Hongfu FM-066/Chinese open mould frame thread

[OlieSimpson]

Found a few more china frames that seem to meet my criteria. Does anyone have experience with the following either as a brand or the specific frame that's referenced?

Yoeleo R9 https://www.yoeleobike.com/products/roa ... c-brake-r9 - slightly older model which was released in 2019 I think, but is a proper aero frame. Quite expensive for a China frame.

Yoeleo R12 2021 Model https://www.yoeleobike.com/products/dis ... -frame-r12 - Looks to be a good balance or aero and endurance. Also quite expensive for a China frame.

Miracle/Roeleo R12 2020 Model https://dutch.alibaba.com/product-detai ... 2522xlbUVo - this is a rebadged version of the Yoeleo R12 2020 model but 50% cheaper. Frame weight, geo etc. are exactly the same down to the gram and mm. Looks like they're trying to clear stock.

ICAN/Triaero A9 https://icancycling.com/collections/aero-frame-a9 Also a solid looking proper aero bike and quite a bit cheaper than the Yoeleo R9 Aero

ICAN/Triaero A22 https://icancycling.com/collections/roa ... road-frame - Looks to be the newer version of the ICAN A9 and probably my favourite option. It's also almost €200 cheaper than the A9 and more within my budget. ICAN recommend 25c tyres for this frame, I'd love to know if a 28c would fit as this is what I run, or if the 25c recommendation is actually the max size.

Thanks,

[Hazzer19]

I went with the VB-R-168 having come from a Workswell WCB-R-081 (the yellow one pictured on the road section of their site on top of a mountain lol) and have been really happy with it. The slightly more relaxed geometry coupled with a higher stem height and shorter reach is working really well. Bough an internal calbing kit from Aliexpress and it came in really handy for wiring the frame and bars. No complaints so far other than some minor drivetrain issues that I don't think are related to the frame.

Still haven't weighed it yet as I don't have a scale at home. Is that sacrilege here? haha - Not expecting anything super light but it's nice to know what you're working with at least.

[Steve Curtis]

Looking good

[Jimin]

I went with the VB-R-168 having come from a Workswell WCB-R-081 (the yellow one pictured on the road section of their site on top of a mountain lol) and have been really happy with it. The slightly more relaxed geometry coupled with a higher stem height and shorter reach is working really well. Bough an internal calbing kit from Aliexpress and it came in really handy for wiring the frame and bars. No complaints so far other than some minor drivetrain issues that I don't think are related to the frame.

Still haven't weighed it yet as I don't have a scale at home. Is that sacrilege here? haha - Not expecting anything super light but it's nice to know what you're working with at least.


IMG_4637.jpg

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IMG_4644.jpg

IMG_4640.jpg

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Holy crap! This was really nice bike! Sorry for the bomb of questions:

• 1.Which color did you got?

• 2.How much did the whole package costs?

• 3.Was the handlebar from them as well?

• 4.Why did you went with that bike and which options were you looking at?

• 5.Can you verify that max tire clearance is 32mm and not 28mm? (saw in another forum that they mentioned that it was 28mm as max hence my confusion

I am so fencing between your VB-R-168 and a VB-R-099 right now.

[OlieSimpson]

I went with the VB-R-168 having come from a Workswell WCB-R-081 (the yellow one pictured on the road section of their site on top of a mountain lol) and have been really happy with it. The slightly more relaxed geometry coupled with a higher stem height and shorter reach is working really well. Bough an internal calbing kit from Aliexpress and it came in really handy for wiring the frame and bars. No complaints so far other than some minor drivetrain issues that I don't think are related to the frame.

Still haven't weighed it yet as I don't have a scale at home. Is that sacrilege here? haha - Not expecting anything super light but it's nice to know what you're working with at least.


IMG_4637.jpg

FullSizeRender.jpg

FullSizeRender(2).jpg

FullSizeRender(3).jpg

IMG_4644.jpg

IMG_4640.jpg

FullSizeRender(4).jpg

Looks very nice indeed!

If you don't mind me asking, how tall are you and what frame size did you go for?

