New carbon roadie. I have questions.

I have a Cannondale system six with fully integrated aero stem bar combo and there is no noticeable flex. And I weigh 94kgish so it gets a fair workout.

What’s the head angle? Edit: just checked your link. Looks pretty standard for a racing frame - shouldn’t feel sluggish or slow.

What length is your stem? What size is the frame? That’s a lot of seat post exposed and a fair stack of headset spacers…

You would know if there was an issue with the headset as it would be rough and very noticeable with the wheel off the ground.

Nothing really to add, I'd happily ride a Chinese frame, but I'm always put off the ones that come with the integrated bars/stem due to an irrational fear of them failing.

I've a carbon bike with carbon bars and there is no flex at all, rock solid and I'm heavier again.

Even when I'm hooning it to 65kmph on the dual carriageway to get off before the mway.

Just looking at that saddle to bar drop gives me a sore back!! I’m assuming not, but is there any chance such an extreme position could be causing the funny feeling handling?

Having said that, I think that looks a nice bike tbf. Tan sidewalls and carbon rims just look right imo.

Hard to tell from that photo, but it looks like the hoods are a long way out. A long stem will make the bike steering feel sluggish, could it be that?

One of the reviews on the link in your post says he needed a spacer to stop the headset binding so deffo check that.

The reach on the bars (how much the drops extend forwards) looks long to me but hard to tell!

Friend has a one piece carbon bar and stem from Chinese manufacturer, it's horrible flexy. I'd be changing to something bit nicer. In your pic you have no bar tape?

It's the Small frame, and I am 5'8 (possibly with long legs). The stem is 100mm and the bars aren't particularly long - I think it's just that the Ultregra shifters themselves are quite long. I would have gone for a 90mm or even 80mm stem if it were available - I may still. A medium frame would have been better in the leg but would need an even shorter stem.

A branded integrated bar will cost almost as much as the whole frameset (£450+), so I'll need to figure out a cheaper alternative which can still get the cables into the head tube.

I will investigate the headset spacer a bit more; thanks.

No bar tape yet, in anticipation of a bit more messing about before it's finished!

I wouldn’t think it normal to have sluggish steering on that road bike.
Each road bike I’ve had has been fairly stiff feeling and quite ‘darty’ in terms of handling - happy to change direction with the slightest of body movements. Had a caad 9, boardman team carbon and now a caad12 disc. All a touch heavier than your build.

I wonder if your headset is binding a bit - is there any resistance when you turn the bars?

Your saddle looks very high - is the bike actually the right size for you? I’m not wildly flexy but also not wildly stiff and there’s no way I could reach down to those bars comfortably. Could be weighting the bike a bit odd.

I’m assuming that’s pre first ride with no bar tape......

Seems like a long frame with Small at 540 ETT and Large only 25mm more at 565 ETT.
Needing the 540 ETT frame will result in a lot of seat post but yours looks crazy for a 5' 8" person.
I am similar dimensions so need shorter frames but saying that all the road bike type frames I have owned (many) have all felt very quick and responsive as far as steering goes and nothing about the geometry or stem length on your bike would say otherwise.

That frame looks way too small for you OP given the height of the saddle and the angle of the saddle. looking further you have the saddle as far forward as you can on the rails too ! As above just looks all wrong for someone who is 5ft 8

The bars should be rock solid, no flex. The flex may be being caused because your weight is so far forward and therefore a lot of pressure on the hands. But still any carbon bar that is flexing a lot, you wouldn't get me riding it !

Other than the spacer commment above. Is there any play in the headset when spinning the bars or holding the frame and rocking the front wheel backwards and forwards ?

Some road bikes can have quite slow steering, some very fast steering, but playing around with the seat position will change that to some degree, as would a new stem but that I wouldnt do that just yet.

Its difficult to tell from the pic due to the angle, but the distance from the steerer tube to the hoods does look quite some distance but hard to judge from the picture.

That frame looks way too small for you OP given the height of the saddle and the angle of the saddle. looking further you have the saddle as far forward as you can on the rails too ! As above just looks all wrong for someone who is 5ft 8

If that is the only frame you can choose and need a short top tube then you end up with a very low but long frame. Doesn't help the situation but probably should have chosen another frame as most 54cm top tube frames are larger in the other dimensions (head tube, seat tube etc,.)

I assume the minimum insertion for the seatpost is fine, but do you have enough seatpost in the frame to stop it having issues? Cracking a frame from not having enough seatpost in wouldn’t be great.

For the headset, possible that something isn’t sitting quite straight or needs a washer on top of a bearing?

the frame is too small for the OP, and the flexing is due to the cheap build of the bars.

