Late addition to the thread… This is my Carbonda CFR1056 size small in ‘Gravel’ mode.
Rival AXS Groupset (46/33 crankset & 10-36 cassette)
Light Bicycle AR46 with Bitex hubs
Panarace GravelKing SS 35c (actually measure out to 37c and I’m at the limits of the frame)
Look X-Track Race pedals
What is the weight and final cost if you don’t mind divulging? Looks like a very sweet ride.
Weight: 8.875 kg with Hammerhead Karoo 2 and Garmin Varia tail light
Frameset: $894
Wheels were $727
Groupset was bought piecemeal so I think it may cost around $1500
Pedals and other finishing parts were probably $250 bringing the total to around $3350.
That is a good looking setup, but man the geometry for those frames is really short….I literally could not get one of those frames to fit me.
What size do you normally ride?
I’m on a ML Giant TCR….393 reach, 561 stack (or something in that range). To get the reach I need, I would need an XL and the stack would WAY too high.
Strangely, the Large would almost match my Colnago spot on (size 52S - kind of like a 56). I think his bike is kind of an optical illusion - smaller frame, with lots of seatpost showing.
It does seem like the sizes are all one off. My Colnago is probably like a Medium or Medium-Large. Carbonda’s XL is the size of the typical large, so they don’t even make a real XL for larger folks. Chinese market, I guess.
A friend bought a Carbonda. He loves it and had a good experience with them.
I’m very happy with my Light-Bicycle wheelset and also bought an integrated handlebar from LightCarbon which was highly recommended but haven’t got round to actually build that CX bike so can only say it looks very nice.
BTLOS make great wheels. I’ve been bashing the set on my XC hardtail around for a while now and no issues. I bought a set for a road bike I built up also, 60mm deep rim brake wheels and they’re great too.
I’ve bought a few chinese bits and pieces without any drama.
Elita one seatpost off aliexpress
Multiple Uno stems off aliexpress
Sigeyi power meters
I got some silicone grips off aliexpress that are pretty nice too.
Like anywhere else in the world there’s different tiers of quality and the Chinese are plenty capable of making high quality products if they’re not having to meet other constraints.
I got the L-Twoo GR7 one by shifters and derailleur for my gravel bike and have been pretty pleased. I’m going to do a review of it on my blog, and maybe a video review too.
As an aside, I also got some cable actuated hydraulic disc brakes from Z-Race on AliExpress and they’re great! I’ll probably do a review of those.
I’m kind of nerding out on videos on Youtube about this stuff right now.
-Hugh
Sweet. Can’t wait to hear an update
I’ve just ordered some Clarks CRS C2 brakes from the UK. They appear to be the same as the ZRace M1 and e3 pro brakes from AliExpress. From reading reviews they appear to be a quality item.
I have high hopes for my Clarks, but based on all the reading I’ve done since, I think I’d be willing to give the Ali options a try (just use genuine pads and rotors)
Chris Miller and Jesse Coyle of the Nero show have a great interview up with Joe from China Cycling this week. It gives a great insight of the ins and outs of the bicycle industry at the moment.
The weekly show is usually a good watch anyway but this is defo worth a watch
I’m very much liking the Z-race brakes. I’m just using the pads that came with it (once they sort of bedded in) but will certainly have to explore new ones at some point.
-Hugh
New video from China Cycling on the Hydraulic Sensah Groupset
Been waiting for this as it has clearly been a limiting factor in adoption for road use.
This is analogous to the development of the first hydraulic brifters…until that happened, adoption of discs was always gonna be limited.
Honestly, I’m surprised Microshift has not done it before now (or if they did, I have missed it).
With Shimano moving to CUES, this opens up more options for lower-priced companies to move into these price segments.
Does anyone have any recommendations on high quality reasonable priced Chinese wheel brands?
Five years ago Light Bicycle and Farsports were clear standouts. These days, Farsports rim profiles look a little dated and their prices are getting close to a name brand budget set of wheels. Light Bicycle has modern profiles but their prices are also pretty high when you add in their fees and shipping.
Has any chinese wheel maker taken over the high quality on a budget position?
(FWIW, I’m comparing to the Zipp 303S, and less expensive Rovals that are on sale right now). ($1000-1200 for a set). I wouldn’t spend $800 or $900 on Chinese wheels when I could get name brand wheels with a warranty in the US for a few hundred more.
I built up a Tsunami Seaboard GR-02 gravel bike with all Aliexpress parts, have half a season on it and rode BWR Canada with it without any issues. I read about other peoples experiences on the chinertown forum and made my component selection with that in mind. Total cost was around $1800, weight at 19lbs.
I build up a gravel and a road bike using Sensah SRX Pro 11 & Empire Pro 11. I like the Sensah much more than my Dura Ace 9100 and Ultegra 6800 setup that I changed out the DA shifter for Team Pro and dumped my 6800 (oldest bike and now retired). Currently working on a V3RS build with Sensah Empire Pro 11. The gravel was around ~2k (Motobecane Mulekick CF build kit frame & wheels ~1K) with XCADEY power meter. The road was ~1.5k with SRAM Force brakes, SIGEYI RX power meter, & existing wheels.
I got the L-TWOO Gr7 1x10 gravel group and have been really liking it. I did a review on my blog.
Pros: affordable, easy to set up, looks great
Cons: not as crisp as I would like, no clutch on the derailleur.
Read my thoughts here: L-TWOO GR7 1x10 shifters and derailleur review.
-Hugh
