Chinese Open Mold Gravel / CX Bikes

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

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jeroenfl
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2017 3:45 pm

by jeroenfl

After a Niner RLT9 steel and a gravelificated BMC Alpenchallenge, I have just ordered the Carbonda cfr505. At least Carbonda calls it the cfr505. They're a front-end dealer for Flybike components, I heard.

To avoid the pain of going through customs in Belgium, I have found a very helpful retailer in Holland. The surplus of going through them, to me is well worth it. The headaches and surprises I have had with several sets of aliexpress rims so far... Better if going through XDB, but best to avoid completely.

The dealer in Holland is CycloCarb

He also changes their seatpost to another one which works a lot better without the slipping issue and suggest to get some real bearings instead of using those that come with the frame.
Just for kicks, I ordered the monocoque handlebars too, we'll see.

by Weenie


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

by jencvo

thprice wrote:
Mon Nov 05, 2018 3:27 am
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.
Thank you! I'm so so excited for mine, hopefully it will be here before Thanksgiving

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

by emotive

33 days from payment to dispatch, including custom painted frame and seatpost. The paint didn't work out the first time so they had to re-do it. Also, they didn't have stock of CFR696 back in May, but seem to be getting orders out faster now.

lyco
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2018 1:25 pm

by lyco

Hey Guys,

has anyone build something with a Mondince frameset?
It looks quite good for the money.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Carbon- ... 3c00P6KKrZ

motorapido
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:08 pm

by motorapido

Like the look of the 3T Exploro but not the price so have gone for one of these,
Tiedace FM-CX039 TA of Aliexpress in the 30% off sale that started today, came in at £354 with all the discount codes i could apply.
http://www.haidelibikes.com/product/sho ... .php?id=41

Plan is run it 2x11 with SRAM Hydro brakes, customised to run Di2 shift levers and Ultegra Di2,
FSA K-Force cranks with Stronglight CT 2, 33, 49, chainrings. might seem a weird ring setup but i already had the 33ring and the 49 was cheap as its an odd size. Gonna use a Canyon copy one piece bar and stem unit and Chinese carbon saddle.

Not sure on the cassette specs yet. but i have bought / built some reasonable spec wheels for peanuts by scouring the web for sales,

For 650b MTB, a set of Progress XC1 with Vittoria tyres, they came in at £120 without discs and cassette,

700C for road, 24 hole Dati 6 hubs, laced to Pacenti SL25 rims with DT swiss Revolution / Competition spoke mix alloy nipples and Challenge Paris Roubaix 27mm tyres, these worked out at £170 for the lot, again minus discs and cassette.

And for road plus,

32 hole American classic hubs, laced to KOM SL 25 rims with DT swiss Revolution / Competition spoke mix alloy nipples and Pacenti Pari Moto 47mm tyres.

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

by Frisco

My GR030 is partially together - ultegra Di2, Far 700x30 40mm with 38mm GK SK, RX derailleur, 11-42T XT, 3T superghiaia bars, pro vibe stem, mandible clone cages. 6.5kg so far. Waiting on EC90 46/30 crank with cinch meter.

Image

spdntrxi
Posts: 5790
Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2013 6:11 pm

by spdntrxi

^ nice... cranks, chain, pedals... ~8.5kg + likely.
2024 BMC TeamMachine R Building
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2019 Parlee Z0XD - "classified"
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Prosero
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Nov 11, 2018 12:09 pm

by Prosero

fa63 wrote:
Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:02 pm
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

The same question for me. Has anyone out there an answer?

Prosero
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Nov 11, 2018 12:09 pm

by Prosero

Frisco wrote:
Sun Nov 11, 2018 3:28 am
My GR030 is partially together - ultegra Di2, Far 700x30 40mm with 38mm GK SK, RX derailleur, 11-42T XT, 3T superghiaia bars, pro vibe stem, mandible clone cages. 6.5kg so far. Waiting on EC90 46/30 crank with cinch meter.
Hi, what is your impression of the clamp and the seatpost? Do you think it is stable and in a good quality and what about the frame in that area?

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

by Frisco

spdntrxi wrote:^ nice... cranks, chain, pedals... ~8.5kg + likely.
I’m hoping for under 8kg. The crank is supposed to be under 600g. I have a X11SL chain that weighs 250g with all links and Xpedo M Force 8 Ti pedals at 214g

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

by Frisco

Prosero wrote:
Mon Nov 12, 2018 9:14 am

Hi, what is your impression of the clamp and the seatpost? Do you think it is stable and in a good quality and what about the frame in that area?
It's probably too early to comment much about the seatpost clamp, because I haven't fixed the height or torqued the clamp assembly. I am still waiting for the crank and won't ride the bike for a couple more weeks probably. The clamp is just three triangular pieces, and if you'd like to see it in more detail I can pull it out and take a photo.

Prosero
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Nov 11, 2018 12:09 pm

by Prosero

Frisco wrote:
Tue Nov 13, 2018 6:11 am
It's probably too early to comment much about the seatpost clamp, because I haven't fixed the height or torqued the clamp assembly. I am still waiting for the crank and won't ride the bike for a couple more weeks probably. The clamp is just three triangular pieces, and if you'd like to see it in more detail I can pull it out and take a photo.
Thanks, but that‘s not necessary. I know that fixing from other bikes. I'm more interested in whether the saddle clamp is stable and does not break during the first ride.

Can you fix mudguards?

DutchMountains
Posts: 103
Joined: Sat Aug 20, 2016 9:16 pm

by DutchMountains

motorapido wrote:
Sat Nov 10, 2018 10:53 pm
Plan is run it 2x11 with SRAM Hydro brakes, customised to run Di2 shift levers and Ultegra Di2,
SRAM uses DOT fluid for the brakes while Shimano uses mineral oil. And my understanding is that you can't use both together as the seals may deteriorate when they come in contact with a fluid they're not designed for. Just using SRAM discs, with Shimano calipers and levers will be fine of course.

motorapido
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:08 pm

by motorapido

DutchMountains, you can kind off run a mixture,
I remove the Sram shift mechanism and brake lever from the brake body, and replace it with a modified Di2 shift lever with its electronics pack. The modified brake lever runs on the same pivots that the Sram brake lever ran on, and the Di2 electronics fit where the Sram mechanical shift system fitted.
I've modified about 5 systems this way some with disc brakes and some with HydroR rim brakes.
So the whole system that sees brake fluid is Sram so no fluid issues and you get Di2 shifting, You might ask why. Well i intially did this on 3 HydroR rim setups.
Then did other custom setups for disc versions, as several UK shops where selling the Sram stuff really cheap and wrecked or scuffed up Di2 levers often appear on Ebay.
My CX bike is Sram hydro levers operating Formula R1 callipers, and the Sram shift levers operate minature switches wired up to a Di2 climbing electronics module and an XT Di2 rear mech.

Heres a pic how its done.
Image[/url]IMG_4879 by Paul Townsend, on Flickr
Last edited by motorapido on Wed Nov 14, 2018 7:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

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

by Frisco

Prosero wrote:
Thanks, but that‘s not necessary. I know that fixing from other bikes. I'm more interested in whether the saddle clamp is stable and does not break during the first ride.

Can you fix mudguards?
That would be unfortunate if the clamp is not secure, to say the least. I will report back. There are front and rear fender mount points.

by Weenie


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