0 points (view top contributors)
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
This is my downcountry race rig! Built up with the new Light Carbon 937 full-suspension frame, featuring a single-pivot suspension design with the linkage tucked inside a split seat tube. The result is an incredibly stiff ride feel with impressive control. What’s even more impressive is that Light Carbon retails the entire frame for $700 including shipping! What a beast. My build weighs 22.5 lbs and features the Fox Float 34 SC fork up front with 120mm travel and a Fox Float DPS factory shock in the rear with 40mm stroke, corresponding to 115mm rear wheel travel.
This is my factory-direct 18.5lb 29er hardtail, built up with a 1060g $400 carbon frame, an integrated carbon handlebar, 280g carbon rims, and a mixed XTR and XO1 1×11 drivetrain. I opted for a 120mm travel Fox Float 34 SC fork to slacken the HTA to 68.5-degrees and tackle technical XC trails. The bike is incredibly versatile (I’ve also ridden it in a 27.5+ configuration) and has a playful character. It’s easy to accelerate, get sideways on the berms, and riff off ruts and rocks.
While there is an exploding number of brands marketing made-in-China carbon bikes, there are still only a handful of carbon bicycle factories in China. Some of these factories recently have started to ship “catalog” frames designed in-house directly to the consumer, thus cutting out industry middlemen. These frames are becoming increasingly popular and are surprisingly affordable ($400-550 for hardtails, $500-1000 for full-suspension). I’ve bought frames and wheelsets directly from several factories, and have been repeatedly impressed by their excellent communication and commitment to outstanding aftersales service. This particular bike is just another build which proves that a great bike doesn’t need to break the bank. It costs $3000 to build this one new.
Welcome to mountain biking! I started riding on a Mongoose from wally and totally destroyed it on my second singletrack ride. Then I rode a Huffy Loma from Meijer and totally destroyed it the first time I went out–again. I was a bit perplexed why I was breaking so many bikes, so I got a $50 used Magnum from a garage sale and it survived 3 rides (about 15 miles), then went caput.
So… I thought I’d shell out $400 for a Motobecane 529HT, and it lasted 300 miles and then broke. Quick release cap stripped out, rim got bent, and rear hub pawls fell out.
So… I invested $3500 in a bike which I am still riding today and have never had an issue with. Thousands of miles on it.
Moral of the story is you get what you pay for, riding is super fun, but you’ve got to figure out how much initial investment you can put down. I recommend buying used if you’re putting down less than $1000, buying new if you’re a dentist, or building up if you’re a handyman.
bikehubstore.com
Ah, Aaron beat me to some of the points! ^^. I agree with Nick that wheels are almost invariably the lowest quality component specced on mass-produced bikes in the budget price ranges. It makes sense that budget buyers are less discerning about hubs, rims, spokes, and wheel build quality than for example the frame, drivetrain, or cockpit.
I build all my own wheels because I like having total control over what goes into the build. I use established brand-name hubs (Industry Nine, Hope, Chris King, DT Swiss, etc. and avoid Novatec/Powerway and their many knock-off re-branded brethren). You want a hub that won’t have busted pawls in a thousand miles and shot bearings. Hubs with made-in-Japan (not Taiwan or china) steel bearings are most reliable, I have even replaced with ceramic bearings in some of my hubs. For rims, if you’re using alloy, you want torsional stiffness so going lighter weight isn’t going to help in the long run, I’ve had great luck with Stans rims, but DT Swiss Alloy rims are great too. Name-brand carbon rims are almost unaffordable, but I’ve had awesome experiences with Light Bicycle and Speedsafe double-walled assymmetric hookless rims, lots of info on MTBR for these brands. I’ve had great luck using Pillar spokes in addition to DT Competition, prefer brass nipples over alloy in order to keep a true longer, but can’t overemphasize how important a good build is to overall quality. Sometimes I’m just not happy with what I could do and I’ll bring it in to my local bike shop and they’ll true and tension it nicely for a few bucks.
Well said, I feel ya! I get the impression though that a better job on the frames would make BD a much more amazing place. Frames are heavy and old-school geo. Specs are great and all at the price points, that’s for sure.
