Low Bicycles // LK Disc-Road

Who are you (no off-topic talk please)

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jbaillie
Posts: 685
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:17 pm

by jbaillie

Sickness! Love it. It will wear black Silca tape well. I'm generally not a road 1x stan but this looks great.

It's funny your note on the bar/stem - every time I see the Enve aero cockpit I think to myself "can't be long before they come out with a one-piece". I think this one would look fine if not for the overhang at the back of the stem.

AnkitS
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Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2019 5:03 am
Location: Santa Cruz, CA

by AnkitS

Yes that's my fault. Foggy glasses with a mask and a lack of attention led me to set it up in the -2.5mm setting instead of the +2.5. :doh:

by Weenie


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tonytourist
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Location: 90039

by tonytourist

Looking legit, mijo! :smartass: :beerchug:

dudemanppl
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Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2013 5:09 am

by dudemanppl

is this fixed gear?

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robbosmans
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by robbosmans

An extralite stem would look great on this, this LK range is really tempting, but shipping to Europe would increase the price dramatically. Jealous dude!

And hey nice photos

JaewooKim
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2016 3:19 pm

by JaewooKim

Unfortunate about the wait being longer than it perhaps should have been but boy was it worth the wait... I think LOW makes some of the best looking AL frames right now. Congratulations.


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AnkitS
Posts: 1456
Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2019 5:03 am
Location: Santa Cruz, CA

by AnkitS

Robbosmans - All my friends (really just ryanh and tonytourist) hated the extralite stem because of the lack of stiffness and the perceived change in handling. The S-Works stem is basically the same thing except heavier, weight obviously wasn’t a priority for this build but more of an afterthought. The advantages for the S-Works stem are that it has a nicer looking mount with the enve/k-edge mount which fits perfectly, and more importantly, I already own it.

Ok and now to business, starting with the most important on this forum, weight :arrow:
As mentioned above, the primary purpose of this build was never really designed to be lightweight. There were just different priorities. I originally aimed for sub 16lbs but things happened and it became slightly heavier. Current weight (including bar tape this time) is 7377g/16.3lbs. Following are some obligatory scale shots if I remember to add them.
Without wheels - Front Wheel - Rear wheel
It feels close to that heavy riding it, no magic weight hiding wizardry going on here. If you are viewing from the future, the most up to date weight spreadsheet and parts list will be here.

Now onto some initial thoughts on some components and the overall ride. Keep in mind I have one ride on this bike and haven't ridden a road bike since March, if you are interested in my long term opinions just ask and I'll update you eventually once I feel like I have a rounded view of it. Also, I should probably mention I'm really opinionated about bike stuff so my criticisms might sound harsher than they warrant.

ENVE Cockpit & Roval Alpinist Seatpost
I already talked about this above but the ENVE stem was a failed experiment. It just doesn't look right on the thinner tubing on the TT. Some frames look REALLY good with this stem, but this just isn't one of them. I think it looks a little bit better in the +2.5mm setting but still just not "right". I also managed to dent my brand new frame while flipping the stem offset insert... I'm not talking about it. S-Works stem with enve/k-edge mount incoming. I know I said I would be replacing the bars with S-Works shallow drop 36cm bars yesterday but after one ride back on the 40cm Aeros, there is no way I'm switching these out, they just work for me and the bike's geometry was designed around them, even if it keeps me from having an all Specialized cockpit. The only other bars I would really consider are the EXS RX-01s once they are available in the states, 34cm bars sounds like fun. Again, this isn't really an aero bar kinda bike.
I'll also touch on the Roval Alpinist Seatpost here as I don't really have much to say about it and it definitely doesn't deserve its own section. It works as a seatpost and looks decent, nothing special. I don't really understand how you could possibly adjust it with a non-cutout saddle and it definitely isn't the 20mm setback it claims to be. I'll still take it over the ENVE one though, toss-up between this and the ritchey super logic 1-bolt post I have. I may switch later based on what my fitter says about the setback.