With that much saddle to bar drop, you're going to be putting a LOT of weight on the bars, especially when braking. I've always found road bikes to want to "stand up" and be unwilling to turn under heavy braking, and I think its a weight distribution thing, in this case exacerbated by your setup. You're putting a lot of weight well in front of the steering axis, so to get the bike to turn you need to make a bigger imbalance in that weight than normally you would.

(mostly it comes down to brake OR turn; not both)

If the headset feels fine in normal riding, especially, when sat upright on the flats, I'd suspect this, and maybe consider raising your bars some.

That length of seat post is surely going to snap something?

If that is the only frame you can choose and need a short top tube then you end up with a very low but long frame. Doesn’t help the situation but probably should have chosen another frame as most 54cm top tube frames are larger in the other dimensions (head tube, seat tube etc,.)

That. Some frames just don't fit some people regardless of which nominal frame size is selected. I suspect this purchase has been cost driven above all else. I'd sell it while "new" and it might have a decent resell value, then do a bit more research into frame geometry before buying something that fits better.

Find a flat piece of road, ride it no handed and lean it left and right to see if it will track where you want it to go? Usually if my headset is too tight I notice it as soon as I take my hands off the bars.

Geometry wise that looks very close to my 52cm Addict, albeit with a 5mm lower stack. We're all different but for reference I'm shade under 5' 7" and ride it with a 110mm stem...I have nowhere near that much post showing

Check your stem bolts. I had a stiff feeling front end (ahem) on my bike. Turned out to be a slightly dirty thread, so even though torqued correctly it wasn't actually gripping the stearer tube. It felt fine when doing the usual checks but was pushing down onto the head tube when weighting the bars. This would be exacerbated with a racy position like yours.
Either that or a flat tyre.

Just how long are your legs?
I'm taller than you and have slightly longer than average legs (only a couple of cm) and it looks like your saddle is about 8-10cm higher than mine.

Who did your last bike fit?

And have seen rubbing between fork crown/head tube before, and at the other end of the head tube. Needed spacing out a bit.

I have a carbon gravel bike, when i got it I felt the steering was slow, so i changed the stem, going from 100mm to 70mm.
Instantly it felt more lively.
Maybe try it with a shorter stem, or bars with a shorter reach?

Chinese rims on Novatec hubs at about 1350.

Only done 30km this evening, but even after that the steering feels really sluggish, and particularly under heavy braking it almost feels like the headset is locking up.

Just check the wheels, make sure the hubs are OK and not binding.

Trace Velo had a few issues with front bolt through axles and dodgy front hub adapters. Novatec are OK so just rule that out.

But my money is on internal cable routing rubbing / friction. Is this the first time you've set up a bike with internal cables going through the stem/headset?

Take it apart, add the spacer, re do the cables. Look for any signs of rubbing. Try Changing gears and do braking while you can see it all and check to see what it's doing

It looks like your bike has conventional cable gears, I’ve built a couple of similar bikes and they are a right pain in the ass to get all the cables through the headset junction with a free feeling to the cables. If you didn’t build it yourself I’d start off by looking at cable routing.

The locking up when braking is most likely the frame and fork binding when your weight is forced on to them, not uncommon, my De Rosa came with a washer to stack up the bottom bearing for that very reason. Not much space in there to allow for any flex at all.

Thanks for the responses chaps. I had a closer look (first post was in a bit of a grumpy hurry). There is binding between the back of the fork crown and the head tube, and the top bearing cap and the top/front of the head tube. The bearings are sitting too deep into the head tube. VB say they are sending some new (thicker?) bearings. Seems a bodge, but ought to sort it.

I agree there's a lot of post out. It's about 15mm above min insertion (the correct side of min insertion, if you see what I mean). I think it's just that this frame has a very low top tube, and I chose the size based on ett - didn't really occur to me that length of post would become an issue. I don't have freakishly long legs! But I get knee pain if I'm sitting too low - my leg is almost straight at the bottom of the stroke. I have 170mm cranks.

The flexy bars I think are just cheap construction - seems a common issue with this brand (didn't find this out till now). I'll probably swap with a Deda or FSA stem - need to find something that can send the cables into the head tube, and there don't seem to be load of options.

I'm going to sound like a right miserable old git here, but you bought most of a Carbon bike for less cost than a Planet X frame, ( and they're they're pretty cheap) and...

The flexy bars I think are just cheap construction – seems a common issue with this brand (didn’t find this out till now).

If there's one thing I'd not want on a bike, it's cheaply constructed handlebars. The potential for significant injury is too high if they fail. And if they are problematic, what's the rest of the frame like?

There is binding between the back of the fork crown and the head tube, and the top bearing cap and the top/front of the head tube.

Well, we know they can't construct it right to make the headset not bind, that sounds misaligned to me if the bottom back and top front is rubbing.

... bodge ...

Do yourself a favour and go and chuck it in a skip this weekend. Just make sure you cut it in half first so someone doesn't rescue it and have it fail on them.