Cheap chinese carbon frames - Explain it to me

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Tinea Pedis
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by Tinea Pedis

You need to ride more frames :wink:

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racermech
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Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2009 7:31 pm

by racermech

Here is my 2 cents on all of this.

I decided to buy a copy frame. Why? Because I could not justify the cost of even a used carbon frame. I no longer race, weight is not the ultimate objection and I liked the look of the frame I got. Basically I wanted something that I would be hapy with without breaking the bank. I knew full well going in that this would not look or be finished like a top of the line frame. To be quite honest the fiish of the carbon is quite nice, no off layup marks or anything else.

Now for the bad news. As reported on other sites the B30 shell is not perfect. I chose BB30 because I have 2 set of cranks that are B30 and my SRM is bb30, along with I got a set of black SI's for virtually nothing. The non drive bearing pressed in pretty normal when compared to my canondales. The drive side was almost pressed in by hand, still had to use a press but it took very little effort. Installed with the 609 green loctite and figured I would see how that went.
More bad news, I ran all of the cables and for being internal they all went in smooth and easy. As i went to adjust the r-der i kept adjusting for more tension. Seemed a little odd so I pulled the cable tighter by hand and still had to add more tension using the barrel adjuster. I took a closer look and noticed that the cable housing was pulling into the frame and the shifting was getting worse and worse. Would take 3-4 shifts to get the r-der to move at all. Basically the cable housing stop was not bonded to the frame and just kept moving around. The internal liner was bunched up and there was basically no shifting....damn. I dare say I could of figured out how to fix this, but as it is a new frame I figure it should be a "warranty" issue

Now for good news. I contacted the seller with a rather pissy email, they said they would look into it and asked for pictures. I sent them a series showing the issue. There was no response for a few days and I sent them another email asking for an updated. They have responded that the frame is bad and they will repair/replace and they will pay for shipping back to china. To be honest I have not had time to box it up, but at least I have received some customer service. Once I get it boxed I will update what happens.

After reading a lot of threads on various boards this seems to be a pretty odd failure and truly seems to be a defect much like you could find in any frame from any company. I hope that this will get resolved and i wont have any other issues. Over the years I have had plenty of things fail so I am not worried that this falls into the chinarello category of paper in the steerer tube horror stories. But it also highlights that these are not the same quality as the name brand frames. Could this happen to a name brand...yes...but I kinda doubt it as they might have engineered a better way to do the cable stops.

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kgt
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by kgt

You cannot afford a descent carbon frame but you have SRM ? :noidea:

none
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Location: NE PA

by none

Is this the correct thread to share cheap Chinese frame built experience, still?

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Miller
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Location: Reading, UK

by Miller

I think the forum has space for a new thread as well as this zombie... go on, you owe it to yourself and us.

alcatraz
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Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2016 11:19 am

by alcatraz

Cheap chinese frames are pretty good for light riders.

For heavier the flex will be obvious.

Some chinese frames like "pardus" are made in the same factories as the biggest western brands. In fact because they are a factory brand they can control QC in house which is good.

none
Posts: 291
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2018 11:29 pm
Location: NE PA

by none

I have built a few bikes out of Chinese carbon frames since 2016, some for myself, some sold to fellow experienced riders that I've ridden together for years.
None of us are currently racing or training for races, only regular group rides 3-4 times a week, all of us have multiple road bikes that we have ridden for multiple years and well aware of the general limitations and quality of Chinese carbon frames purchased from the internet.

Internal cable routing are always PITA, especially in tight spaces between brake levers & stem, frame routing are usually easier since there is more room to work with.

My first Chinese carbon frame build was in 2016, frame purchased on eBay with rebates it cost me less than $300 for the frame/fork/seatpost/BB/headset to be shipped to me. However the seller shipped me the wrong size frame and after 2 months of back & forth on eBay, I was refunded the purchase price by eBay and get to keep the frame.
I completed the build with misc. parts I have avail. in my basement, complete bike probably less than $1200.

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I put about 5-600 miles on it and determined that it was too small for my liking and sold it to a neighbor of mine who has been riding with me on this bike, he has put over 4k miles on the bike since 2017. The usual complaint is the seatpost slipping and front derailleur mount slipping... beyond that the shifting noise with hollow carbon frame, tends to amplify.

My second build was little easier, but cable routing through the handlebar still required much patience.

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Completed bike was a very nice ride, comfortable yet efficient, I have put about 3k miles on it since 2018.
Good enough for under $2k build.
Similar problems as the previous bike, seatpost slippage & front derailleur slippage.

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My third was the replacement frame from the original seller of the wrong sized frame that was shipped to me.
I received it late in the season 2018, so I have not spent much time working on it, but recently I've put more effort into finishing it.

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As before, cable routing through the handlebar still PITA even with much practice.

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Completed the build earlier this month, took it out for its first ride for 15 miles in near freezing temperature & 15 mph wind.
It feels much lighter than my other Chinese carbon aero frame.

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Front derailleur mounting plate came with round headed bolts that get in the way,
had to replace them with my own flat headed cleat bolts in order to allow front derailleur to shift into small ring.

That's mainly the problem with these Chinese vendors: when you need replacement parts like seatpost, mounting hardware/bolts, derailleur hanger, etc..
they are slow to respond and difficult to communicate to get the correct replacement parts.

Now working on a Chinese TT carbon bike.. bought in 2018.. trying to decide whether to go 1x10 or double.

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