Newbie – Carbon China Bike Build – 26er

Well, after a lengthy read of the Carbon builds from China, I decided to build my own. I’m still a fan of the classic 26er so I pulled the trigger on a Hongfu dual 26er frame.

HF-FM076]HongFu

After a few emails I placed the order for the items below.

Frame FM076: $660; (17.5 BSA UD Matt Frame 26er)
headset: $15
Seat post SP008: $35;
Stem ST003: $60;
Flat bar HB001 – replaced with a Carbon Riser: $33;
Spacers send as gift;
2 x bottle cages (FD 007): $25 – For my road bike!
ship cost: $92;

Total in GBP was £605.

Amazingly after only a few days the frame had arrived, extremely well packaged, all looking good. I decided to get to work and start getting this thing together. I’m not at all experienced with this type of thing. I did build up my “04” Stumpjumper from the frame up but always had the Specialized website for reference regarding sizes etc. But for this I did have some 200+ pages on MTBR to read!

This first issue was the front fork. I had a fox Talas on my Stumpy but it was the wrong colour for my new matt black carbon frame so that was replaced with a 100mm Rockshox Reba RLT. Opposed to buying a tapered fork I opted with a reducer. 1 1/8 to 1 1/2. A nice little pipe cutter trimmed the steerer tube down and that was installed.

Next was the bars. For some reason Hongfu only stock a flat bar, I thought I’d go with this initially but due to cutting it down too short. I ended up replacing it with a riser.. also from china.

My XT crank installed nicely but the next issue was the front mech. I didn’t know what to order so in the end I bought 3 different types. Thanks to “wiggle” I finally got the right one and returned the others.. Shimano XT M770 Front Dérailleur BB mount with the bracket removed is the way to go!

I originally ran a 180mm rear brake but this was too big for the Hongfu frame so it was replaced with a 160mm.

The next disaster was the controls. I originally had XT dual controls, which I have to say I liked. I installed them and got everything setup but the rear hose was too short. Simple, replace the hose! or not in my case! I couldn’t get the old hose out of the control. I ended up breaking the hose off leaving the rest in the control. I tried to drill out the olive to no avail so ended up having to ditch it. As they don’t make these I had to return to normal controls and brakes. So an nice set of XT brakes and controls were ordered and fitted.. The cost was mounting!

I dropped some new seals into my RP23 and purchased some 2 x (12.7mm M8 x 22mm) mount kit from Bicycle Suspension – TF Tuned Shox[/url] and dropped that in.

I finally ran my cables and got everything initially set-up. I’ve cut the gear outers a little short so may extend those with the spare outers I’ve got.

All I need to do now is ride her!

Here’s a few pictures. I hope you like it… I appreciate your thoughts!

I wasn’t trying to build a lightweight think but sub 25 lbs wasn’t too bad. After a few rides all was pretty good apart from the rapid rise rear mech. This was great for the dual controls but I couldn’t get on with it on a standard setup.

I’ve also since ditched the rims in favour of something slightly more exotic but that’s another story.

What do you think?

Just realised my bottle cage is upside down, best go an fix that!

Looks good..

Lovely build, did it come with the rear shock or did you already have one? I can’t find any geometry info on the site so I’m guessing they emailed all the nessacery info.

Looks good 🙂

If it were mine I’d route the rear brake hose inside the chain stay – I’d be worried about ripping it out every time I crashed or put it in the car.

I like it. Very stealthy. Looks like a Scott. Please don’t stick loads of coloured bling on it.

sellisnba, Here is the geometry for the 17.5 inch frame and yes the RP23 came off my old Stumpjumper.

wwaswas, I like the idea of routing inside the rear chain stay but I’d be a bit reluctant to drill it..

sorry, I didn;t mean literally inside, I meant behind, so it’s not on the outside and liable to get damaged if the bike its a rock or a stump.

^^^^
That could work, good idea!

That’s nice, you don’t see many China direct full suss frames built up

There is a massive thread on dual suspension 29ers on MTBR. I think a lot of people were initially worried on how well they’re made, bushes bearings etc. But I think things have certainly improved now.

Overall a pretty good experience so far!

Very few issues reported on MTBR, the few that have popped up have been sorted by the vendor.

All my China direct stuff is still going strong. Better quality than some of the expensive branded stuff I’ve had.

what is rear tyre clearance like?

I’m running 2.25 Nobby Nic’s and they’re fine, still plenty of room.