Who on BR has bought a 'cheap' Chinese carbon frame?

kfinlay

I'm going to need to get some decals for my frame - specifically need them printed on clear vinyl and would like them to be very high quality. Any recommendations?

Anonymous

P_Tucker wrote:

Eric Cartman wrote:

Dont know whether to get it painted or not. If i get a naked carbon frame how much would it cost to get the bike painted/airbrushed or whatever in the UK? Would it be under a £200 or am i looking at more than that? Wouldnt just be a couple of colours but more like a theme with some detailing too so not sure if the Chinese offer such a service.... Any recommendations for companies i should contact about this?

Do NOT, under any circumstances, use Mario Vaz. The nobber managed to leave half a headset in mine, then paint over the top sealing it in tighter than a recently deceased Pharoah. He then invited me to f**k off when I politely enquired what he was going to do about it.

Furthermore, the paint chips easier than Maris Piper potatoes and the logos look like they were drawn on by blind toddlers with broken crayons.

I've heard a few anecdotes about him. All bad.

Atlantic Boulevard are supposed to be very good.

dcurzon

kfinlay wrote:

I'm going to need to get some decals for my frame - specifically need them printed on clear vinyl and would like them to be very high quality. Any recommendations?

i cant do print to clear, but can do cut vinyl. I use 5yr vinyl and usually supply to motorcycle race teams.

philhul

Apologies for the truly awful picture quality (iphone) but this is my Carbonzone rb002 (same as FM028) finished in matt clearcoat along with my Carbonzone 60mm carbon clinchers.

Bike will hopefully be built up on Friday after which I will get my mate to take some outdoor pics with his dslr, and also give a ride report.

Can't rate Carbonzone highly enough personally. Great communication, fast shipping, great products.

Has anyone else who bought a frame from China built it up themselves? If so did the bottom bracket require any work other than cleaning? I've bought the tool and a torque wrench to install myself and am hoping I won't have to take it to lbs for facing.

kfinlay

dcurzon wrote:

kfinlay wrote:

I'm going to need to get some decals for my frame - specifically need them printed on clear vinyl and would like them to be very high quality. Any recommendations?

i cant do print to clear, but can do cut vinyl. I use 5yr vinyl and usually supply to motorcycle race teams.

Hi mate,

thanks for lettting me know but I'd prefer pritned clear as it involves 2mm pinstripes and other lettering to give you an idea see
http://www.starperformance.co.uk/kf/forza_2.gif
Its for the name and the thin stripes not the larger blocks of black and red.
Much more detail at http://www.starperformance.co.uk/kf/fm015/

Phil Stevens

I've just had a carbon Chinarello frame delivered from Flyxii that arrived without a headset. The ebay advert lists it as needing a integrated 1"1/4-1"1/8 headset, however two local bike shops have stated that there aren't any headsets they know of available in the uk that will fit it. Can those with a chinarello frame advise what you fitted to yours.

Frame link below:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWNX:IT

Regards
Phil

DaveHudson

kfinlay wrote:

dcurzon wrote:

kfinlay wrote:

I'm going to need to get some decals for my frame - specifically need them printed on clear vinyl and would like them to be very high quality. Any recommendations?

i cant do print to clear, but can do cut vinyl. I use 5yr vinyl and usually supply to motorcycle race teams.

Hi mate,

thanks for lettting me know but I'd prefer pritned clear as it involves 2mm pinstripes and other lettering to give you an idea see
http://www.starperformance.co.uk/kf/forza_2.gif
Its for the name and the thin stripes not the larger blocks of black and red.
Much more detail at http://www.starperformance.co.uk/kf/fm015/

That's not going to be easy to do tbh, Most printers can't print white so they would need to be screen printed. 2mm vinyl stripe should have enough adhesion to last for quite a long time, Think how well pinstripes on cars last.

I've been making graphics for 10 years in a small car accessory/cycle store and personally avoid printing vinyl if I can get away with it. Cut vinyl has a much crisper finish and you get a nicer depth of colour imho.

philhul

I would just ask the seller to send you one if you paypal them the money. My Neco headset was only $15 when ordered with the frame.

Its probably crao but at least it will fit!

ademort

Phil Stevens wrote:

I've just had a carbon Chinarello frame delivered from Flyxii that arrived without a headset. The ebay advert lists it as needing a integrated 1"1/4-1"1/8 headset, however two local bike shops have stated that there aren't any headsets they know of available in the uk that will fit it. Can those with a chinarello frame advise what you fitted to yours.

Frame link below:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWNX:IT

Regards
Phil

The advert clearly states that the headset is included so why not contact the seller and let them send you one. If i were you i would not leave any feedback until you get that sorted.
Ademort

philhul

The advert clearly states that the headset is included





Ooops, missed that bit. Definitely don'y paypal them any more money! Get them to send you one.

ademort

I,ve also ordered a chinarello it comes complete with a headset, or at least the advert says it does. Should be here next week will keep you informed.
Ademort

Flamez

Had mine last week but the headset was missing, they have emailed me to tell me that they will be in stock on 30 may and will post out then, otherwise the frame is great....

You can get the headsets ive seen them on ebay and elsewhere £40-60 per set.

