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

BeaconJon

I finished an FM028 a couple of weeks ago purchased directly from Dengfu. It's fitted with some 50mm clinchers and integrated carbon bars and it's kitted with Campag 11 speed.

I love the ride, it's so much smoother than my S-Works E5 (alu frame). Ok it's a little more relaxed geometry wise but it's lighter and climbs very nicely. I rode for 5 hours on it today and got off feeling pretty fresh (ok maybe not my legs).

I'm taking it to the Alps in a few weeks (without the carbon rims, I'll be on some Zondas) so can't wait to get some real climbs in on it.

For the money I can't fault it and I like the fact I'm not a rolling advert!

blakef111

dirtymonkey1985 wrote:

blakef111 wrote:

Herbsman wrote:

blakef111 wrote:

Your tyres are upside-down. You could have a serious accident! Incorrect installation of tyres causes negative grip when cornering.

Well I had another go at tyre fitting on my Spin wheels:



I love my bike!

That is a bloody lovely bike
How do you find the Q rings?

I love the Q-rings, they've really changed my riding style! my pedal stroke is smoother and i'm less fatigued during a ride, they've also helped my climbing in a big way and the best thing of all is that they don't feel oval (or odd) so it's just a really smooth ride.
Honestly I know £160 is a bit on chainrings but it's the biggest performance increase since I switched from alloy to carbon!

davidof

My FM028 has just been delivered

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWfhVZXk9hs

GS will probably be 105, now thinking about wheels.

kfinlay

Ribble Stealth Frame and Forks for £439 just now!!!! Dunno what stock is like though

father_jack

What is the normal price?

petemadoc

I think it's about 560 normally.

at 439 it's a steal IMO

Cornish-J

can someone advise me.

mailed deng fu about a frame and they've come back with headset size options, which one is the most common to go for? 1 1/8"?

warrior4life

Has anyone got the new generation of frames?
Giant
Cervelo
Time
Specialized
Colnago

http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?Sea ... 0&manual=y

Cornish-J

surpised they can get away with this, copying the design is one thing but branding it via stickers etc must be illegal?!

P_Tucker

Cornish-J wrote:

surpised they can get away with this, copying the design is one thing but branding it via stickers etc must be illegal?!

Yes, they're very strict on this sort of thing in China

BeaconJon

Cornish-J wrote:

can someone advise me.

mailed deng fu about a frame and they've come back with headset size options, which one is the most common to go for? 1 1/8"?

What frame are you enquiring about? I bought an FM028 from Deng Fu and had only one headset option.

father_jack

P_Tucker wrote:

Cornish-J wrote:

surpised they can get away with this, copying the design is one thing but branding it via stickers etc must be illegal?!

Yes, they're very strict on this sort of thing in China

Sorny, Panasornic, Grunpig

Wilmore

Has anyone fitted Sram Force brakes to the FM028?

I've just got mine but the front brake mounting bolt is no where near long enough to reach the nut on the rear of the fork, even with the extended nut (30mm). I think there is a ridge preventing the nut going in further, by design rather than unwanted material in there!
For anyone considering one - as far as the purchase goes, I dealt with Carbonzone direct, paid by paypal and received 2-3 weeks later. I had to ask for a tracking number rather than them sending it to me once posted but other than that I can't fault them. I did pay about £30 customs charges but they sold me the frame about £20 cheaper by going direct rather than through eBay. I also got some 50mm carbon clinchers that seem good although I can't ride the bike until I get this brake issue sorted, any advice appreciated!

BeaconJon

I've got Campag Super Record callipers on my FM028. The nut you are talking about should go a good way into that hole in the back of the forks to pick up the threaded calliper bolt. Sounds like there's some muck from the moulding process in there. I had a similar issue with the headset seats and had to clean them a little but nothing major.

I've got the 50mm clinchers too although my back wheel lost all tension after about 100 miles and I've had to get it on the jig and tension the spokes back up.

Wilmore

OK thanks. I had the same with the headset but obviously it's easy to see and rub away the resin. I've had a look in the hole with a light and can't see anything obvious but will have a prod around with a small rod/wire to see if there is anything blocking it. The head of the extended nut sits just inside the hole, hopefully I can get it in further.

I think one of the wheels isn't running quite true so will get them trued before riding.

Cornish-J

ignore the questions regarding headset, sorted now

kleinstroker

Looking at buying this frame for my next project, code is FR-316 from flyxii. Anyone had one or know anything about them? Looks similar to the newer De Rosa's. Have been looking unsuccessfully for an R838 frame

http://flyxii.com/products_1.asp?menuid=308&id=1088

cheers

BeaconJon

I think different suppliers call the frames by different codes. Make sure you check the geometry.

Monty Dog

AFAIK Flyxii's ebay shop is Carbonzone.

Anonymous

Thinking of buying an FM099
http://cyclingyong.en.alibaba.com/produ ... FM099.html
the Fenge, essentially.

Apparently it is exactly the same as the S-Works Venge, but 10g heavier. (i.e same flex, stiffness, geo etc)
What else would I be expecting different? Will probably be a while off, but looks very tempting in the next 12 months
Any help appreciated

Cornish-J

just finished my build of a 'venge' from dengfu FM098 - looks great. will be up for sale soon as i bought it just as a little project build.

