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

rolf_f

anthonychou wrote:

This thread is extremely useful and is ridiculous how it deteriorated into mindless chit-chat about decals.

Lol - you'venot been on internet forums for long have you?

What slightly bothers me about these frames is how duff the bottle cages are that come from the same sources - I know bottle cages are actually quite hard to get right but the Chinese carbon cages I got, lthough they look lovely, are really pretty crap. The carbon is way too thick, they partly deform the bottles, the lacquer isn't very durable so it scratches and then scratches the bottle and the heel of one cracked after a few months. I wouldn't want a bike frame designed and made with that sort of attention to detail

Velonutter

@ Rolf,

Bought a number of bottle cages from China and they have been superb, very light, holds the bottle well, well finished and durable.

I can only speak as I find. 8)

rolf_f

You're luckier than I was then. I am comparing my Chinese ones with my Look cages which were more than three times the price of the Chinese ones (could have been more but I bought from a UK middleman supplier) so you'd expect them to be better but I can't see the ones I bought as offering any benefits aside from appearances over a cheap plastic cage.

I don't think I'd go there again - not without being able to at least view one in advance.

petemadoc

anthonychou wrote:

back on topic, im just wondering how much more cost effective it is to build a build using one of these carbon frames, when you could just say go for a ribble (albeit more expensive) but use a cyle to work scheme?

If you use the C2W scheme it will almost certainly be cheaper than buying a frame from ebay/China. In fact if you look at the complete bike prices from Ribble/planet x you'd be doing extremely well to build up a frame from china/ebay for less money, you'd also be extremely disciplined.

However if you do build it up from scratch then you don't need to instantly upgrade things like the saddle, bar tape, seat post, tyres or whatever else you're not happy with.

Example, my build cost about £1100 all in. I got a custom paint job on the frame and I chose every part taking into account weight, cost and quality.

The Ribble stealth would have cost roughly the same money but I know for certain I'd have spent another £150 or more on changing bits.

rolf_f

PeteMadoc wrote:

anthonychou wrote:

back on topic, im just wondering how much more cost effective it is to build a build using one of these carbon frames, when you could just say go for a ribble (albeit more expensive) but use a cyle to work scheme?

If you use the C2W scheme it will almost certainly be cheaper than buying a frame from ebay/China. In fact if you look at the complete bike prices from Ribble/planet x you'd be doing extremely well to build up a frame from china/ebay for less money, you'd also be extremely disciplined.

However if you do build it up from scratch then you don't need to instantly upgrade things like the saddle, bar tape, seat post, tyres or whatever else you're not happy with.

Example, my build cost about £1100 all in. I got a custom paint job on the frame and I chose every part taking into account weight, cost and quality.

The Ribble stealth would have cost roughly the same money but I know for certain I'd have spent another £150 or more on changing bits.

On the other hand, My Ribble Gran Fondo came with Campagnolo Centaur for about £1200 and I haven't changed anything!

petemadoc

Rolf F wrote:

PeteMadoc wrote:

anthonychou wrote:

back on topic, im just wondering how much more cost effective it is to build a build using one of these carbon frames, when you could just say go for a ribble (albeit more expensive) but use a cyle to work scheme?

If you use the C2W scheme it will almost certainly be cheaper than buying a frame from ebay/China. In fact if you look at the complete bike prices from Ribble/planet x you'd be doing extremely well to build up a frame from china/ebay for less money, you'd also be extremely disciplined.

However if you do build it up from scratch then you don't need to instantly upgrade things like the saddle, bar tape, seat post, tyres or whatever else you're not happy with.

Example, my build cost about £1100 all in. I got a custom paint job on the frame and I chose every part taking into account weight, cost and quality.

The Ribble stealth would have cost roughly the same money but I know for certain I'd have spent another £150 or more on changing bits.

On the other hand, My Ribble Gran Fondo came with Campagnolo Centaur for about £1200 and I haven't changed anything!

Come on, really, not even the saddle?

Did you use the bike builder or the special edition thingy?

petemadoc

:oops: just checked your posts and can confirm that your bike has indeed not had any changes

I stand corrected

anthonychou

PeteMadoc wrote:

anthonychou wrote:

back on topic, im just wondering how much more cost effective it is to build a build using one of these carbon frames, when you could just say go for a ribble (albeit more expensive) but use a cyle to work scheme?

