Cheap Chinese Carbon 29er?

[thecaptn]

Hi All,
Has anyone had any experience with chinese carbon frame and/or fork? I like the idea of an ultralight carbon 29er frame/fork, 1 X 11, drop bars and hydro discs. Combined with a good light wheelset and tubeless tyres I've heard that one can build a sub 8kg machine.
eg.http://www.ebay.com/itm/FR-217-Full-Car ... 0890857670" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mitchy_]

sub 8kg is possible. presumably with drop bars, etc. you'll be looking at more of a disc CX than a 29er?

i have a chinese carbon disc CX with 25mm tyres that comes in bang on 7kg, seems to be very similar to what you want to build.

[thecaptn]

Yes this would be the easiest way to do it, I just like the idea of the fat tyres. I'm not sure what you'd call it but I was thinking drop bar 29er.

[mitchy_]

what sort of tyre width, 40mm? or 2"+?

my CX frame has clearance for up to 40mm tyres (with mud clearance) i'm told, otherwise a 29er will be better if you want wider.
my only query would be how the frame geometry would work with drop bars, i suppose you can always fiddle with stems and seatposts to make it work!

[thecaptn]

I was imagining using 2"+ tyres and I think you'd be able to drop bars to work with the geo of the frame. You can put flat bars on a road bike so you should be able to go the other way?

[gabrielle260]

I was imagining using 2"+ tyres and I think you'd be able to drop bars to work with the geo of the frame. You can put flat bars on a road bike so you should be able to go the other way?

I've converted a Lynskey 29er to a rigid drop bar format and it works, kind of.
Firstly - mtb's are longer in the top tube than road bikes so "to go the other way" requires a super short stem. I use a 50mm stem that everyone said would make the bike very twitchy but I seem to manage it without a problem.
You will also need to carefully consider the brand/type of drop bar as the reach dimension can vary enormously - do it wrong and you will be stretched out way too far.
Likewise you will need to consider the brifters you use as there is variance in the reach of those between the big brands.
Then there is the hydraulic disc brake issue - currently all road hydraulics on the market are on recall for various reasons. You can use a TRP converter but give it a few months and they will be obsolete. MTB hydraulic levers have a different pull ratio so can't be used on drop bars.
I use Avid BB7R - the road version of the mechanical disc brake - and they work but I look forward to road hydraulics!!
Then there is the issue of component compatibility. The chain line of the 29er is based on a MTB crankset which means a road or CX crankset will not work as well and will most likely reduce tyre clearance (which kinda defeats the purpose, really!)
Typically you need a mix of MTB and road components to make a drop bar 29er work. Currently if you want 10 speed your best option is SRAM as their 10 speed road and MTB drive trains are cross compatible.
I use Shimano 9 speed because I could do it cheaply and it's bulletproof but after Shimano went to 10 speed the cross compatibility was lost. Now 11 speed is here I am waiting to see what works with what.... For example I'd love to use SRAM Red 11 speed levers with their XX MTB 11 speed cluster and even a 2 x crankset - that would be awesome but it is currently a pipe dream!!
So, all up, you can do it currently - kinda!
Andrew

[thecaptn]

I currently use A mixture of Sram 10 speed mtb and road stuff on my commuter which works great because of the matching pull ratio, I assumed that 11 speed woul be the same but now you've got me wondering. As far as the road hydro stuff is concerned I could either wait until Sram sorts out it's problems or just use cables as you say, they're much easier to work on anyway.

It really would be so much easier to just use a cyclocross frame.
Thanks,
Pete

[mitchy_]

It's not pull ratios that affect mtb hydraulic brakes, it's the levers don't fit on larger OD drop bars.
Chainline is also fine on 1x** with a road crank and 135 rear hub, mine works with plenty of clearance.

I'm not sure that mtb 11spd will work with road 11 spd either. That said you can get wide range road cassettes.
I have 1x10 on my disc CX, does the job with an 11-28 cassette, although 11-32 is an option as well or 34/36 with a sram mtb derailleur.

I'm always waiting to see why hydro disc brake options there are. Pretty keen on a hope v-twin setup, but at the moment I run avid BB7 S Road's with great success.

[Duck!]

Shimano's R785 brakes are the only road hydros currently on the market, due to everything else being recalled. The catch is, they're only available with Di2 electronic shifting.
But you will have a headstart when XTR Di2 comes out later this year/early next year!

[mitchy_]

Shimano's R785 brakes are the only road hydros currently on the market, due to everything else being recalled. The catch is, they're only available with Di2 electronic shifting.
But you will have a headstart when XTR Di2 comes out later this year/early next year!

Hope V-twin is all good, albeit not a fully integrated setup like shimano or sram offer.