Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

lobstermash
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby lobstermash » Thu Jan 08, 2015 4:51 pm

jules21 wrote:
unavailablerequest wrote: anyone is fine simply think they are ultimately from the same source, just different "presentation", weigh your choices on on the looks, price, geometry, specs, trustworthiness.

thats how i accessed mine.

but why bother? just pay few hundreds more and you can get one from your lbs right?
they're not the same as brand frames. i have a Hong !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !!, i'm happy with it for the price, but it's not as high quality as a more expensive brand frame like S-Works etc.
My fm011 is from dengfu. It's a very, very nice ride. The fm011 looks like a cervelo r series, but i'll probably never find out whether it's like the real thing...
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jules21
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby jules21 » Thu Jan 08, 2015 5:19 pm

lobstermash wrote:My fm011 is from dengfu. It's a very, very nice ride. The fm011 looks like a cervelo r series, but i'll probably never find out whether it's like the real thing...
mine is a nice ride too. but the finish isn't as good as more expensive frames - cable mountings, dropout areas, etc. it's definitely rougher. as it is used for racing, i don't care though.

defy1
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby defy1 » Sat Jan 10, 2015 9:27 am

had my chinese carbon rims for almost two years. never had a problem. maybe iam one of the lucky ones

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black4tress
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby black4tress » Tue Jan 13, 2015 4:11 pm

mattwilkinson wrote:
black4tress wrote:I've got a set of Farsports 50mm....been using them for about a year now.
Had similar experience to Lukas with the pulsating rim when braking. They eventually replaced both although took a bit of time to sort out and acknowledge the issue. The replacements were abit better but no where near perfect and its taken about 2k of riding for them to be probably acceptable.
On the plus side, they ride and roll as good as my 303s in terms of spin, minimum flex but at a third of the price.
Maybe they have improved their quality of late ??? who knows...
Btw - they are also nice and polite during pre sales. Post sales although still polite their response times were delayed somewhat.

Did you find the pulsating settled down a bit? Someone on another forum said using better carbon pads can fix the issue
It's better but still pulses from about 15kms to stopping.
I find that the Reynolds blue work best (with toeing in) as opposed to Zipp yellows or the ones they provided.
[Centurion LeMans Single Speed] [BMC Fourstroke FS03]
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GJM
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby GJM » Tue Jan 20, 2015 1:08 pm

I'd love to buy a chinese frame but wouldn't know where to start in building it up, and I'm not sure that I'd trust a bike store to work meticulously on a frame which could be seen as representing the end of their traditional business model.
Someone in Oz should start a bike building service - minus any attempt to brand build on the bike itself, and minus any sale of other branded bikes themselves - where people simply order in the parts online, and they put it together for you.
Or maybe there already is, and I don't know them.
I'd certainly pay for the service.

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bigfriendlyvegan
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby bigfriendlyvegan » Tue Jan 20, 2015 1:55 pm

Where are you located, GJM? I know a guy who does exactly this. Get a frame, or tell him what you want, and he'll do the rest for you. Sydney based, if you're keen.

lobstermash
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby lobstermash » Tue Jan 20, 2015 2:08 pm

Most people who buy Chinese frames are looking to save money and build it up themselves. There's also a fair bit of effort on the part of the manufacturer to make the bike as straightforward to put together as possible. Paying a shop to put it together for you would quite significantly eat in to the savings associated with buying direct in the first place. IME, most decent bike shops happily build up and/or repair any bike brought in to them, regardless of where you purchased it from. Some will even fit parts you've sourced yourself.

Over the last couple of years, a number of companies have started direct sourcing Chinese frames and sticking their brand on it; Ribble and Polygon come straight to mind... By buying frames and components in bulk, these guys are able to retail complete bikes (including their profit margin) for about the cost of sourcing the frame and parts yourself. Consequently, the biggest benefits from buying a Chinese frame yourself are the choice of frame design and really cheap custom paintwork. I guess it's also really satisfying to build one up yourself...
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GJM
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby GJM » Tue Jan 20, 2015 2:13 pm

If I was in Syd BigFriendlyVegan I'd be all over that offer. Thanks for the suggestion.

Lobstermash - you are no doubt right, but I still think there's a market. But I may well be wrong.

I wouldn't trust myself to do a good enough job of the build. I can ride, but I can't build :)

If anyone knows anywhere in Melb that does this kind of thing I'd be interested.
Last edited by GJM on Tue Jan 20, 2015 2:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

jasonc
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby jasonc » Tue Jan 20, 2015 2:25 pm

GJM - have a chat to herb (AT)
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jules21
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby jules21 » Tue Jan 20, 2015 8:28 pm

lobstermash wrote:Over the last couple of years, a number of companies have started direct sourcing Chinese frames and sticking their brand on it; Ribble and Polygon come straight to mind...
and Specialised, and Giant, and.. :)

lobstermash
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby lobstermash » Tue Jan 20, 2015 10:18 pm

Haha, I did mean open mould frames, but yeah, true that...
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Duck!
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby Duck! » Fri Jan 23, 2015 11:21 pm

jules21 wrote:
lobstermash wrote:Over the last couple of years, a number of companies have started direct sourcing Chinese frames and sticking their brand on it; Ribble and Polygon come straight to mind...
and Specialised, and Giant, and.. :)
Slight difference, Giant own their moulds, and manufature everything bar the raw carbon fibre in-house (and manufacture for others), Spesh are built (and partially owned) by Merida.