If you use the C2W scheme it will almost certainly be cheaper than buying a frame from ebay/China. In fact if you look at the complete bike prices from Ribble/planet x you'd be doing extremely well to build up a frame from china/ebay for less money, you'd also be extremely disciplined.

However if you do build it up from scratch then you don't need to instantly upgrade things like the saddle, bar tape, seat post, tyres or whatever else you're not happy with.

Example, my build cost about £1100 all in. I got a custom paint job on the frame and I chose every part taking into account weight, cost and quality.

The Ribble stealth would have cost roughly the same money but I know for certain I'd have spent another £150 or more on changing bits.

and i forgot to take into account building itself (free if done by self or if done by lbs incurring a charge)

and warranty (even if ribble are somewhat dubious!)

thanks for the input anyway pete!

i also thought a seperate thread to this would be useful for others looking at the chinese carbon frames that contained a poll which who had bought and would recommend with a number of options for those to rate them. and within the thread only those who have purchased can add details of their experience....

rolf_f

PeteMadoc wrote:

:oops: just checked your posts and can confirm that your bike has indeed not had any changes

I stand corrected

Yup! As it happens, the saddle might get changed. It is a Selle San Marco Ponza which doesn't feel so different to the Arione on my Look. And I do have A Selle Italia Thoork Team Edition carbon railed jobby which would look rather fab on the Ribble but I think the saddle rails would require a different saddle bag and white saddle and daily commuting don't seem a good match - plus I got knocked off by a pedestrian a few weeks back and the Thoork would have looked far more of a mess than the Ponza did. Might try it for weekend use though.

Oh, I did change the tyres. The only other thing I could concievably change is the seat post but I'm not sure there is really any point to that.

And it was built via Special Editions so limited choice!

PS - please don't cry. The bike is a happy bike that gets lots of tlc and is always cleaned as soon as it gets dirty despite being used every day. I even floss the skeleton brakes

petemadoc

Rolf F wrote:

PeteMadoc wrote:

:oops: just checked your posts and can confirm that your bike has indeed not had any changes

I stand corrected

Yup! As it happens, the saddle might get changed. It is a Selle San Marco Ponza which doesn't feel so different to the Arione on my Look. And I do have A Selle Italia Thoork Team Edition carbon railed jobby which would look rather fab on the Ribble but I think the saddle rails would require a different saddle bag and white saddle and daily commuting don't seem a good match - plus I got knocked off by a pedestrian a few weeks back and the Thoork would have looked far more of a mess than the Ponza did. Might try it for weekend use though.

Oh, I did change the tyres. The only other thing I could concievably change is the seat post but I'm not sure there is really any point to that.

And it was built via Special Editions so limited choice!

PS - please don't cry. The bike is a happy bike that gets lots of tlc and is always cleaned as soon as it gets dirty despite being used every day. I even floss the skeleton brakes

I new it . . . God damn I new it.

rolf_f

PeteMadoc wrote:

I new it . . . God damn I new it.

Lol - you got me there! Pro Race Nitros at £9.40 each (if bought separately though you'd need to be sectioned if you did) which were about £9.39 overpriced. I think I asked if they could take them off the bike and sell me the bike tyreless in preference but they wouldn't have it. I have to admit, inflicting crap like that on paying customers is a bit of a black mark in my book.

In mitigation, I did intend to wear them out but when they punctured, I found it took about 10 minutes to get the tyres off the rim. And one of them I put a hole in the side of trying.......

BigSpecs

At the risk of getting shouted at...
...where can you get a decalled and painted Team Sky replica? I realise you can get the frame and have it painted, then sticker it yourself but I would prefer the decals under the clear coat if possible?

petemadoc

How refreshing to have someone resurrect this thread instead of starting a new one about chinese carbon and then someone else posting a link to this thread.

Dunno where you can get a Sky replica frame though, sorry

Would you be after blue or green?

BigSpecs

I guess the blue? But I do like the green too..?

Another way of looking at the same problem, does anyone know where you can get a clear coat applied? If I did the decals myself?

I think the frame (Dogma replica) is an FM027? Correct?

petemadoc

I've never seen a SKY replica frame and I've been through a fair old chunk of the roadbikereview pages so I doubt there's one out there.

BigSpecs

You can get them. Tailwind bikes or something? But they are 700 bucks, which seems a little steep as the frames can be had for 2-300?

prawny

I did see one that had the rainforser rescue livery on nothing now though, I think the seller was mikeluce.