I'm super interested in the 168 but the only offputting thing for me is the reach. I'm looking at the 52cm frame size, however the reach is 3mm longer than my current set-up, the min. stem length is then 10mm longer than my current 80mm stem and the seat post looks to have a 20mm offset vs my current 0mm offset. All makes me worried the reach is going to be too long.

I could drop the frame size down but then the stack height drops significantly which I think would be worse than a slightly longer reach.

[Hazzer19]

Looking good

Thanks Steve!

[Steve Curtis]

Looking good

Thanks Steve!

My pleasure. It's a well put together bike with nice attention to detail.
The colour choice is great.

I'm waiting for a raw carbon 099 with gloss clear. I've sprayed a few raw frame so I'm interested to see how well they do it.
Your frame gives me hope

[Hazzer19]

I went with the VB-R-168 having come from a Workswell WCB-R-081 (the yellow one pictured on the road section of their site on top of a mountain lol) and have been really happy with it. The slightly more relaxed geometry coupled with a higher stem height and shorter reach is working really well. Bough an internal calbing kit from Aliexpress and it came in really handy for wiring the frame and bars. No complaints so far other than some minor drivetrain issues that I don't think are related to the frame.

Still haven't weighed it yet as I don't have a scale at home. Is that sacrilege here? haha - Not expecting anything super light but it's nice to know what you're working with at least.


IMG_4637.jpg

FullSizeRender.jpg

FullSizeRender(2).jpg

FullSizeRender(3).jpg

IMG_4644.jpg

IMG_4640.jpg

FullSizeRender(4).jpg

Holy crap! This was really nice bike! Sorry for the bomb of questions:

• 1.Which color did you got?

• 2.How much did the whole package costs?

• 3.Was the handlebar from them as well?

• 4.Why did you went with that bike and which options were you looking at?

• 5.Can you verify that max tire clearance is 32mm and not 28mm? (saw in another forum that they mentioned that it was 28mm as max hence my confusion

I am so fencing between your VB-R-168 and a VB-R-099 right now.

No troubles, happy to help however I can

• 1.Which color did you got?

A: Velobuild calls it chameloen purple. I was trying to get something lighter they also call chameleon purple on their site so my advice on colour is to really spend time explaining what you want and getting them to confirm as just referencing a frame they painted before didn't work for me

• 2.How much did the whole package costs?

A: Almost the whole setup came off of the old aero Workswell frame I had which I haven't tallied up so can't help much there. I buy 90% of my components second hand so the prices would be very different than new anyway.

• 3.Was the handlebar from them as well?

A: Yes. Happy with it so far. Some have pointed it out that it curves out a bit more than expected extending the reach. I went with a shorter stem length for this build (400x90) so it worked out and am happy with this

• 4.Why did you went with that bike and which options were you looking at?

A: I didn't look at too many more options. I considered the Workswell 306 which is very similar but quite a bit more. I originally wanted the Velobuild 099 as I liked the more aero shape more as it was similar to my last frame but was told that it was out of stock and wouldn't be produced until April whereas the 168 would be available much sooner. In the end the frame took over 3 months to arrive from order to delivery so I would probably have been ok ordering the 099 but am happy with the 168. The Lunar new year holiday fell within that period of time so time was lost there but still with that there were lots of delays I didn't anticipate as I was told a few times it would come sooner than it did. Pretty sure this is from the first batch of production frames they got so maybe ordering now will be quicker.

• 5.Can you verify that max tire clearance is 32mm and not 28mm? (saw in another forum that they mentioned that it was 28mm as max hence my confusion

A: VB's site says max clearance is 32. I'm running new 28c tires right now (which seems to be on thinner side) and thers is lots of clearance. At the narrow end of the chainstays there is a gap of around 450mm+ and I haven't meassured the gap with the BB but as you can see in the picture there is a ton of room.

Hope this helps!

[Hazzer19]

Looking good

Thanks Steve!

My pleasure. It's a well put together bike with nice attention to detail.
The colour choice is great.