Anonymous

Whats the difference between FM099 and FM098?

Cornish-J

i guess the fm099 is just an fm098 but by a different company. fm098 is dengfu (where i got mine), fm099 might be by one of the otherones?

Anonymous

It looks like it has an integrated seatpost as well. Not sure what other points it may have.

Have you managed to 'swap' bikes with anyone who has the original to see the differences?

Cornish-J

the fm098 also offers ISP as well as non ISP options.

i havent ridden a genuine s works venge but the shop where i had it built have one in stock and they informed me of the differences:
mine is BB30 whereas specialized have their own BB type
seatpost is different as a proper venge has a 2 position reversable seatpost apparently
headset area is slightly different in shape as well as where the top tube meets the seatpost is slightly different too.
the fork steerer tube is thinner on a proper venge as i guess they must use a better, stronger carbon to save weight.
internal cable routing is slightly different too.

those were the only bits that he mentioned - at the end of the day you have to look pretty close to see these differences. it looks great and rides great - probably not as well as a genuine s works but for a fifth of the price and at my level - does it matter?

Cycloslalomeur

So it turns out Belgian customs want to levy the EU's 47.5-per cent anti-dumping duty on top of the VAT and the standard 4.7-per cent duty on bicycle parts on a frameset. That stings.

I was under the impression that the anti-dumping duty applied only to complete bicycles, and the latest entry in the EU's official journal would appear to confirm this, with the combined nomenclature codes listed there excluding those on parts. However, rather alarmingly, there is an old entry from the late 1990s that mentions extending the duty to parts as well.

Is there anybody here who has been charged anti-dumping duty on parts from China? Can someone please refer me to an unambigous, official source on what is and isn't covered by the anti-dumping duty?

Wilmore

Thought I'd give a quick update on the FM 028 (or RB002 as Carbonzone on eBay call it) that I ordered in June.

I sent money direct via Paypal, not purchased through eBay. Delivery was reasonable (around 3 weeks). They advised that a tracking number would be given once sent - I hadn't heard anything after 14 days so contacted them and it had already been sent and was awaiting customs clearance. The way Parcelforce collect these charges (writing to you) is very slow and caused a weeks delay. I had to pay customs and VAT charges, I think about £28. The frame arrived unscathed HOWEVER the hole in the fork for the brake caliper nut was partly blocked, therefore the nut would not reach the bolt meaning the brake caliper could not be attached. After much faffing (I didn't fancy drilling carbon) I contacted Carbonzone, they offered to repair/replace it if I returned it. Fair enough, except for the fact that it would cost £45 to send it back to China and wait for it to be fixed and returned. I decided the quickest and easiest option was to buy another fork from them for £60 delivered. Although I shouldn't really have to pay for it, it was the most logical way to get the bike on the road in a reasonable time. The new fork arrived and was fine - no import duty this time (I assume due to the lower value).

It's now fully built with Sram Force, 50mm Carbonzone clinchers and Deda Zero 100 finishing kit. The ride is very good, it's a very light bike and has a sloping top tube so is quite comfortable without being too upright. I'm pleased with the look of the bike and it certainly rides well enough for me. I've only done 350 miles on it but had no issues (96kg so I'm not a light rider!)

If I was doing it again I'm not sure I'd buy another though. The problem I had may have been a rare case but given that good deals on Ribble Stealth etc do come up, I think I'd rather opt for something like that next time round.

bluesparx

Just ticked over 5000 miles on my cheap chinese frame. No issues yet.

loftushall

I have just bought one of these carbon frames and am in the process of building it up. I waited till it arrived before checking exactly what bits i'd need so will have it built up in a week or so.
After a fairly hard life, over 12000 miles and several knocks my aluminuim specialized Allez cracked, completely separating the seat tube from the top of the bottom bracket housing.
I did a lot of reading up on peoples experiences before buying one of these cheap carbon frames and although there's some bad experiences from Carbon zone i felt them being on ebay and paying through paypal offered some protection if things went wrong.
With regards to frames a lot of people seemed to rate the FM028 well and it seemed common enough to be well tested (RB002 from carbon zone)
In the end because of the size I wanted and what was available I ended up with an FM029.
Joyce at carbon zone was really helpful answering questions and although they didn't initially send me a tracking number but it turned up within about 10 days and no import duty was needed. When I asked for a number I got one but by then it was already in the UK.
My first and hopefully only problem has been that the lower part of the steerer tube that the lower part of the headset fits around was 0.1mm too big (not much but too much to allow it to fit) and not truly round - basically looks like it wasn't machined to a size but just left after it was made. As a result to fit the bottom of the headset i'm going to be doing a bit of sanding or if I was being pro i could stick it on the lathe but thats overkill I reckon. it's not a big issue but highlights some of the things you wouldn't expect if you bought a name brand.
The final test will be when I've got it all together and take it out for a ride.
In terms of weight I reckon I shaved about 800g of my old allez but in reality the reason for doing this experiment wasn't to get a super light bike but because I wanted a cheap and hopefully decent replacement frame. The cost of the frame made it worth a go especially as I could pretty much swap everything off my old broken frame.

ricky1980

word of caution for buying chinese frames, a tale from my personal experiences
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