ENVE 3.4 ARs
Lots of ENVE hate today for some reason but I'm obviously still an ENVE fiend, some of it just isn't for me. Let's start with what I like. I love the stupid wide 25mm internal width with 28mm tires. It's that "magic carpet" ride while still having a little bit of road feedback, reallllly nice. Now onto the minor annoyances. The freehub sound isn't pretty to my ears, on top of this the Mavic grease they use is thin. They get unpleasant pretty quickly. Last night I got sick of it and used a bunch of demonde freehub grease. It's still pretty loud and not close to that pretty i9/CK buzz. Secondly in the 'minor annoyance' section, the internal nipples are annoying with tubeless setups. It's possible this is only a big deal on gravel where your wheels go out of true more often. I'm certain this won't be as big of a deal on the road and it does allow for a cleaner looking wheel. Finally to the potential dealbreakers. The entire tubeless setup is horrible; worst on the market terrible, hair pulling terrible, popcorn stuck between teeth terrible. To start off, the valves are brass (heavy) and the pressure relief nuts with an o-ring are just not perfect. They aren't horrible but just one thing that adds on to the already horrible rim profile. You can't switch these out unless you want to void your warranty, stupid.
If you aren't familiar with the rim profile of the 3.4ARs it looks like this. The rectangle on the bottom makes it friggin impossible to tape these wheels up. I used 3M 8892 and the stock red stuff, not much luck with either one. The center channel is a cesspool of orange seal and air. Surprisingly the second time around with these wheels the process was a little less stressful. I wrapped 2.5 layers of the 3M tape super tight and heat-sealed the finishing seam to keep it from coming apart. I know others who have these wheels and haven't had these issues so I guess it's just an issue for me. Regardless, I'm not impressed with these. Some advice about this would be great. I'm starting to think everything from Utah just sucks (I'm looking at you non-existent backcountry/competitive cyclist employee :roll: ). Maybe if they read some more shitposting on this forum they wouldn't be so bad at their jobs. At least the Chinese made ENVE stuff is solid.
I'm seriously considering LB WR45 flyweights to Carbon Ti with CX-Rays and internal nipples; somewhat of a 3.4AR imitation wheelset. Should be around 100g lighter for under 1100$ with the black friday deal. I shouldn't have an issue selling the ENVEs for that much.

Goodyear F1 Super Sport
Not much to say here, especially after just one ride but I'd still like to touch on it and there isn't another good place to talk about it. I should probably put this on my 3.4AR rant above but the tire choice for picky people like me on the ARs sucks. Even these aren't compatible. Goodyear recently mentioned that a 25mm internal rim requires at least a 30mm tire. At least they are fine with hookless rims, so far. The only other options I really would consider for these wheels would be Schwalbe Pro Ones and Rapid Airs. If I successfully wear through this pair without dying, I'll probably just go against Goodyears recommendations and get a pair of the non-supersport F1s (same tire and price with just a thicker tread), they are really that good. Around 85% as supple as Pro Ones but the GRIP. Velcro in the corners, super confidence-inspiring, especially considering I've been on fat tires for 6 months. They need further testing but I am a fan.

Frameset
I really wish I could offer some feedback on the ride here but it's built with completely different components than my last couple of road bikes. I haven't even ridden a road bike since March other than demos of an SL7 and Aethos through my lbs. The geo obviously fits me really well, even with my extended freshman 15 belly getting in the way with my arms bent at 90 degrees in the drop. Hopefully, that will be gone with some base work and diet changes. It feels oddly similar to my Allez Sprint but with a noticeably dulled ride, especially in the rear end. I attribute most of this to the wheel-tire combo but also partially to the flexy Berk Lupina and 27.2 Seatpost. It's stiff enough for me, nothing super extraordinary other than the geometry, it's just a bike.
Now onto some things that I noticed during the build. All the holes are small, even with a Park IR-1.2 routing everything was a pain. Maybe with a bar junction or stem mount junction (you know as normal non-negligent people would do), this would have been fine but I wanted to hide the junction in a place where it's not hidden and didn't want to cut the bar end. I took some photos of what I've done and hopefully I remember to include them in the photo dump at the end of this post.
A little note about Paragon Machine Works. I'm assuming most of you aren't familiar with them but they are another local company that makes the dropout, axle, and derailleur hanger for this bike as well as for a bunch of custom frame builders. They are a super cool crew there and their stuff is well machined. As a bonus, they made a direct-mount hanger which I have a fetish for. :shock: Their axle is stupid heavy but I have one from J&L to replace it.