I'm waiting for a raw carbon 099 with gloss clear. I've sprayed a few raw frame so I'm interested to see how well they do it.
Your frame gives me hope

Thanks! Although in the past I've been happy with no decals, I feel this one is still not complete without them and will be getting some custom ones made.

Your 099 project sounds really good. That's the frame I originally wanted to get but didn't because this one was supposed to be quicker, which it very much wasn't.

I don't have a ton of experience with paint but the paint job on this frame seems pretty good, especially for the cost. It does appear to scratch somewhat easily but maybe to a normal extent and I just need to be more carefull. My bikes get a lot of sunlight while stored so I'm hoping the paint doesn't fade too much like my last neon yellow painted Workswell did.

[Hazzer19]

I went with the VB-R-168 having come from a Workswell WCB-R-081 (the yellow one pictured on the road section of their site on top of a mountain lol) and have been really happy with it. The slightly more relaxed geometry coupled with a higher stem height and shorter reach is working really well. Bough an internal calbing kit from Aliexpress and it came in really handy for wiring the frame and bars. No complaints so far other than some minor drivetrain issues that I don't think are related to the frame.

Still haven't weighed it yet as I don't have a scale at home. Is that sacrilege here? haha - Not expecting anything super light but it's nice to know what you're working with at least.


IMG_4637.jpg

FullSizeRender.jpg

FullSizeRender(2).jpg

FullSizeRender(3).jpg

IMG_4644.jpg

IMG_4640.jpg

FullSizeRender(4).jpg

Looks very nice indeed!

If you don't mind me asking, how tall are you and what frame size did you go for?

I'm super interested in the 168 but the only offputting thing for me is the reach. I'm looking at the 52cm frame size, however the reach is 3mm longer than my current set-up, the min. stem length is then 10mm longer than my current 80mm stem and the seat post looks to have a 20mm offset vs my current 0mm offset. All makes me worried the reach is going to be too long.

I could drop the frame size down but then the stack height drops significantly which I think would be worse than a slightly longer reach.

Thanks! I'm around 5'10 and went with a 54cm frame. I went with a 90mm stem on the integrated bars instead of 100 like I previously had as I was feeling a bit stretched on the last bike and it has worked out so far.

I see your predicament on the sizing. Not sure what the solution would be...

[RDY]

@Hazzer19

If you're going to put a Safa sticker on it, shouldn't you have gone for the copy of the Syncros integrated bar?

Nice build though. The newer moulds that VBM have access to are really pretty good.

[Hazzer19]

@Hazzer19

If you're going to put a Safa sticker on it, shouldn't you have gone for the copy of the Syncros integrated bar?

Nice build though. The newer moulds that VBM have access to are really pretty good.

lol - Thanks! I would have considered it as those are sweet looking bars, but these came as a package with the frame.

[Jimin]

I went with the VB-R-168 having come from a Workswell WCB-R-081 (the yellow one pictured on the road section of their site on top of a mountain lol) and have been really happy with it. The slightly more relaxed geometry coupled with a higher stem height and shorter reach is working really well. Bough an internal calbing kit from Aliexpress and it came in really handy for wiring the frame and bars. No complaints so far other than some minor drivetrain issues that I don't think are related to the frame.

Still haven't weighed it yet as I don't have a scale at home. Is that sacrilege here? haha - Not expecting anything super light but it's nice to know what you're working with at least.


IMG_4637.jpg

FullSizeRender.jpg

FullSizeRender(2).jpg

FullSizeRender(3).jpg

IMG_4644.jpg

IMG_4640.jpg

FullSizeRender(4).jpg

Holy crap! This was really nice bike! Sorry for the bomb of questions:

• 1.Which color did you got?

• 2.How much did the whole package costs?

• 3.Was the handlebar from them as well?

• 4.Why did you went with that bike and which options were you looking at?

• 5.Can you verify that max tire clearance is 32mm and not 28mm? (saw in another forum that they mentioned that it was 28mm as max hence my confusion

I am so fencing between your VB-R-168 and a VB-R-099 right now.

No troubles, happy to help however I can

• 1.Which color did you got?