To use a well-established brand as a true comparison, try Apollo. They're not a true manufacturer, they're a parts assembler, sourcing generic frames from the major factories, parts from various suppiers & chucking them together.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby boss » Sun Jan 25, 2015 9:58 am

There are heaps of mobile mechanics with no brand allegiance that will build whatever you bring them.

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simonn
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby simonn » Sun Jan 25, 2015 1:40 pm

If you don't want to build it yourself and/or do not already have a load of parts, consider cell or onlinebicycles.com.au. They are chinese frames already built up and not a great deal, if at all, more expensive.

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schroeds
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby schroeds » Tue Feb 10, 2015 8:58 am

Hey guys, 38 pages on this thread so apologies if it's been raised before but has anybody used wheels/rims from Light Bicycle co?

Any good?

Thanks
Not so much a cyclist...more of a sit down comedian

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mitchy_
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby mitchy_ » Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:06 am

schroeds wrote:Hey guys, 38 pages on this thread so apologies if it's been raised before but has anybody used wheels/rims from Light Bicycle co?

Any good?

Thanks
yes, and yes. LB are probably the most reputable brand for chinese carbon wheels.

i had a set of their 45mm deep U-shaped clinchers on disc hubs, that got used daily with no issues at all.

mmc22
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby mmc22 » Tue Feb 10, 2015 10:11 am

schroeds wrote:Hey guys, 38 pages on this thread so apologies if it's been raised before but has anybody used wheels/rims from Light Bicycle co?

Any good?

Thanks
Posted this before;

Yeah I have their 45mm U-shaped clinchers laced to Chris King R45 with Sapim C-Xray 20/28h built up locally. Done about 3,000km on them so far.
- Braking is perfectly fine in the dry, no pulsing or grabbing and stop just as easily as alloy rims... maybe 95% of alloy performance.
- No discernible deviation in rim thickness. In the wet they will stop me... but I need to be prepared for it to take a little longer.
- Weigh in about 1350g from memory. Stiffness is excellent, on par with my Campagnolo Bora Ultra Two Tubs (which are 2.5 times the price and 150g lighter).
- Much easier to spin up than my alloys Campagnolo Zondas and hold great in the wind and don't get blown around as much in side winds as the Boras.

The guy at the shop who built them up said they were as good as any carbon rim he's ever seen, but qualified it in saying that he's never seen a perfect carbon rim... even $3K+ lightweights, enve, zipps. He was impressed.

I did maybe 10k on some cheaper (sub $400) BladeX on novatec hubs and they were awful... right from the start had brake track issues with pulsing and kept breaking the nipples on the rear. Eventually the front hub sheared itself when a spoke pulled through it.... and i've effectively binned them after 2 years.

In my opinion spend your money on good quality hubs (the CK 45s are supremely awesome!!, DT Swiss or White Industries also good, even Phil Wood) and spend a moderate amount on the rims... which are likely to have a shorter lifespan than good hubs. Also find a good honest wheelbuilder that can take care of them for you.

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schroeds
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby schroeds » Tue Feb 10, 2015 2:10 pm

Thanks all, going to make the purchase, will post a review sometime
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schroeds
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby schroeds » Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:48 pm

Another question, what brake pads would you recommend on these rims? I'm told Swiss Stop Black Prince are good, but they're exxy
Not so much a cyclist...more of a sit down comedian

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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby clydesmcdale » Wed Feb 11, 2015 10:00 am

schroeds wrote:Another question, what brake pads would you recommend on these rims? I'm told Swiss Stop Black Prince are good, but they're exxy
I use these on my carbon clinchers and they do the job... setup well, no noise and good modulation. Pretty much a cheaper version of Reynolds Blue.
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http://www.this link is broken.au/lifeline-perfo ... pack-of-4/

Have used swisstop yellow, but they're way too hard, leave a yellow mark on the wheel and can heat up the brake track too much
I also like the Campagnolo Red Carbon specific, but they'r a bit expensive... i used them on my tubs
Have heard the Black Prince are good... but happy enough with the blue pads

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jules21
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby jules21 » Wed Feb 11, 2015 10:10 am

clydesmcdale wrote:
schroeds wrote:Another question, what brake pads would you recommend on these rims? I'm told Swiss Stop Black Prince are good, but they're exxy
I use these on my carbon clinchers and they do the job... setup well, no noise and good modulation. Pretty much a cheaper version of Reynolds Blue.
Image
http://www.this link is broken.au/lifeline-perfo ... pack-of-4/
+ 1

these make all the spendy ones look like the scam they are - i feel like i shouldn't be spreading this secret around :)

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schroeds
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby schroeds » Wed Feb 11, 2015 10:28 am

Thanks...those are silly cheap!
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Crawf
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby Crawf » Sat Feb 14, 2015 10:00 am

Got an FR316 on the way. Kinda like a BH G6?
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defy1
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby defy1 » Mon Feb 16, 2015 8:51 pm

interested in seeing the final build on that one

Crawf
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Re: Chinese carbon frame and wheels thread

Postby Crawf » Wed Feb 18, 2015 10:19 am

FR316 arrived, except it's Black matte, not UD matte as advertised, grrrrr!

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