I love my fat bike when there’s good snow. However, Mother Nature hasn’t cooperated much the last few years.
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Just built up a CFR696. Haven’t had a chance to actually ride it yet because of weather and new baby occupying my time. Side note, it came with UDH which was a pleasant surprise.
Build list:
Carbonda CFR696 (metallic RAL3032 color) frame, fork, and seatpost
SRAM Rival XPLR groupset
42t crankset with Quarq powermeter
10-44 cassette
3T Aeroghaia gravel handlebar 40cm
Silca bartape
Specialized Power Expert with Mirror 168mm width
Light Bicycle AR46 wheelset
Continental Terra Speed 40
Look X Track Race pedals
Elite Roc.o bottle cages
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Not wanting to hijack but does anyone have any experience of chinese headunits that they could also share/recommend?
I’m following this thread very closely as my current gravel bike is old and hampered by limited tyre clearance…
Gorgeous looking bike…
I have mentioned on this forum that in 2017 I purchased a set of Zipp 404 knockoffs from C-Razy Crabon on aliexpress. I’m still riding those wheels today. I also purchased a set of FLO gravel wheels a while back and they broke during the 2nd race I ever rode them. So you never know!
I have a Cipo NK1K knockoff also purchased off aliexpress. Also purchased in 2017. Also still going strong. But, I would caution, not as nice as the genuine article.
So you can get serviceable bike equipment from China. I wouldn’t dabble with electronic groupsets but that’s just my preference. I had an electronic groupset on my ultra bike…didn’t like it…went back to cables & haven’t tried it again since.
Thank you!
I’m glad users here have had good luck with knock off parts. That said where I personally draw the line is at copied parts. Those are known to be questionable but Chinese brand name parts I have no issues with. Brands like Winspace, FarSports, Yoeleo, Light Bicycle, Elite, Ican, Magene, and several others that have established track records of high quality parts. I have had two wheel sets built by Light Bicycle that are by all measures the very best wheels I have owned, even compared to Zipp 404 Firecrest ‘s I’ve had. I’m currently having a Ti gravel frame custom built by Waltly and having my third Light Bicycle wheel set being made for that build.
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Could I ask if you could document your experience from start to finish here? I’m super keen on a custom build with them but I’d like more experiences logged before I pull the trigger
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Meant to link this in the thread a few days ago. Chris Miller did a video with Joe from China Cycling on Youtube, who also runs Panda Podium. They do a deep dive into the various types of Chinese cycling products, which brands are known to be reputable, and such. @Loribaerne - this directly addresses a lot of the questions you had about the wheelset.
Also, for people who are curious in general about this, I’d just follow where Google takes you if you start looking into the Carbonda CFR696 @kingsolom0n posted above. The whole thing is super interesting, and it’s kind of a Rosetta Stone for how the industry works now.
Edit: Just to add, I have a Carbonda CFR707 I bought two years ago and raced gravel for a full season. It now lives on my trainer.
The buying process was seamless, Adam from Carbonda was super responsive whenever I emailed, and it’s a great bike. I bought a size up as a probably ill-considered experiment, and am considering buying another in the correct size for an all-road build to supplement the Giant Revolt Advanced Pro I’m on now (which I love).
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Darn that’s too long for me to watch. An hour and some odd minutes of them just jibber jabbering.
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Oh! Yeah, I totally lost interest after a while, and I find the guy with the beard can be fairly annoying. That said, you could watch the “What is an open mold?” section and pretty much everything applies in the same way to wheels. The bit about carbon layup is helpful, too.
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I think that’s his shtick to draw people in, it’s really irritating. YouTube rewards clicks though.
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I began the process by doing as much research as I could. Initially I was also in conversation with Titan Cycles too. Waltly has had reviews to help base a decision on. Titan seemed too good to be true, less expensive and willing to do anything requested but with not one review or posted experience to go off of I chose Waltly. After some back and forth we arrived on specs and a price. I paid the deposit and am currently awaiting the first drawing from which I will make any necessary adjustments. My bike will be based on the Moots Routt RSL with notable changes. Among those will be a tapered integrated headtube, 25.4 mm non tapered chainstays, a 48mm downtube ovalized on both ends with a singular brake hose entry port centered @12:00 running through the T47 BB exiting the non drive chainstay and clearance for 50mm tires. I am also stretching the reach by 6mm. Today being Friday I do not expect a reply from them until Sunday. Will review the drawing and hopefully no changes will be needed and I can approve it.
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So cool!
Thank you for this write up. It is very helpful.
If you could periodically also check in with how its going, neat things that happened in the process, etc, that would be extremely helpful and I think a lot of people here would love to read about it.
Also pics of the build when you get it done 
Same. I love this show. Chris Miller Cycling and The Wild Ones are the two podcasts I look forward to every week. Sad but I can’t even remember the last TR podcast I could sit through. I also just love the banter between hosts and what’s happening around the cycling world. The interview with Robert Kühnen from The Tour Magazine and the one with Dylan Johnson, Jeff Linder (NorCal Cyling), and Tyler (the Vegan Cyclist) were amazing episodes. Highly recommended.
I’v been looking to build up an aero monster for racing crits. Not too concerned with weight. Just want something aero and stiff. I’m fairly big at 189cm and 80kg, and can put down around 1,600W in a sprint.
So far I have:
- Speeder SC-49D/Adapt FM49-DB - They look to be the same frame. Really aggressive (possibly too much), long and low. But looks nice and aero. Trying to find some reviews on the stiffness.
- ICAN A9 - slightly less aggressive but frame design looks very similar to above. Easy buying options and custom paint, but more expensive.
- Adris Le Vitesse - is this an open mold? It looks super nice but their website seems to be down right now so I don’t even know if ou can still buy these. But it looks similar to an Aeroad. Also way more expensive.
- Bross Zenith. Seems to be vaporware right now. But probably excites me the most. Looks super aero. But absolutely no idea if they’d sell to the US.
- Pardus Spark Evo - really don’t know anything about this brand
Probably missing some others, I’m open to suggestions. Threaded BB would be a plus but not a deal breaker. Custom paint also a huge plus. Any ideas?
Related but also looking for a stiff, flared, integrated handlebar. Something like 38 tops, 42 drops. With around 190-200mm total reach (stem + reach).
There have been some good recent YouTube videos from Chris Miller, Cam Nicholls and Peak Torque. The Chris Miller Cycling interview is a hour long discussion with the guy who runs the Panda cycling website and they talk about his experience and willingness to sell the Chinese group sets. I won’t try to summarize, but you might pay twice as much for a Rival or 105 group and it would probably be money well spent.
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Back for an update. Taken my time to sort out everything as much as I could regarding frame specifications. I began in early Dec and just finalized and green lit the go ahead this past weekend so 2 months to get everything g in agreement. I do have to make a compromise on my chainstay diameter due to production concerns (22.2 vs 25.4) but I must say that dealing with Waltky has been pretty good. Sumi is the rep I’ve been exchanging emails with and I think if not for the time difference that this process would have gone quicker. I am fine with it though so long as I receive the bike that I want. Chinese New Year will add a couple of weeks to the build time but I’m hopeful to have it in hand by early April.
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Can’t wait to see it!
I’d be wary of Chinese Carbon saddles 
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