SP Cycle G068 Review
Here’s a build and ride summary which might help anyone considering this frameset. Note that although a fully internal/integrated version attracts most attention, this is the semi-internal version with cable ports on the downtube for mechanical shifting.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007 ... ry_from%3A
The good.
Bottom bracket – properly aligned, T47 threads good. Wheels Mfg. bb went in smooth and straight with no binding spots.
Headset – looked well formed, bearing seats were proper diameter, chunky split ring was a good fit. Headset cover was a perfect fit. On the road it was silent and solid, no binding, no re-adjustment needed after the first ride – as good as any.
Brake mounts. Properly square but paint overspray had to be removed with careful filing.
Seat post clamp and seat tube. Correct diameter, clamp felt solid and held post securely with modest torque. Checked after first ride which included some rough stuff and no re-tightening was required. No creaks or clicks over bumps. Exceptional first ride performance for a hidden wedge type seat post clamp.
Paint – gloss black, no bubbles, blobs, or obvious issues. Maybe a bit thick.
The bad
Even before purchase based on website photos I had suspicions this build might be a problem. Turns out the cable ports were simple small round holes that required both brake hose and shift housing to enter the frame at near 90 degrees.
A nice, elongated oval, or better yet a molded angled passage is a standard requirement for mechanical builds. These guys just drilled a couple of holes.
And collecting the housing through these small holes when fishing from the rear of the bike was near impossible. Even with a good routing kit, this was the most difficult work I have done on any bike. In the case of the rear brake hose port, I had to Dremel the port into an oval just to get the hose out, and resort to a spare Cannondale grommet to complete the build.
A further complication to rear shift housing routing was that the chainstay passageway had three catch points that required extensive manipulation to bypass. I had to resort to using a straightened clothes hanger with a roughened tip as a reaming file to smooth out the passage. Getting the housing through the chainstay and up near the exit port took over an hour of trial and error. A modified dental tool was used to coax the end through the port.
Installing the front shift housing was arguably worse. It was easy enough to route from the port to the housing stop behind the bottom bracket at the bottom of the seat tube, but the cable housing receptacle hole in the cable stop was half blocked by the carbon wall of the bb shell/seat tube wall. The cable stop is a solid grommet type that is held in place with a U bracket inside the frame. Unfortunately the stop, just doesn’t protrude deep enough into the frame to clear the frame wall leaving the critical housing receptacle hole half obstructed by the frame wall. This required Demelling away enough material from offending adjacent bb shell/seat tube wall to allow the housing to enter the stop.
The ugly.
Thru-axle dropouts – only 3 of 4 properly formed. The fork is design with adjustable offset “chips”. These reversable oval chips sit in an oval void milled out the fork. The left side void was milled too big allowing the chip to move and consequently the wheel to rattle around regardless of thru-axel torque. This renders the bike un-rideable. An email to SP Cycle was met with an immediate reply that a new fork was on the way - no questions asked. Credit to them.
To enable temporary use of the bike I was able to eliminate the play in the adjustable offset chip by strategically placing a piece of Stan’s rim tape on the chip. This bodge seems perfectly effective and is likely to hold up until the new fork arrives.
So how does it ride?
In a word – excellent. The frame is a clone of the Canyon Grail, but with more tire clearance. I was attracted to the G068 because the geometry of the size medium, longer and lower than most, suits me well. My top priority (along with mechanical shifting) was no toe overlap. The 71.5 head angle and 55mm offset (I can switch to 50mm if I want) agrees with me. I assume the relatively low bottom bracket is a factor as well. The handling on the road in terms of response to lean and the natural turn radius in sweeping curves and other cornering situations feels just right. On the trail the performance was again excellent. During fast snaking though dense forest on smooth packed dirt, I found surprisingly easy to stay on my chosen line. Never any understeer or getting too deep into a corner or curve and having to throw out an anchor to keep it out of the bushes. On slow technical sections full of roots and rocks, I never struggled for balance or line while picking my way through the trickiest bits at very slow speed. On fast rough descents everything felt under control. Even the balance of the whole bike felt better bunny hopping over obstacles. My only comparison is a few cyclocross bikes, one of which I was using for gravel, so I am certainly no authority on gravel bikes of any sort. But on my first serious ride, I felt as comfortable with the handling of this bike as any I have ever ridden. Currently on Thundero 40mm 35 psi.
Conclusion.
It’s a great riding bike but with multiple deal breaker design quirks and construction defects. Solution - just buy the full internal version and build it electronic, preferably wireless. If you go mechanical, you’d better have MacGyver like build skills and lots of experience. No shop would touch this. They’d take one look and tell you to send it back. But it’s only 500 bucks, so there’s that. Oddly enough, even knowing what I know now, I’d buy the same bike again. I guess I love a challenge. Normally I would dread having to re-cable this thing but I ride gravel at most a dozen times per year so I should be OK for a while.