A: Velobuild calls it chameloen purple. I was trying to get something lighter they also call chameleon purple on their site so my advice on colour is to really spend time explaining what you want and getting them to confirm as just referencing a frame they painted before didn't work for me

• 2.How much did the whole package costs?

A: Almost the whole setup came off of the old aero Workswell frame I had which I haven't tallied up so can't help much there. I buy 90% of my components second hand so the prices would be very different than new anyway.

• 3.Was the handlebar from them as well?

A: Yes. Happy with it so far. Some have pointed it out that it curves out a bit more than expected extending the reach. I went with a shorter stem length for this build (400x90) so it worked out and am happy with this

• 4.Why did you went with that bike and which options were you looking at?

A: I didn't look at too many more options. I considered the Workswell 306 which is very similar but quite a bit more. I originally wanted the Velobuild 099 as I liked the more aero shape more as it was similar to my last frame but was told that it was out of stock and wouldn't be produced until April whereas the 168 would be available much sooner. In the end the frame took over 3 months to arrive from order to delivery so I would probably have been ok ordering the 099 but am happy with the 168. The Lunar new year holiday fell within that period of time so time was lost there but still with that there were lots of delays I didn't anticipate as I was told a few times it would come sooner than it did. Pretty sure this is from the first batch of production frames they got so maybe ordering now will be quicker.

• 5.Can you verify that max tire clearance is 32mm and not 28mm? (saw in another forum that they mentioned that it was 28mm as max hence my confusion

A: VB's site says max clearance is 32. I'm running new 28c tires right now (which seems to be on thinner side) and thers is lots of clearance. At the narrow end of the chainstays there is a gap of around 450mm+ and I haven't meassured the gap with the BB but as you can see in the picture there is a ton of room.

FullSizeRender (2).jpg

Hope this helps!

Thanks man for the reply! I appreciate it!

Did you ask for a discount?

[Hazzer19]

I went with the VB-R-168 having come from a Workswell WCB-R-081 (the yellow one pictured on the road section of their site on top of a mountain lol) and have been really happy with it. The slightly more relaxed geometry coupled with a higher stem height and shorter reach is working really well. Bough an internal calbing kit from Aliexpress and it came in really handy for wiring the frame and bars. No complaints so far other than some minor drivetrain issues that I don't think are related to the frame.

Still haven't weighed it yet as I don't have a scale at home. Is that sacrilege here? haha - Not expecting anything super light but it's nice to know what you're working with at least.


IMG_4637.jpg

FullSizeRender.jpg

FullSizeRender(2).jpg

FullSizeRender(3).jpg

IMG_4644.jpg

IMG_4640.jpg

FullSizeRender(4).jpg

Holy crap! This was really nice bike! Sorry for the bomb of questions:

• 1.Which color did you got?

• 2.How much did the whole package costs?

• 3.Was the handlebar from them as well?

• 4.Why did you went with that bike and which options were you looking at?

• 5.Can you verify that max tire clearance is 32mm and not 28mm? (saw in another forum that they mentioned that it was 28mm as max hence my confusion

I am so fencing between your VB-R-168 and a VB-R-099 right now.

No troubles, happy to help however I can

• 1.Which color did you got?

A: Velobuild calls it chameloen purple. I was trying to get something lighter they also call chameleon purple on their site so my advice on colour is to really spend time explaining what you want and getting them to confirm as just referencing a frame they painted before didn't work for me

• 2.How much did the whole package costs?

A: Almost the whole setup came off of the old aero Workswell frame I had which I haven't tallied up so can't help much there. I buy 90% of my components second hand so the prices would be very different than new anyway.

• 3.Was the handlebar from them as well?

A: Yes. Happy with it so far. Some have pointed it out that it curves out a bit more than expected extending the reach. I went with a shorter stem length for this build (400x90) so it worked out and am happy with this

• 4.Why did you went with that bike and which options were you looking at?

