Chinese Open Mold Gravel / CX Bikes

The spirit of Grav-lo-cross. No but seriously, cyclocross and gravel go here!

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emotive
Posts: 613
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 10:40 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

by emotive

thprice wrote:
Fri Sep 21, 2018 1:37 am
Hi,
Has anyone built and put some rides into a Carbonda CFR696?
Interested to get some feedback on it.[/quote]
Yep, 1,100km logged in the last 8 weeks. 90% tarmac, 10% gravel. Rides great on road, And on smooth dirt. I'm currently running Bon Jon Pass 35mm tyres, and it rides smooth, fast, and comfortably.

I averaged 28km/h on a 100km road ride last week. It's fun passing guys on 23mm tyres, they can't work out what my bike is or how it can possibly be faster than them :-)
Is it really 50 mm tire clearance for 700c wheels?
Yes, smallest measured clearance is 65mm at the chainstays. 50mm tyres would leave plenty of clearance for mud.
Frame build quality
Ride quality
etc
This is my first Chinese frame, so I can only compare to previous Giant and Specialized frames. The frame quality and tolerances are spot on. My LBS built it for me, and were impressed with it, and their mechanic has worked on all the big brands and plenty of exotic frames.

I had an Alloy Focus Mares previously, with the same tyres, and the geometry is similar. This frame is more comfortable than the alloy was. I feel like I could ride this on multi day bike packing trips, and plan to. 35mm tyres makes my Defy with 28mm tyres feel buzzy, the way my Defy made my old Tarmac feel when I bought it in 2015. It's mostly down to the tyre volume.

Based on discussions on the Riding Gravel forum the Carbonda QC is better than similar models from Workswell and Tideace.

Custom paint was only US$70 and looks superb. I've seen lots of great paint work on other CFR505's and CFR696's. Not sure how durable it is though. I have one small chip on the front already, just above the fork, and several paint chips where the chain has hit the underneath of the chainstay from chain slap or chain suck. The clearance with a 32/48 oval chainrings is a bit small. 50/34 would be better. I'm going to get an Ultegra RX800 RD with the Clutch to reduce chain slap.

I won't comment on offroad ride quality until I get some knobby tires fitted.

by Weenie


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thprice
Posts: 252
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2011 6:34 am

by thprice

:thumbup: thanks emotive

Metaluna
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2018 7:26 pm

by Metaluna

emotive wrote:
Fri Sep 21, 2018 4:21 am

Yep, 1,100km logged in the last 8 weeks. 90% tarmac, 10% gravel. Rides great on road, And on smooth dirt. I'm currently running Bon Jon Pass 35mm tyres, and it rides smooth, fast, and comfortably.

I averaged 28km/h on a 100km road ride last week. It's fun passing guys on 23mm tyres, they can't work out what my bike is or how it can possibly be faster than them :-)
Have you done much climbing or hard sprinting with it? One thing I've noticed with my Workswell is rear frame flex when I stand on the pedals, to the point that I can hear the rear rotor rubbing on the calipers. Granted, I weight 220 lb, but I have not noticed rotor rub on other carbon frames I've ridden (e.g. Niner RLT 9 RDO).

emotive
Posts: 613
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 10:40 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

by emotive

Metaluna wrote:
Fri Sep 21, 2018 2:45 pm
Have you done much climbing or hard sprinting with it? One thing I've noticed with my Workswell is rear frame flex when I stand on the pedals, to the point that I can hear the rear rotor rubbing on the calipers. Granted, I weight 220 lb, but I have not noticed rotor rub on other carbon frames I've ridden (e.g. Niner RLT 9 RDO).
I've been doing endurance miles, training for a 200 mile ride in 2 weeks, so I've only hit a couple of short pinches. I picked up a top 3 on Strava for a 67 second hill climb at an average of 510W, max 980w. I'm not getting any rotor rub or frame flex, whereas on this type of climb I can feel my Giant Defy flex in the rear triangle.

User avatar
cveks
Posts: 351
Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2017 8:15 pm
Contact:

by cveks

emotive wrote:
Fri Sep 21, 2018 4:21 am
thprice wrote:
Fri Sep 21, 2018 1:37 am
Hi,
Has anyone built and put some rides into a Carbonda CFR696?
Interested to get some feedback on it.
Yep, 1,100km logged in the last 8 weeks. 90% tarmac, 10% gravel. Rides great on road, And on smooth dirt. I'm currently running Bon Jon Pass 35mm tyres, and it rides smooth, fast, and comfortably.

I averaged 28km/h on a 100km road ride last week. It's fun passing guys on 23mm tyres, they can't work out what my bike is or how it can possibly be faster than them :-)
Is it really 50 mm tire clearance for 700c wheels?
Yes, smallest measured clearance is 65mm at the chainstays. 50mm tyres would leave plenty of clearance for mud.
Frame build quality
Ride quality
etc
This is my first Chinese frame, so I can only compare to previous Giant and Specialized frames. The frame quality and tolerances are spot on. My LBS built it for me, and were impressed with it, and their mechanic has worked on all the big brands and plenty of exotic frames.

