XC & ROAD - Mark's Chinese Carbon Builds

[c3024446]

A comprehensive thread regarding my FM056 (Chinese Carbon 29er) and FM098 (Chinese Roadie) builds.

The China-9r (Shrek) - Hong-fu FM056
February 2012, my father-in-law bought an XTC Composite 29er. I wanted a 29er hardtail, but not the same as that.

I stumbled onto the MTBR thread on the Chinese Carbon 29er, was convinced by the LTK023 and built one up with the best spec I could get for $3000 in March 2012. Such a great bike. The LTK served me well for two years, but cracked on the LHS seatstay in July 2014. She is now a FM056 Hong-fu frame painted green.

Firstly Shrek (LTK023 frame)

And Now as Shrek 2.0 (FM056 frame)

Build List:
FM056 Frame, 19”, Painted British Racing Green
XTR / XT /SLX Drivetrain with 32T Oval Absolute black chainring and 11-42 Wolftooth 10sp Conversion with RAD Cage
XT M785 Brakes
Mavic C29ssmax Wheels
Rocket Ron front, Racing Ralph Snakeskin rear
Time Atac XS Pedals

Weight: Approx 10.1kg

I love this bike, and feel free to PM me any questions about the frame or the components. It was a shame about the LTK023 frame cracking, but a new one was only $600 custom painted. The FM056 seems to have a much better build quality than the LTK023, so hopefully this one lasts longer than 2.3 years and 3350 dirty kms.

The China Roadie (Demonized)- Dengfu FM098
After the success of the 29er, i wanted another project. So with another budget of $3000, i built the following.

I can't believe how well it came together. It makes me think I did a half-arsed job on the 29er.

The frame is a FM098 and was bought in Groupbuy 6 from the velobuild forum (www.velobuild.com). All the info about the frame and how to order it is on in that forum.

This thing rides unbelievably well. Pretty comfy, and very fast. The power transfer is incredible. I only ride this thing to and from work, what a waste! This now has Rotor Q-rings as well. They work great for me, but probably because i am a crap pedaller.

Build List:
FM098 Frame – 3K Weave, Gloss Finish, 56cm, custom red paint scheme
Full 2012 Campy Chorus w/ Rotor Q-Rings and KCNC C7 Brakes
Mavic Ksyrium SL's (Now with Campag Zonda Rear after a cracked rim)
Ritchey WCS Bar and Stem
Michelin Pro 4 Endurance F, Gatorskin hardshell rear
Time I-Clic Racer Red Pedals

Weight – Approx 7.3kg

Current KMs:

Shrek 1.0: 3350km
Shrek 2.0: 267km
Demonized: 7367km

 

[scblack]

Sounds great.

It would be good to see for your roadie build, beside the weights column, a column of the cost for each item, or group of items.

 

[c3024446]

I deleted that column because I didn't really want to give free advertising to the places i bought them from as i though that would be frowned upon. So approximately:

The Campy Groupset with KCNC C7 Brakes and Gore Cables, Ksyrium Wheels: About $1850 from Germany (which i split into 2 orders to get below GST threshold). The wheels were $650.
Ritchey Stuff, Time Pedals, Bar Tape, SLR Saddle, Michelin Tyres, Tubes etc: $350 from France
Frame, Fork, Seatpost, Headset, $628. Velobuild.com groupbuy
KCNC Stuff: $125 off ebay

It was about $2950 all up

 

[agentninety3]

Looks great

Where did you buy the Chiner frame from?

 

[c3024446]

It's an LTK023 from LTbikes.com. I emailed Alisa Zhao at longtengalisa@163.com saying i wanted a quote for a frame, handlebar, headset, bottle cage, spare derailleur hangers, and she sent back an Excel spreadsheet with the quote. Communication was very good. You can get them painted in a custom design if you want, but that takes a while.

 

[c3024446]

I have done something silly. I went riding yesterday on the 29er with a bunch of guys, who didn't really notice how good my bike was hwell:. Since i have now determined that you need the frame to stand out a bit, i have ordered the following decals from this guy http://designstickers.blogspot.com.au/ He is from Brazil, and they are vinyl decals, so i will report how good they are when they arrive. I found the designs on his site and modified it then sent it back to him. His communication was very good and very fast.

Pre-Stickered MTB

Since i am calling this "inspired by" and not counterfeit, i am ok with this (because i absolutely hate counterfeit products).

So for the MTB: "Shrek" (in Trek font) for downtubes and a picture of Shrek on the headtube.
For the Roadie: "Demonized" (in specialized font) for downtubes and a cheeky Demon on the headtube.

Other assorted UCI rainbows will be scattered on the bike to break up the black/green and red/black colour schemes a bit. And we all know that UCI rainbows make a bike more pro All these cost $80USD total, should have them in two weeks!

 

[The Dude]

$ vs. g

You could get your bike under 9.9kg with a Highball carbon frame

I know the cost probably isn't in the same ballpark as yours, but that thing wouldn't come close to the stiffness or strength of the Santa Cruz

 

[Cúl-Báire]

All of a sudden I find myself wanting a budget carbon hardtail!!!