A: I didn't look at too many more options. I considered the Workswell 306 which is very similar but quite a bit more. I originally wanted the Velobuild 099 as I liked the more aero shape more as it was similar to my last frame but was told that it was out of stock and wouldn't be produced until April whereas the 168 would be available much sooner. In the end the frame took over 3 months to arrive from order to delivery so I would probably have been ok ordering the 099 but am happy with the 168. The Lunar new year holiday fell within that period of time so time was lost there but still with that there were lots of delays I didn't anticipate as I was told a few times it would come sooner than it did. Pretty sure this is from the first batch of production frames they got so maybe ordering now will be quicker.

• 5.Can you verify that max tire clearance is 32mm and not 28mm? (saw in another forum that they mentioned that it was 28mm as max hence my confusion

A: VB's site says max clearance is 32. I'm running new 28c tires right now (which seems to be on thinner side) and thers is lots of clearance. At the narrow end of the chainstays there is a gap of around 450mm+ and I haven't meassured the gap with the BB but as you can see in the picture there is a ton of room.

FullSizeRender (2).jpg

Hope this helps!

Thanks man for the reply! I appreciate it!

Did you ask for a discount?

Np! Ugh I didn't and now after reading your questions I regret it haha - I've deffinitely negotiated with other companies and it's part of the fun. In this case I think I went in to regular price mode when I saw an item you can add to a cart and checkout lol - I did ask for bottle cages after a couple months of waiting and got them

[Jimin]

Holy crap! This was really nice bike! Sorry for the bomb of questions:

• 1.Which color did you got?

• 2.How much did the whole package costs?

• 3.Was the handlebar from them as well?

• 4.Why did you went with that bike and which options were you looking at?

• 5.Can you verify that max tire clearance is 32mm and not 28mm? (saw in another forum that they mentioned that it was 28mm as max hence my confusion

I am so fencing between your VB-R-168 and a VB-R-099 right now.

No troubles, happy to help however I can

• 1.Which color did you got?

A: Velobuild calls it chameloen purple. I was trying to get something lighter they also call chameleon purple on their site so my advice on colour is to really spend time explaining what you want and getting them to confirm as just referencing a frame they painted before didn't work for me

• 2.How much did the whole package costs?

A: Almost the whole setup came off of the old aero Workswell frame I had which I haven't tallied up so can't help much there. I buy 90% of my components second hand so the prices would be very different than new anyway.

• 3.Was the handlebar from them as well?

A: Yes. Happy with it so far. Some have pointed it out that it curves out a bit more than expected extending the reach. I went with a shorter stem length for this build (400x90) so it worked out and am happy with this

• 4.Why did you went with that bike and which options were you looking at?

A: I didn't look at too many more options. I considered the Workswell 306 which is very similar but quite a bit more. I originally wanted the Velobuild 099 as I liked the more aero shape more as it was similar to my last frame but was told that it was out of stock and wouldn't be produced until April whereas the 168 would be available much sooner. In the end the frame took over 3 months to arrive from order to delivery so I would probably have been ok ordering the 099 but am happy with the 168. The Lunar new year holiday fell within that period of time so time was lost there but still with that there were lots of delays I didn't anticipate as I was told a few times it would come sooner than it did. Pretty sure this is from the first batch of production frames they got so maybe ordering now will be quicker.

• 5.Can you verify that max tire clearance is 32mm and not 28mm? (saw in another forum that they mentioned that it was 28mm as max hence my confusion

A: VB's site says max clearance is 32. I'm running new 28c tires right now (which seems to be on thinner side) and thers is lots of clearance. At the narrow end of the chainstays there is a gap of around 450mm+ and I haven't meassured the gap with the BB but as you can see in the picture there is a ton of room.

FullSizeRender (2).jpg

Hope this helps!

Thanks man for the reply! I appreciate it!

Did you ask for a discount?

Np! Ugh I didn't and now after reading your questions I regret it haha - I've deffinitely negotiated with other companies and it's part of the fun. In this case I think I went in to regular price mode when I saw an item you can add to a cart and checkout lol - I did ask for bottle cages after a couple months of waiting and got them

Hahah! Indeed its part of the fun part

May I ask where you are located and how much you had to pay in customs?