Group Buy - 09 Neo Christmas Groupbuy Thread

So this is the second Neo groupbuy. The first one was pretty good overall, but there were still some problems with the frames and parts. Here is a list of them and the solutions:
- Slippery seat post, caused by lack of friction between aluminum seat tube insert and matte finish seat post surface.
Solution: Shallow horizontal grooves inside aluminum seat tube insert for Exile Plus; full carbon seat tube for Exile Ultimate. Matte finish seat post is discontinued. Substituted by FSA K-Force Light and Edge seat posts.

- Headset issues with bearings and compressor plug, very few cases but I’ve stopped buying from the supplier anyway.
Solution: Using FSA headset and compressor plugs. They cost more but can be trusted.

- Insufficient stiffness, complained by a couple of strong sprinters, but Exile is designed as an allround frame and supposed to be strong enough for sprinting.
Solution: Bigger tubes, more material on down tube, BB and chain stay area, which inevitably increases the weight (for Exile Plus), but also makes the frames more durable and sustainable to crashes. As for Exile Ultimate, much higher grade material is used, the frame is stronger and lighter, and pricier….

- Inconsistent finish quality, including carbon weave, paintjob and decals; white painting turns yellow-ish over time. Again, only two or three cases. Any small defects would look very obvious on a black/white high contrast color scheme.
Solution: New paint factory, better quality control, also higher cost, but it’s worth it. New recipe for white paint, the old one has some resin that turns yellow after absorbing UV…

- Sizes. Exile was supposed to have 5 sizes, but there was not enough order for size XL, the mold was never made.
Solution: 6 sizes ready, 50cm-60cm, 2cm increments.

- Not hot-looking enough.
Solution: Three new (actually not totally new) color schemes for two new models.

Enough said about the first groupbuy, here comes the new one.

1. Time Schedule. Ordering and paying deposit, Nov; Manufacturing, Dec; Paying and shipping, early Jan.

2. Items:
a. Framesets
Neo Exile Plus
-T700/T800 mix carbon fiber
-Alloy drop outs, replaceable hanger
-BB30
-1.125”/1.5” tapered head tube
-Oversized down tube/BB/chain stays
-Frame, fork, FSA headset and compressor plug w/ carbon cone and top cap, FSA K-Force Light seat post, Thomson seat clamp; 1070g/380g/105g/190g/25g, total 1770g
-Glossy black UD; Glossy white
-Price $920


Neo Exile Ultimate
-Full T1000 carbon fiber
-Full carbon drop outs, replaceable hanger
-BB30
-1.125”/1.5” tapered head tube
-Oversized down tube/BB/chain stays
-Frame, Edge 2.0 1.5” fork, FSA headset and compressor plug w/ carbon cone and top cap, Edge seat post, Thomson seat clamp; 880g/340g/105g/180g/25g, total 1530g
-Matte black UD
-Price $1800

b. Groupsets
Sram Red
Sram Force
Sram Rival w/ FSA BB30 cranks

c. Barset
FSA OS99 CSI stem
FSA Wing Pro Compact bar
FSA K-Force Compact bar
FSA K-Wing Compact bar
FSA Plasma Compact Integrated bar

d. Wheelset
Sram
Edge
Gigantex(probably)

e. Saddle
Prologo w/ custom Neo logo clips
Models to be offered: Scratch, Scratch Nack, Nago Evo, Nago Evo Nack




**Thread to be edited**

Geometry Chart of Neo Exile Plus and Ultimate.


Pictures

and the 3rd for Q&A collection.

Hyper neo... at last! :love:

Grr...I don't need a new bike....but...

Ok what's new? I think I see BB30 and obviously new tube shapes. What are the differences over the original Neo? I have a friend interested in my bike and I was going to point them to you but maybe I sell them my frame and get the new one instead. Also if I wanted to get the Edge fork for my Neo how much would that run me?