Looks fantastic mate, pretty decent spec you've put on it too, proof you don't need to spend a bombload of money to make something great.
Just out of interest how do you find the ride, is there much flex in the frame?

Cul

 

[c3024446]

It feels pretty stiff! I have not ridden too many expensive bikes, so my opinion on flex is pretty limited. Every time the stiff question comes up i get confused as it seems pretty hard to measure exactly how stiff something is. The variables such as the fork choice, chainrings, wheels etc probably help stiffness more than the frame?

I point it, it goes where i want it to. I stand up and smash the pedals in a sprint, it doesn't hold me back. Someone else had a test ride and said it felt stiff, I guess that's your answer?

 

[c3024446]

You could get your bike under 9.9kg with a Highball carbon frame

I know the cost probably isn't in the same ballpark as yours, but that thing wouldn't come close to the stiffness or strength of the Santa Cruz

I'm very happy i didn't spend that extra $1500 on that 100gm weight saving and the stiffer frame which may make me 10 seconds quicker over 100km, if it even is stiffer at all. I considered that option, and quickly dismissed it. Plus, the bike gets thrown in the back seat of the car and gets the wheels thrown onto of it and gets little scratches every now and again. And in another two years, i will fork out another $500 for a fresh one. :bowl:

 

[The Dude]

Seriously!?!

if it even is stiffer at all.

Yep, she's got the famous Orbea "four sided rear triangle"
You should be praying to Jebus that you don't live in a house engineered using that theory!

 

[c3024446]

Disappointingly, i have tried to find the "Post your ride" thread from "The Dude", but came up empty handed. All I found was 60 or so posts saying that Santa Cruz's are better than the rubbish anyone else has bought.

Not sure if you missed the part about me not being a racer, and enjoying spending $500 on a frame, not $2000. Also, the frame will soon have UCI rainbow stickers, which a Highball does not, therefore, it is better, and therefore, must be stiffer :wink:

 

[JIM80B]

The stickers will definitely stiffen it up a bit.

Personally I like the bike, apart from the wheels being too big and it not being a Santa Cruz frame.

Plus, how stiff can a paper mâché bike be anyway?

 

[Damienp]

Great build on the Chiner!!!

I have been thinking I would like one of these for a while now. Could be a great little project.

Very keen to see the roadie though. I almost pulled the trigger on one of these frames a while ago and got scaremongered
by a few locals which lead to no action. I cannot justify spending in excess of $3K on a road bike that would primarily be used to get to and
from work with some riding on the weekends as a bit of cross training. These frames make a custom experience so accessible.

Can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[c3024446]

Well with the roadie, and with the 29er, since you can pick your spec list, it snowballs.

Having a cheap spec list in a spreadsheet and then going, “well Thomson stuff is only another $$$, could get a SID with the XLOC for $$$ instead of a Reba....” I only stopped when it got above $3000, or when the next model up was silly expensive for the performance or weight gain offered (eg. XT –> XTR brakes and SLX->XTR crank arms)

The road bike started off with Ultegra and cheap Mavics, and then I found the Chorus (Carbon cranks and 11spd!) for $300 more, and then found the SL’s for $650. only ride it to work twice a week if that, and when the bush is too wet on the weekends. Massive overkill! It’s still a month away though. The triangle “Quick, cheap, good, pick two” unfortunately still applies.

 

[Damienp]

Well with the roadie, and with the 29er, since you can pick your spec list, it snowballs.

Having a cheap spec list in a spreadsheet and then going, “well Thomson stuff is only another $$$, could get a SID with the XLOC for $$$ instead of a Reba....” I only stopped when it got above $3000, or when the next model up was silly expensive for the performance or weight gain offered (eg. XT –> XTR brakes and SLX->XTR crank arms)

The road bike started off with Ultegra and cheap Mavics, and then I found the Chorus (Carbon cranks and 11spd!) for $300 more, and then found the SL’s for $650. only ride it to work twice a week if that, and when the bush is too wet on the weekends. Massive overkill! It’s still a month away though. The triangle “Quick, cheap, good, pick two” unfortunately still applies.

Absolutely. No stranger to "it's only a few $$$ more"...

That's how you end up spending $8K on the last custom build. I can guarantee the accountant won't have a bar of that again.

 

[Rick_B]

Mate, can I ask where you bought the Superstar chain guide? I'd like to get one for my rig. Did you get it directly from the UK, or did you manage to find one locally?

Cheers, and nice build btw.

 

[c3024446]

Bumping this up to brag about the roadie. Check the first post...

 

[Mike95]

your roadie build turned out real nice. well done!

 

[Puddleduck]

How did the internatioanlly sourced stickers turn out? Surely someone here in AUS could do something similar. I'm kinda interested becasue the SantaCruz stickers on the Heckler are starting to look a bit dirty and tatty and was thinging of having some 'unique' or customised stickers put on the frame.