My Boardman CX is being upgraded to a Chinese Carbon CX frame

[tincaman]

I had to pay import duty on my cf frame iirc it was about £8 plus a £15 handling charge. So not too bad.

I have budgeted another £100 for duty etc, so if it goes through at less than that I will be pleased, it depends on what value the sender indicates on the declaration

 

[tincaman]

Tracked it through customs so it should be out for delivery soon

 

[Globalti]

The bike pictured looks lovely I admit but I also admit that having seen some of the experiences my customers have suffered when buying Chinese raw materials, I am too prejudiced. I would buy from someone like Planet X because I would be fairly sure the frame had been glued together correctly and many other customers are riding the same bike safely down hills at 40 mpg with just a bit of polystyrene foam stuck on their heads..

 

[JoeyB]

Yup I love the look of the pictured bike too

 

[tincaman]

The bike pictured looks lovely I admit but I also admit that having seen some of the experiences my customers have suffered when buying Chinese raw materials, I am too prejudiced.

Please tell?

 

[Globalti]

I work in export in the perfume industry so my customers are manufacturers of body cream, eau de toilette etc. Many of them, especially the Africans, buy raw materials and packaging from China and there are numerous stories about short or sub-standard deliveries. In a consignment of glass bottles you can expect up to 10% to be broken thanks to bad handling and raw materials are seldom as sampled and agreed. The same goes for Indian raw materials as well, I'm afraid. Chinese goods can do the job if you're making a budget product (they are usually gob-smackingly cheap compared to the European product) but for it to work you MUST have an agent in China who goes to oversee the loading of the container and checks that everything is as described and agreed.

The reason why we are expanding our exports as fast as we are (typically 5% growth a year and now 96 countries) is that we guarantee batch-to-batch consistency, which is worth a lot to Africans for example, who are accustomed to being cheated and robbed at every turn of the way. Increasingly these customers are turning away from the allure of cheap China goods and buying more expensive but better quality European raw materials, which are more cost-effective because the customer is not buying then shipping useless diluent. The glass bottles will never stop though, as long as an Italian or French glass perfume bottle will cost you a dollar whereas the Chinese "equivalent" is a few cents.

There have also been some shortages of key industrial raw materials thanks to factory fires in China or because the production process is too dangerous and polluting even for the municipal authorities in that city and they have closed the factory down, depriving our industry of the feedstocks for certain crucial raw materials.

 

[oldroadman]

Yes, very pleased so far, but don't expect to gain much in overall speed! They are much lighter (weighed in at 1640g) and so change the feel and handling of the bike. I have paired them with 25mm Pro4 Endurance and this seems a good match, size wise they pump up to 27.5mm @ 90psi, so I run 90psi back and 75psi front, (I weigh 80kg). A rear wheel bearing went noisy in the first 100 miles but rather than send them back I just knocked it out and pushed a new one in at a cost of £10 for the bearing, very easy job to do. The freehub assembly just drops out when you unscrew the axle so is very easy to get access to the inner bearings on the hub, you dont even have to take the cassette off. There are 2 cartridge bearings in the main hub and two more in the freehub.

Seems a bit low on the front for an 80kg weight rider. Pressure front/rear can be about the same if the weight is correctly balanced. Make the font too soft and handling will be stodgy. Personally at 80kg I would have opted for 6-7 bar in both (I think that's about 90-106psi in old money).

 

[tincaman]

Seems a bit low on the front for an 80kg weight rider. Pressure front/rear can be about the same if the weight is correctly balanced. Make the font too soft and handling will be stodgy. Personally at 80kg I would have opted for 6-7 bar in both (I think that's about 90-106psi in old money).

Its a trade off, too hard and the ride is bumpy, too soft and you lose rolling resistance. Bearing in mind that the measured width of these tyres is 27.5mm, then we are looking at tyre pressures suitable for 28mm tyres, ie the volume of air is higher than a standard 25mm. That will give me corresponding lower pressures. I have played around with pressures and have now settled on 90 back 80 front

 

[NormanD]

I tried my Gatorskins at 60 psi in both today ... never again sloppy wasn't the word and rolling resistance was real high ...back to my normal 105 psi rear and 100 psi front

 

[oldroadman]

Its a trade off, too hard and the ride is bumpy, too soft and you lose rolling resistance. Bearing in mind that the measured width of these tyres is 27.5mm, then we are looking at tyre pressures suitable for 28mm tyres, ie the volume of air is higher than a standard 25mm. That will give me corresponding lower pressures. I have played around with pressures and have now settled on 90 back 80 front

Why would this mean lower pressures? All you have is greater air volume and if the tyre is a 25, then it's a 25, not a 28, whatever the "measured width", which can easily be out by a couple of mm depending on how accurate the measuring is. 80/90 ,may be OK but even pressure and a bit higher for an 80kg rider would seem better.

 

[tincaman]

Frame took 5 days to get to the UK, has been with customs for a week, Parcelforce for 2 days, now got a letter today from Parcelforce with customs and handling charge totaling £35, delivery now should be tomorrow

 

[jasonmccullum]

i have a CCF and love it. very good quality and very very stiff. hope you enjoy it as much as i do

 

[tincaman]

My CCF has arrived looking very shiny. Time to check it over, screw the BB in and install the headset.
Frames looks very nice, the chain stays are massive.

 

[tincaman]

Any idea what these are that came in a little bag with the frame? They are about 4cm long.

 

[Luegolover]

Hi, I got exactly the same pieces with my frame, I too have no idea. When we bought my wife's Ribble it also came with these things.