Very nice looking.

that looks awesome!, maybe i can scrape up some money...whats the ball park figure here?

Pretty!

Any ideas on groupsets yet? Campagnolo and SRAM are my current favorites.

red X for me...

subscribed

red X for me...

it's photobucket link..
must be blocked by your office network..

I am in for the exile ultimate

it's photobucket link..
must be blocked by your office network..

uh no, from secure home network, but the following day...tada! photo is there.

and I'm diggin this group buy, geometry is perfect for me and virtually matches what I'm on now...hmm...:thumb:

Yes Sir! First post, lol. For all that don't know, Patrick is a joy to work with. Excited to see the progress!

Do you have prices for the component groups and wheelsets?

Do you have prices for the component groups and wheelsets?I was wondering the same thing. On a related note, if you're in San Fran, maybe we could save on shipping. I will also have friends near Patrick in China towards the end of the year. Just an idea...

Do you have prices for the component groups and wheelsets?

when all prices get finalized, I will put those on the website, not here.

Which of the frames above are plus and which are ultimate?

The frame shown is the Ultimate. I haven't confirmed with Patrick, but I imagine the Plus will share the frame shape (when molds are so expensive, why have 2 different ones?)
Mine is one it's way to me--from the same initial batch as the bike in the photos above.

Which of the frames above are plus and which are ultimate?

the one shown is Exile Ultimate, matte UD with black decals.
Exile Plus has glossy UD with white decals and glossy white with black decals.
still trying to get some nice pictures of those.

Looks beautiful; Great work Patrick. Once again, thank you for standing by your products.

This is the beginning of my build of a 58cm Ultimate frame with Edge fork:



More to come...

Here's the result of my overnight efforts:



Still more to come...

All but the bar tape...



11.5lbs as is.

All but the bar tape...



11.5lbs as is.Wholly carp! That's gorgeous. And light.

What kind of bars are those?

DrPhil could you post up you your build list and some close up pics of the BB area? That is one light good looking bike! Can't wait for your ride report!!

...
What kind of bars are those?

Those are FSA Plasma Integrated. I got them from Patrick of Neo as well--they are one of the group buy options.

The bike is very light, but surprisingly solid! Here's my initial ride report from yesterday:

I hate to gush, but this is an *amazing* bike! I can't think of a better descriptor than taught. Stiff, but with all the "dampening" character of CF. The 1.5" headset and Edge fork make for a solid, tight front end. The rear is very stiff also--making for crisp shift and solid braking. The whole bike is direct, connected--no shimmy, flex, wobble, nothing. I can't compare to other SOTA frames like Cervelo, or Scott, or Colnago, or Canyon as I haven't ridden them. But I've owned nearly 20 bikes in a 30 years riding career and this is the BOMB. One observation is just that--and I claim no statistical power to my observations, but I am one happy rider. I stole the diamond by buying this frame.

Wholly carp! That's gorgeous. And light.

What kind of bars are those?

those are FSA Plasma Compact. 120*420. with some bar drop chopped..

Phil,

Gorgeous set up. You really understand subtle, in a very cool way. I'm very interested in this frame but now that you've had a few rides on it, what could you equate it to? Stiff it must be, but comfort/handling over an extended period? I'm all of 135 lb / 61 kg, and there are a lot of bike that are too stiff for me (Look 595 and 585 Ultra come to mind immediately). I also had a Cervelo R3 SL that was a nervous downhill nellie in a size 48, not to mention extreme toe overlap.

Is this just a down and dirty crazy light race bike or is it the 'all rounder' that Patrick insists it is? Is there 'good road feel? Is is lively without being 'nervous' lively? Is is dead?

Would love to get more of a feel for this frame before I drop some coin...

