plowmanjoe

I just put in an order with lt bikes.

I'm getting an ltk118 custom painted frame with some custom decals. i think it's equivalent to the r-077 frame.

Working with Alisa was great. they make you sketches and work really well with you through the process.

Frame hasn't arrived yet, but so far it has been a really great experience.

bugly64

This is from Aliexpress; it's a FM105-d. I am very happy with it.

CafeVelo

No, it's not.

Quick question, does your frame have alloy or carbon dropouts, and is there any alloy in the bottom bracket or headset/brake mounts?

clubber

Im curious as to why you are inquiring about the presence of alloy dropouts, bb and brake mounts. Myself being a NEW road bike builder I assume your preference would be carbon or titanium if that's even feasible. Of course I could be completely off base.

I am just thankful to find like minded folks like you and Robert and rm13 that take pride and joy in building their own.

Being a tech/mechanic by trade I take pleasure in building from ground up anything for myself or anyone else (my new road bike in this case) and not simply go out and buy something just because it's good deal. I will still be pragmatic about purchasing good quality and value parts but I'd always rather build it myself. What drives me NUTS is when people ask why. Why does it matter why?

CafeVelo

You'd be right. Aluminum fatigues, so do other metals, but it happens differently. Steel and Ti have a fatigue limit and don't fatigue if forces are below a given level. Carbon doesn't fatigue in a measurable way, but it can get chewed up in dropouts and it can crack if it's clamped too hard. In theory aluminum will fail eventually no matter what. In practice this is rarely an issue, in fact most frames that are fatigue tested fail long before their dropouts.

I however, am neurotic by nature and tend to plan around the worst possible outcome as though it will occur. I know I don't need to do this, but it gives me peace of mind. In my perfect world my bike would be made of stainless steel with a carbon fork, or entirely out of carbon, since those two frames are least likely to fail by fatigue (Ti won't either but.... Welds, plus it's hard to make stiff without being really weighty).

The other, possibly more compelling reason, is I need more road bikes like I need a hole in my head, in fact if I were honest with myself about bikes I would actually use between now and Labor Day I could easily dump all but one, maybe two, of my bikes. If I buy a frame at this point, it had better fit my preferences.

Im also still laboring under the delusion that I will one day find or commission to have built a bike that I enjoy riding so much and can find so little fault in that I ride it for the conceivable future, therefore any bike I buy should be able to outlast the usual 10 year product life if I request it does. I would, in reality, prefer to get one bike that fits my needs and wants then be done with replacing and upgrading until the damn thing falls apart completely. This is how I tend to buy products (my coffee maker is an antique espresso machine I bought in Italy and restored,for example).


all of this is my own desires for a bike, and I doubt anyone else would benefit from my process unless they too share a neurotic desire to own overbuilt products.

lesdunham

The 2 bikes (Chinerello and S5) mentioned. The Pinerello has about 15k miles on it. The S5 about 30. TBD on the better of the two. Pin has Ultegra 6700 and S5 now has Ultegra 6800. Hard to say either one is a back up bike. Do what is best for you and let the negative supporters of your choice be who they are. Thanks

clubber

I am curious about your experience with the ultegra 6800 specifically. I intend on going with the 6800 groupset on my new road bike build. My current road bike is a 2006 Pilot 2.1 - Bike Archive - Trek Bicycle which is equipped with a combo of an Ultegra 6600 RD and FD with 105 brifters. It is the only road bike I have (bought it off CL about 3 yrs ago)and initially intended on building a cx bike using parts from this bike. Still undecided whether I'll do that OR just buy and inexpensive cx bike to fill my off-road needs. My new road bike will have a carbon or Ti frame and all new components without doubt.

quicktrigger

I like the ideal of buying from a US company, the press fit BB is a deal killer. Far too many squeaky bikes out there, and Ive had two already.

rpenmanparker 

No alloy anywhere.

rpenmanparker 

Press fit BB did not kill the deal for me. In fact as a lifelong experimentalist I was pumped at the idea of proving the issues to be false if the installation is done properly. And to guarantee that, I undertook the job myself. So far I am one for one.