Sroad 10-36 Casstte & Garbaruk Chainring - combined with HG901
TLDR: This cassette shifts fine but the ultegra gs derailleur isn't optimized for it. Garbaruk chainring is loud and the teeth are tall.
The problem for this cassette comes up when trying to get down from the 11t to the 10t. Initially, I thought that the rear Dudemanppl suggest that this is because the guide pulley doesn't sit close enough to the cassette, this is obviously going to be a problem using a cassette much bigger than what it's designed for, and why 1x specific rear derailleurs have completely different geometries. Sure enough, tightening up the b-tension as close as possible got it shifting to an acceptable level. The options are either to get the 11 to 36 shifting really well and the 10t being fairly unusable or to get the entire cassette working with meh shifting. Even with all, its issues, I still think this is the best cassette for a road 1x setup, especially the axs option. :wink:
Here's what the shifting looks and sounds like right now. Still not great from the 11t to the 10t but at least it works predictably. A larger set of pulley wheels should help a little. But what about that horrible sound?
Yep, that brings us to the garbaruk chainring. Its teeth are very tall which causes really good engagement but the trade-off is that it's pretty loud. I'm sure once it wears in a little it will get more bearable. The waxed chain and resonating frame don't help it out. The chainring also doesn't look great so if you have some other suggestions I'm all ears. The carbon fiber rings on eBay seem to be cool but I'm unsure about the durability and aesthetics.

Silca Nastro Piloti Tape
Guys this stuff is really hard to wrap. I love the way it feels but jeez I really struggled with this one. Get some really sharp scissors to cut it up and set aside half an hour to get it perfect, it's really that difficult. I like to think I am pretty good at wrapping lizard skins or fizik tape but this stuff just doesn't like to cooperate. Still, the hype that the Silca dudes put behind this tape is real. I'll pick up some more as they are running them for $27 on their black Friday sale. Eventually, I'll get good at wrapping it. Currently, I couldn't wrap this stuff to save my life. I am almost embarrassed to post photos with my disgusting wrap job but just know that I tried.

Aaaaaaaaaannnnnnddd here are some less distracted photos.
Just ignore everything bar tape and di2 related

Image
Image
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The stupidest di2 setup you have ever laid your eyes on.
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Image

I'm not sure if you can see it but my enthusiasm for this write-up has been on the decline since word 1 so I'm going to go ride this some more now. Ask any questions and I'll try to come up with a reasonable response. Also, feel free to flame my trash and now dented bike.

dudemanppl
Posts: 1265
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2013 5:09 am

by dudemanppl

but is it fixed gear?

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pnk
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2019 1:51 am

by pnk

icantaffordcycling wrote:
Sat Nov 21, 2020 10:05 pm
I'm not sure if you can see it but my enthusiasm for this write-up has been on the decline since word 1 so I'm going to go ride this some more now. Ask any questions and I'll try to come up with a reasonable response. Also, feel free to flame my trash and now dented bike.
photo of the dent pelase :shock:
I can related to that years ago I hit the straight tt of my brand new aluminum bike with the cleat when getting of in the cool way as I was used to on my old bike with sloping tt! Till today I see the dent before every ride but also this is the only dent the bike ever got, so fingers crossed!

The +2.5° setting with the enve stem is a massive improvement in looks and imo you could really keep like this 8)

About the di2 junction why not got venge style an put in under the saddle ?

Overall very nice build and very nice read and good insights! Thanks!

Geoff
Posts: 5395
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2003 2:25 am
Location: Canada

by Geoff

Ok, that's nice. The finish looks great.

iamraymond
Posts: 625
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 8:59 am

by iamraymond

It might be unlikely, but I'd be afraid of something getting caught in your rear wheel and pulling that junction out leaving you with a single speed.

FWB did a nice write up of a hidden junction on a titanium disc build. The Junction A is hidden in the seat post and is only pulled out when you need to charge the Di2 battery or Index your gears.

AnkitS
Posts: 1456
Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2019 5:03 am
Location: Santa Cruz, CA

by AnkitS

Small update, decided to go 2x. I got a decent deal on a DA front derailleur and will probably end up using the Cannondale MKV 53/39 chainrings I have lying around. I have an XG-1190 11-32 cassette but I think I want something with slightly tighter gaps, maybe an 11-30?

I still need to get a couple of things before I can finish that up:
- Front derailleur clamp
- Get hole drilled for di2 wire
- Figure out neatest way to run FD wire
- Figure out gearing
- Get a short cage rear derailleur

Does anyone have front derailleur clamp recomendations?

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robbosmans
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by robbosmans

icantaffordcycling wrote:using the Cannondale MKV 53/39 chainrings I have lying around
Casually laying around

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themidge
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Location: underneath sweet Scottish rain

by themidge

This is an outrage! Should have donated them to a needy weight weenie.

by Weenie


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maxim809
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Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2017 6:28 am

by maxim809

Hey, this came out really well. Congratulations. Was fun watching it pan out over the past half year.

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