Everything was properly tightened before the ride and I didn’t notice any looseness during the ride. The skewer looks slightly stripped, but I wasn’t able to refind the cap, I’d bet that it stripped out a bit too. I don’t know how this can happen when it’s supposed to be immobile. Anyways, this skewer is super-cheap, there are much better skewer setups out there. It was put on a $400 bike and I was riding it like it was $4000, but still.
lawmanfl, maybe I can answer some of your questions. 1) Sellers on eBay and Amazon of unmarked frames are often dropshippers, go to Aliexpress or Alibaba and buy directly from the source. These suppliers provide 2-year warranty, and in my experience they deliver on it (twice now and I’ve had almost 10 frames). Extensive MTBR threads on chinese frames also show that they deliver on warranties, very well, in fact. 2) Giant makes frames for other “manufacturers” because they own a factory in Taiwan and offer Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) service, but there are other factories that don’t have a name-brand associated with them that are much larger and sometimes run even better. It’s just like Kenda making Bontrager tires, no different, just more markup on a Bontrager than a direct Kenda tire. 3) The vast majority of North American companies do not have any engineers on their team, they feed geometry, aesthetic designs, and frame specs to the engineers in Taiwan and the frame is designed AND built in Taiwan. Exceptions are Ibis, Specialized, Trek (to some extent), Santa Cruz, and a few boutique brands. Chinese factories prefer to build their own CAD models so they can control the mold opening process–if you don’t have your engineer there to open the mold they aren’t very willing to cooperate. 4) Glad you’ve found a brand that stands behind their products, I’d encourage you to ask reputable Chinese companies how they stand behind their products–they are looking for ways to please, and have amazing confidence in their product quality, I do as well. My credentials: somebody who tried all of the above.
Update, I could have killed myself riding my Motobecane 529HT. The quick release cap stripped out during a ride and my fork landed on my wheel, sending me OTB instantaneously. It was so fast I didn’t even reflexively put out my arms. I landed on my head and went in for an x-ray, no fractures thankfully but I am in a lot of pain and blaming it on this stupid cheap bike.
Buy something that won’t break. Or build it yourself, so you know you can trust every part.
Rigid fat bike all winter, no need for suspension when you’re riding snow.
I don’t ride a rigid 29er, but I run full lockout on a lot of smooth flow trails just because I find suspension slows me down (I ride Fox Float factory series). I have a carbon fork that I will switch out sometimes before a long gravel rides, but the rigid fork on my fully looks kind of awkward.
Yes. What is truly factory-direct?
To set it aside first of all, I insist that Canyon and YT are consumer-direct, not factory-direct. They don’t make their frames, they distribute their frames. BikesDirect is the same way, contrary to their advertising, they are a distributor, not a manufacturer.
Can we as consumers ever get straight to the source without taking a trip to the Taipei Bike Show and talking to a factory rep? I realized that import & export companies which market open molds are also not factory-direct, and they charge almost twice as much as cost of manufacturing just because they have to handle warranty and share the costs of opening molds. For example, I found out that almost all carbon frames actually cost $100-$300 to make before getting shipped from the factory to the import export company, yet import export companies charge $400-$800 when shipping to consumers or brand headquarters, brands charge dealers $800-$3000, and dealers charge consumers $1500-$4500. What is up with all this inefficiency? Can’t there be anything better?
It is possible, nothing will prevent you from doing so. But as alluded to above by others, the character and handling of your bike will be dramatically affected. Your bike has the geometry of a trail bike, you are trying to turn it into a low-travel enduro bike, but you don’t have enduro geometry. See Aaron Chamberlain’s recent post on how enduro and trail bikes are differentiated. Your frame will not deliver an “enduro feel”.
I would not be too concerned about frame damage especially if you are not riding carbon. You will still get stresses in all of the same positions, albeit a little more angular stress in the headtube due to the extended HTA/wheelbase.
Do you really need more than 120mm of suspension? If you’re riding enduro, sell your bike and get an enduro bike. If you’re not riding enduro, maybe you could achieve a more plush feel by going full-suspension, getting a carbon handlebar (for shock absorbance) or if you’re a real chicken by getting one of those Suntour shock-absorbing seatposts.
You can save yourself $5/jockey wheel by ordering from AliExpress. Same supplier, they just have to pay fewer fees to the marketplace and offer slower shipping, thus the discount.
I have an XTR 1×11 derailleur and thought about getting new Jockey Wheels but decided against it because 1) they aren’t lighter, and 2) the bearings in these cheap jockey wheels aren’t any better than the stock Shimano XTR bearings.