There's a few on there now that are being quite, ahem subtle with the descriptions and making out they are exactly the same as the real thing, which is worrying, I'm all for the chinarello thing but passing them off to the buying public as real is taking the wee wee, there's a movistar one for £800, that's pushing it a bit.

nochekmate

BigSpecs wrote:

You can get them. Tailwind bikes or something? But they are 700 bucks, which seems a little steep as the frames can be had for 2-300?

Tailwind bikes is I think a chap on eBay who is based in Nottingham and seems to have a number of different usernames with his eBay account. He seems to have built up all sorts of OEM bikes with various components. He's laid a lot of cash out, so it'll be interesting to see if he profits from it all (although he's definitely making profit on any given sales). I thought that the Pinarello frames (Dogma & Prince all painted up) worked out to be about £450 from a previous link, rather than the £200-£300 mark.

petemadoc

Might not be your size but still worth a look

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... INABIKP202

BigSpecs

Thanks Pete. Not for me.
Did the guys like Ademort who bought Chinarello's do their own decals? Or did they come 'fully finished'?

petemadoc

Pretty sure they came fully finished.

I know the popular sellers people use are dengfu, hongfu, carbonzone of ebay and gotobike, none of which do the Chinarello so I guess these are bought through ebay or something.

petemadoc

OK I think you can get one from GreatKeen

See here

http://www.greatkeenbike.com/main/home/ ... 9:&catid=9

ademort

BigSpecs wrote:

Thanks Pete. Not for me.
Did the guys like Ademort who bought Chinarello's do their own decals? Or did they come 'fully finished'?

My frame came as a finished article. A few of my mates want one now but the seller who i bought my frame from Speedy Li say that they do not ship to the Netherlands anymore and other sellers of the same frame are asking around $630 for a frame +$178 for shipping. I paid $630 for my frame and that included postage. it really is well finished def worth the money.Would i buy another one, yes i would.
Ademort

willowthewhite

Well I was able to get my FM039 built today, one word sums it up.... AMAZING, The frame is just beautiful and so stiff the response from my pedal stroke is instant, I can definitely notice the difference from my Allez. I will be tacking it out on the club run on Sunday so will see what it's like after a proper ride.

The total build including pedals came in at 7.9Kg (17.4lbs) so not mega light but then the wheels are a little heavy and the pedals will be changed for something lighter soon.



And before any one points it out, the seat has been adjusted, since the photo was taken, and now is level.

drkawaszelong

YES! i like that alot. i'm buying one. thanks for all your help beforehand willowthewhite

carl_p

willowthewhite wrote:

Well I was able to get my FM039 built today, one word sums it up.... AMAZING, The frame is just beautiful and so stiff the response from my pedal stroke is instant, I can definitely notice the difference from my Allez. I will be tacking it out on the club run on Sunday so will see what it's like after a proper ride.

The total build including pedals came in at 7.9Kg (17.4lbs) so not mega light but then the wheels are a little heavy and the pedals will be changed for something lighter soon.

And before any one points it out, the seat has been adjusted, since the photo was taken, and now is level.

Nice build. Which club are you with?

itboffin

Does anyone other than carbonzone sell the FM015 ?

benjboy

Deng fu...Hung fu...

itboffin

benjboy wrote:

Deng fu...Hung fu...

Ta

Thinking of replacing my commuter frame with something lighter.

motor city

I stumbled across this thread because I'm considering a new road bike for next year. I've looked at the ribble stealth style frameset from carbonzone on ebay (a number of times) and been tempted to start a build from there.

I just read this entire thread over the weekend and there are some very interesting points of view. I understand why people are against buying frames direct from china but there doesn't seem to be much direct evidence to suggest that the quality is bad, the service is bad or there are any problems with the delivery / import tax etc. I'm not personally a fan of dressing up a frame to look like it’s a name brand, but if that’s what people want to do their own bikes then that’s fair enough.

In the past I've looked at buying from both ribble and planet x but I think I could put together a higher spec bike for less money myself by buying the parts separately over the winter. The thing that’s holding me back is a feeling that I should hold out longer save a bit more money and go for titanium frame, the idea of longevity appeals to me. Maybe I'll just start stockpiling parts over the winter, that way I can do either depending on what my budget allows. I might look into those chinese titanium frames in more detail…..if I find out anything useful I'll report back.