Like one of these velobuild vb r-053 aero frameset

Or do any of the big players sell their aero framesets at a price that doesn’t make their full bikes look like a giveaway?

Some do make an effort to sell lightweight frames at a reasonable price, but not seen any aero.

I’d be wary of buying something untested, a frame that looks aero may not be aero.

SH?

Buy the full bike, sell the parts, keep the frame. Bit of a hassle though.

Bikes are probably a more competitive marketplace than frames, and with OEM deals, full builds are always going to look like much better value than frame only.

The frames still work out expensive though if you strip a full bike down – especially with grpupsets being so cheap online. Seems its a better thing to do with MTB’s where a large chunk of the bike can often be in selling the suspension fork.

Its pretty easy to find reviews and user feedback on ‘normal’ Chinese road frames but not the aero bars ones.

I guess it’s as Al says, if I was buying an aero bike I’d want confidence that the extra bulk was actually giving me some real aero benefit, and that would likely mean going for one of the bigger manufacturers. Maybe buyers feel the same hence the lack of feedback.

Thats exactly it MrBlobby, but given how keen people seem to be for chinese carbon on this forum, I was hoping someone might have taken that first step – even if it wasn’t a good one.

Some of the frame profiles look pretty similar to stuff with brand names on, but again thats no gaurantee of the actual “correct” dimensions…

Don’t know if it really counts as aero, but my LTK 115-D has the teardrop shaped seat post and the cut-out in the seat tube for the back wheel. Frame set inc two seat posts, headset and spare mech hanger was about £350 all in. Not broken or burst into flames yet!

Propels are coming in very well priced this year, alloy steerer for the base model, sadly, but £1400 for a full 105 bike for the same amount I bought my frame for is good value. Unless you need a Medium – they’ve sold them all!

As for testing, I can safely say mine has been tested to destruction – forks and carbon bars snapped on impact but I believe the frame has survived intact. My new SL is in the shop. The old frame isn’t back from the Police yet, but I’ll see if it can be salvaged with a new fork.

Yep, not a fan of alloy steerers on carbon forks, just seems a bit low rent and especially with a propel needing a dedicated fork to look right,,,,.

Would almost rather have an alloy frame with a full carbon fork. In fact I actually do….

Is the rear brake under the chainstays Mowgli?

Yep, not a fan of alloy steerers on carbon forks

Fair point, Giant are trying to save money at a price point. Next year may see carbon again.

Is the rear brake under the chainstays Mowgli?

Hope not, front one is a disk 😉

Hope not, front one is a disk

Well, you never know what a duffer you’re gonna get from a Chinese seller 😉 …. I wasn’t looking properly, only realised when I saw another one on another thread.

Looks the FM098 (Dengfu) is a bit more popular and also the Aero007 from ICAN bikes, a bit of feedback on the forums on those.

Yep, not a fan of alloy steerers on carbon forks,

Better than a an all carbon fork on an aero looking bike that’s not actually aero surely?

I have the Hongfu version of the one in the OP. Worked fine for years. Hasn’t exploded. Pretty darn flexy though. Now retired to winter hack for a super six.

Has anyone any experience of the Tt frames?

I did wonder that too, but they’re a bit more expensive and getting out of the realm of a cheap(ish) “experiment”…