clubber

Hello again Robert,

Being the "grasshopper" of bike builders (meaning to bike building but not COMPLETELY devoid of equipment and materials knowledge ) I'm curious...(" Master" lol) as to your definition of the "installation done properly"?
That and it's raining for the 20th day straight and I don't have rain gear or fenders to properly test my new tires. Regards,

Matt

Darth Lefty 

There are several longrunning threads over on MTBR about the mountain bikes. There's a forum called "Chinertown" (China + 29er = Chiner). They all seem fairly impressed with the brands already mentioned as well as XMIPlay and XM Carbon Speed. Company reps post on those forums. The fat bikes seem especially popular, because the weight difference is huge. I've been eyeing XM Carbon Speed's 27.5+ frame, fork, and wheels and thinking, hmmm

rpenmanparker 

Scrupulously cleaned surfaces. Bearings (BB30) or plastic bearing cartridges (PF30) installed with green Loctite 609 and Loctite primer. Bearings compressed and seated with the crank assembly installed during the curing of the bonding agent.

CafeVelo

You're making it hard to keep my money where it belongs

CafeVelo

I like threads when they're available, but I would rather have press fit on a carbon bike. You can't thread carbon, so you have to bond in a metallic shell. My experience with BB90 post loctite is positive. Before loctite it was sort of noisy. In my experience a threaded cup is also noisy unless I loctite it, so the point is pretty moot for me. I used to take exception to press fit, but having ridden very hard on both systems I would venture they're about the same for me. As a highish watt rider I'll probably make everything creak by way of cups walking out or something unseating eventually.

clubber

Again not having any experience with installing or replacing a BB (something I will be doing custom due to my ankle fusion) I don't know the method of bearing compression you refer to. I'm assuming that's the crank being tightened to the recommended torque specs. And how (or what would you use specifically) to clean the crank housing?(or whatever that part or the frame is referred to) At least I didn't refer to it as the "thingamajig where the crank goes". lol

rpenmanparker 

Bottom bracket shell. Just use isopropyl alcohol, ethyl acetate or acetone (the latter two are common finger nail polish removers). Just be sure there are no additives in the solvent like moisturizers for the finger nails.

rpenmanparker 

Jus' doin' my job.

Beachbumer

The paint job from HongFu is excellent, as good or better then any bicycle paint I have ever seen and better than most.

MagicHour

Happy with my Nashbar frame too. Running ultegra level bb86 that I took to a shop to have pressed in. No problems or squeaking with about 5,000 mi on frame.

CafeVelo

What did it cost?

quicktrigger

Glad to hear that some of you have managed a positive experience with press fit BB. I certainly understand not wanting to give up. I'm as stubborn as most anyone, and I tend to keep working at a problem until I beat it. But sometimes you just start yourself from a bad spot, and while you may still be successful, unless there is substantial benefit. Why go that way just to make your life harder for no benefit. I don't hate myself that much.

I am aware that carbon fiber frame can not be threaded in the usual manner, but I'm perfectly fine with having an alloy insert bonded into the frame. In fact I personally prefer to have the alloy insert for the BB, and wheel mounts. Meaning location of high stress what need hardness and not just strength. As stated in my first post, two squeakers from major bike companies are more than enough to make press fit BB a deal killer for me. YMMV.

rpenmanparker 

clubber, I forgot to mention that when I say bearing compression, yes, what I mean is just install the crank and torque to spec immediately after pressing in the bearings on the Loctite bed. That helps align the bearing properly to the crank and helps to prevent premature wear.

clubber

Cool. I know that the base paint of these frames are in most cases very good but I was wondering if you have used any graphics such as custom decals. I read about one frame builder/manufacturer that worked very closely with a client with what I thought was a custom graphic design on a Workswell, Dengfu, or Hongfu frame.

CafeVelo

What about the paint is poor? The quality of the actual finish or the ability of the painter to execute a design? I'd really only want one or two solid colors in a couple locations. I've never been one for extreme or flashy paint jobs