Thanks,

Bo

Here are some more photos:





Bo: Making comparisons is hard, for anyone, but I'm no Pez, and I haven't ridden lots of bikes, especially recently, so it's even harder for me to tell you how it rides compared to a Cervelo, or a Stork.
I can tell you it's made in the same factory, by the same people, as Stork and Pinarello. It's clearly well made--the finish inside the tubes is very clean. Not one blemish and I've pored over the frame.
As for your questions: It's not the lightest frame out there, but I believe some of the weight is due to good design decisions: the alloy BB shell is very substantial. The headset cups are alloy, also. But a 58cm is under 1000g, which is pretty impressive!
I'd say it's an "all rounder" rather than a specialist crazy frame--I can imagine riding it in all conditions. It inspires confidence in me. I can descend on it faster than my Giant TCR. It's very solid--not dead, although it does have that CF deadening quality. It still transfers the road feel, but not excessive. Now I do weigh a lot more than you--180lbs wet, and I have a presence on a bike, no doubt. But your frame will be much smaller than mine. Have you looked at other more "forgiving" bikes like the Madone, or the Parlee Z5--I think they would not be so TIGHT as this bike. Also, I think the 1.5" headtube and fork make a huge difference in how the bike handles and feels. It's inspiring, to say the least.

Thanks for the compliments on my build!

all pricing will be uploaded early next week.

Is there any difference between the Neo and the HongFu FM-015? The one shown in the flash display on their front page even has the matte finish and red seatpost clamp.



http://www.hongfu-bikes.com/

Wow that is interesting especially since I don't see that bike in their catalog. What did they do, straight up rip off the photo? It looks EXACTLY like the original Neo Exile.

Here's the build list, with weight (gms)

Frame: Neo Exile Ultimate 975
Fork: Edge tapered 1.5” 340
Headset FSA Orbit tapered 105
Stem/Handlebar: FSA Plasma Compact 400
Crank Arms: THM Clavicula 420
Chain Rings Shimano 42/ TA 50 140
Pedals: Speedplay X1 150
Saddle Grace CF integrated 125
Seat Post Clamp: New Ultimate 8
Seatpost sleeve 20
Brake Levers: SRAM Red 310
Brakes: Zero Gravity + Swisstop pads 210
Shift/Brake Cables: Nokon 80
Rear Derailleur: SRAM Red 150
Chain: DuraAce 7900 230
Front Derailleur: DuraAce 7900 66
Front Wheel: M5, Sapim, Edge 25 330
Rear Wheel: Extralite, Sapim, Edge 25 450
Cassette: KCNC Alloy 11-23 110
Skewers: Tune 14 33
Tires: Veloflex Carbon 580
Rim strips Tufo 20
Handlebar Tape: Forte CF vinyl 40
Bottle Cage: Campagnolo Record carbon 18

Total: 5310g 11.7lbs

Wow that is interesting especially since I don't see that bike in their catalog. What did they do, straight up rip off the photo? It looks EXACTLY like the original Neo Exile.

The original Neo is no longer available from Neo--so maybe the die become "open" to others. The new Neo is a very different frame to the one shown in the photo above from hongfu.

Wow that is interesting especially since I don't see that bike in their catalog. What did they do, straight up rip off the photo? It looks EXACTLY like the original Neo Exile.

From some threads on the roadbikereview forum, it seems that very similar frames can be bought from a range of distributors. They may be coming out the same factory and use the same moulds, but that doesn't mean they use the same specs, which is why I'm wondering about the differences.

If I am not mistaken, this one comes out of the Carbotec factory which is different from the Hongfu factory. There are, in fact, a lot of carbon factories in China and Taiwan.

The original Neo is no longer available from Neo--so maybe the die become "open" to others. The new Neo is a very different frame to the one shown in the photo above from hongfu.

Look at the seat post...it says Neo on it...and Patrick's used that red hope seat collar and the Oval stem. If you look right above my bars you can see the Neo on my seatpost.

they simply removed the Neo logo.

Patrick...I never got back to you from the PMs we exchanged...the change in geometry is a deal killer for me...the original Exil fits me perfectly so I am going to stay with it. Great looking bike though.