Performance upgrades won’t be happening unless you put in $70+ for the genuine ceramic wheels/carbon cage combos (i.e. Fouriers).
I would personally swap out that crankset for a 1x in the front, scrap the front derailleur, and just using your rear derailleur (9-speed). Do you really need that front derailleur? Extra weight, extra complexity, and another thing that can get broken. But 1x is not for everybody either.
Congrats on your new bike! I have ridden an SE F@E and an SE F@R. I think your #1 problem is running those cheap Vee Mission tires — they have an awful amount of self steer and are impossibly clumsy on pavement and snow. Your best bet is probably the Schwalbe Jumbo Jim 26×4.0 TL EVO Liteskin tires, they are super light and fastest of all the fat tires I’ve ridden, run them around 3-5 PSI on snow. I ran my Missions on the F@E at around 5 PSI, the Bulldozers on my F@R around 2.5 PSI, and I even ran a Snowshoe 2XL in the front of my F@R for a while as low as 0.5 PSI (yup, that tire is huge). The F@E frame is also quite heavy, btw, even compared to the F@R, and that’s going to make it seem slow too. Good luck!
Get 10 pairs of the $2 variety from China (aliexpress). They work for me, I burn holes in them every few weeks when I wear them around the house. I burn holes in all my socks, and would never want to pay more than 2 bucks.
I want to know how well these Chinese lights actually work. I heard stories that the batteries tend to corrode or go bad quite quickly, but I don’t care as long as it lasts me a season–I can store it outside in a box in case it would start on fire.
Seriously, less than $4.00 for a 2000 lumen bar light? More than 6500 orders, it must be worth it?! Can I just get 5 and mount them to my helmet and handlebar? Or what about this 7000 lumens for under $20? I know there are opinions out there, but any actual experience?
Well if you’re going out in really cold conditions, I’d recommend going with mechanical brakes as pneumatic brakes may start freezing up on you. I’ve only had this issue twice but it can end your ride and send you home early. I prefer to ride flats in the winter instead of clipless because I tend to take a spill once in a while when I stray from groomed singletrack and it makes it easier to exit the bike as pleasantly as possible if I’m not tied to my pedals. There are a lot of snow angels out there all winter, I’d rather just leave boot prints.
Cleaning wise, I store my bike in my house after I’m done riding just to wipe it down, dry it out, and let ice chunks or frozen slush thaw out. I take a toothbrush to my chain and cassette sometimes to help get rid of corrosive road salt if I do a road/gravel ride, and apply wet lube more generously than in the summer. You don’t have to, but I will sometimes wash out my bottom bracket and crankset just to keep it from rusting.
In terms of tires, I love to go wide–as wide as possible. I love my Vee Snowshoe XLs, but am going to try and fit 2XLs on both my rear and front by trimming down the side knobs a little. I also can’t emphasize enough setting up your fat tires tubeless, your flotation will be increased and your tires will widen out more than with tubes.
Trails–Last year in Michigan we probably had a total of 3 weeks with glare ice and freeze-thaw action which kept most bikers off the roads and trails, but I installed some KoldKutters on my Vee Snowshoes and was out riding every day (those things are slower, but cheaper than other studs). I always watch the trail conditions pages as it really helps to get a hang of grooming schedules and trail openings/closings especially towards spring.
I’ve always kept clothing simple, sometimes just wore two or three sweatshirts out on the trail and layered down between laps if I felt like it.
It’s easy to be brutal on equipment at Copper Harbor, I just rode there and put a chip in one of my off-brand carbon fat bike rims, but you broke TWO rims? Simultaneously, or one after replacing the other? That’s quite some badass riding there. My rims (which by the way are almost the same design as Sarma, and I’m betting they’re even made in the same factory) have held up to 15 foot drops and banging on the Downtown trail at Copper Harbor.
I’m not sticking up for Sarma in terms of their tardy communication, but in terms of honoring the warranty every company gets abusive warranty requests where products are intentionally destroyed and submitted for warranty or where customers try lying to brands. The fine print in Sarma’s statement leaves an out for them in situations like this. And abuse of the warranty happens more often than you think. The smaller the company, the harder it is to draw the line between genuine damage and abuse. At some point we just have to appreciate their very competitive pricing and accept the risks of going with a start-up.