I had an Alloy Focus Mares previously, with the same tyres, and the geometry is similar. This frame is more comfortable than the alloy was. I feel like I could ride this on multi day bike packing trips, and plan to. 35mm tyres makes my Defy with 28mm tyres feel buzzy, the way my Defy made my old Tarmac feel when I bought it in 2015. It's mostly down to the tyre volume.

Based on discussions on the Riding Gravel forum the Carbonda QC is better than similar models from Workswell and Tideace.

Custom paint was only US$70 and looks superb. I've seen lots of great paint work on other CFR505's and CFR696's. Not sure how durable it is though. I have one small chip on the front already, just above the fork, and several paint chips where the chain has hit the underneath of the chainstay from chain slap or chain suck. The clearance with a 32/48 oval chainrings is a bit small. 50/34 would be better. I'm going to get an Ultegra RX800 RD with the Clutch to reduce chain slap.

I won't comment on offroad ride quality until I get some knobby tires fitted.
[/quote]

where we can get this frameset and for which price?

emotive
Posts: 613
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 10:40 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

by emotive

cveks wrote:
emotive wrote:
Fri Sep 21, 2018 4:21 am

where we can get this frameset and for which price?
Alibaba for about US$700 depending on shipping, paint options, and frameset options. I used their headset , fork, seatpost, and seat clamp, but not their thru axles.

https://m.alibaba.com/product/607529231 ... redirect=1


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fa63
Posts: 2533
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 7:26 am
Location: Atlanta, GA, US

by fa63

Sorry if the answer to this already lies somewhere in the thread already; I haven't been able to find it.

Is there an Open Mold version of the Open UP out there somewhere? I am talking about same geometry (including 420 mm chainstays), round 27.2 seatpost, internal cable routing, etc.? I have seen a couple offerings from Workswell and Carbonda, but those seem to have longer chainstays. I also found the one below with 420 mm chainstays, but it has a proprietary seatpost which is a no-go for me. So I am basically looking the same frame as below, but with a round seatpost instead. Help a brother out please :)

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2019-Fu ... 56270.html

Nbriles2000
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 4:21 am

by Nbriles2000

Does anyone know if there is an open mold version of the diverge?

Frisco
Posts: 147
Joined: Sat May 09, 2009 6:23 pm
Location: Bay Area, CA

by Frisco

Tantan GR030 acquired

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LeDuke
Posts: 2022
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2012 2:39 am
Location: Front Range, CO

by LeDuke

Anyone own a Miracle carbon frame? What front 12mm TA standard do they use?


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HeluvaSkier
Posts: 191
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 5:38 pm

by HeluvaSkier

LeDuke wrote:
Fri Oct 26, 2018 3:36 am
Anyone own a Miracle carbon frame? What front 12mm TA standard do they use?
I own two... one CX535 (my wifes gravel setup) and one CX028 (my gravel setup). Both use a 142x12mm rear and 100x15mm front TA. I run this wheelset on mine... and my wife runs a slightly lighter/narrower 38mm wheel with the same hubs and TAs.

The Miracle frames ship very well packaged and include the TAs with the frame hardware... very solid builds for both of mine. No surprises. With pretty standard components (mine Rival/Force, Force crank, hers Chorus/Athena/Campy CX11 crank... both with TRP Spyre SLC) they built to under 8kg or 17.5lbs (both 2x), which isn't super light, but respectible for what we have invested in them.

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LeDuke
Posts: 2022
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2012 2:39 am
Location: Front Range, CO

by LeDuke

I just got mine. My 12x100mm E-Thru/Shimano type J&L axle hasn’t been delivered yet, so I took one of my 12x142 e-thru axles and tried to see if it fit.

It didn’t thread in to the fork at first. Thought I had the wrong thread pitch. Turns out it was just some paint in the way. Threaded it in from the back side, which removed the paint from the threads. Good to go now.

Image




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Last edited by LeDuke on Fri Oct 26, 2018 4:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

jencvo
Posts: 325
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:01 pm

by jencvo

Folks with Carbonda orders, how long did it take from when you placed the order to delivery?

thprice
Posts: 252
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2011 6:34 am

by thprice

deleted
Last edited by thprice on Mon Nov 05, 2018 3:28 am, edited 1 time in total.

thprice
Posts: 252
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2011 6:34 am

by thprice

jencvo wrote:
Mon Nov 05, 2018 2:55 am
Folks with Carbonda orders, how long did it take from when you placed the order to delivery?
Frame send 2 weeks from order (as quoted) and 1 week to deliver.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



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