Benjamin Hall

I'm absolutly loving my frame!

Put 90 miles on it yesterday on one of the nicest rides (apart from the wind) ive ever had. Up the Valley from Ponty, over the Bwlch, through the lovely Afan Valley, down to Port Talbot, along the coast then back inland from Barry to home.

Another hilly 45miles today up Rhigos and the Bwlch. Very happy customer so far. This is my first carbon frame, but the difference in percieved power to my old Alu frame is massive!

luigi_t8

interested in getting one of these carbon frames but don;t really know a lot about them. I there anywhere that explains all the slight variations in frames with all their different (FM 0...) codes? i've seen a few different styles but what do people have experience with being best?

also i've seen a number of different ebay suppliers doing them and seperate websites too. Which one(s) have people had most success with that offer the best products and service etc. are there any particular to steer clear of?

any info to help me would be appreciated

LT

kfinlay

luigi_t8 wrote:

interested in getting one of these carbon frames but don;t really know a lot about them. I there anywhere that explains all the slight variations in frames with all their different (FM 0...) codes? i've seen a few different styles but what do people have experience with being best?

also i've seen a number of different ebay suppliers doing them and seperate websites too. Which one(s) have people had most success with that offer the best products and service etc. are there any particular to steer clear of?

any info to help me would be appreciated

LT

Put the time and research in by reading this thread and theres at least 4 others on RBR Forum (much much more info than this and yes I have read them all so I can make my own informed choice)

philhul

Didn't get it finished today so still work in progress but you get the idea

mcrdave

That's lookin' good!

gmb

philhul wrote:

Didn't get it finished today so still work in progress but you get the idea

That looks lovely. Is that the DeRosa/Stealth frame? What wheels are those?

Fantastic looking bike!

davidnewtonwfc

Did anyone buying the RB002 (FM028) from CarbonZone have any issues with stems? I'm holding back from buying one atm due to the geometry being listed as 1-1.8" top, 1-1/2" down - would I be fine getting a normal 1-1/8" stem?

andyrr

Yup re stem - the fork steerer is the std diameter, itis the head tube/headset that deals with the 2 differing sizes.

Poulsy

That looks great phil - best looking Chinese one I have seen so far. Looks the same as the De Rosa R838.

It would look lovely with the seatpost that matches the stem

styxd

I bought one from Deng Fu. I ordered a FM028 non ISP but it turned up today and it is the ISP model. Not happy. I cant comment on the quality as I havent bothered unpacking it.

Anyone else had this happen? Was it easy to resolve?

philhul

Hi,

I've just finished mine and posted in the Your Bikes section. In the interests of not clogging up the site by reposting the same photos, click here if you want to see it:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12781059

With regards to the seatpost and stem, the seatpost is the next thing to be upgraded anyway. I just wanted reasonably cheap finishing kit to get it on the road and will look to co-ordinate as I go on.

Thanks for the nice comments.

philhul

Yup re stem - the fork steerer is the std diameter, itis the head tube/headset that deals with the 2 differing sizes

Whilst the diameter is standard, after cutting off the first few inches off the steerer tube it got considerably thicker. So much so that I had to source a different 'top bit' (sorry to blind you with jargon but I don't know it's proper name) from lbs but used the provided top cap and bolt. The crown race and bearings etc were fine.

P_Tucker

Awesome. 90% discount on the real thing. Photoshopping added to prevent Pinarello lawyering me.

father_jack

Tempting, do you think moving parts from my Giant OCR-1 Mirage groupset (taper BB) is possible & worthwhile?

ademort

P_Tucker wrote:

Awesome. 90% discount on the real thing. Photoshopping added to prevent Pinarello lawyering me.

I,ve ordered the same thing in White/Red it,s been in customs since last Monday. hope it looks as good as in the photo,s will post a picy of the bike when it,s built.
Ademort

P_Tucker

Father Jack wrote:

Tempting, do you think moving parts from my Giant OCR-1 Mirage groupset (taper BB) is possible & worthwhile?

Not really, it'll be my frame and I'm not letting you anywhere near it.

stephenswindley

Here is my new FM015:



I haven't posted a pic before so hopefully I have done it right

stephenswindley

ah good seems to have worked. well as above this is my new FM015 from carbonzone, I have had the bike for about 2 weeks now and can't fault it. Spec is as follows:

FM015 ISP frameset
Carbonzone headset
Carbonzone handlebars
Carbonzone 38mm tubs
Tufo s33 special rear tub
Tufo s3 lite front tub
3T forgie XL stem
Zero gravity calipers
Yokozuna reaction kit cableset
Fizik Pave cx
Centaur carbon rear mech with green kcnc pulleys
veloce cassette
kmc X10SL chain
Lizard skins dsp bar tape
Chinese carbon cages
Centaur carbon shifters
Centaur Front mech
Shimano octalink 5500 chainset and BB (This will change to campag carbon when I have some more money)
and some extra green bits: skewers, Headset spacers, downtube adjusters, cable crimps and I have got a set of kcnc chainring bolts for when I get a campag carbon chainset

Toal weight of the bike as pictured is 7.5Kg, I recon I can get it down to 6.5kg with a few mods. I love it!