote:
Tue Oct 10, 2023 9:02 pm
No way that Merida would do that. They're one of the biggest manufacturers in the world.
It would be far more odd for them to independently copy most of its features ...
Most of its features?! It has dropped seat stays the wrap around the seat tube...in a different location. Nothing else is the same, look at the fork, top tube, rear triangle...
The only difference is the fork. The dropped seat stays wrap around the seat tube in the same location and shape, TT is the same, rear triangle is the same. The biggest telltale is that the rear dropout is identical, and it uses exactly the same teardrop insert as the 707 and FlyBike use in many bikes - Merida inserts all look different to this. I assume you're thinking of the 696.
Last edited by RDY on Wed Oct 11, 2023 10:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

RDY
Posts: 2354
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2020 10:31 pm

by RDY

jever98 wrote:
Tue Oct 10, 2023 10:50 pm
If you look closely, they're not identical. Merida produces >1M bikes per year and holds (or held) 49% of Specialized (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merida_Bikes). Carbonda is a reseller... So extremely unlikely that Merida will be working with them. Maybe they produced the 707 all along, who knows.
Irrelevant. They don't and AFAIK have never had a racey gravel bike in their portfolio ... the Silex line are bikepacking geo. I'm pretty sure this a paint-jobbed 707 with a different fork. Meaning they probably don't have any immediate plans to fill the gap and it was just for a sponsored rider. It would be an embarassment if they paint-jobbed a name brand (even Specialized).

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