So I wanted a winter bike to stop me using my Fuel in the crap and wearing out all the shiny parts.

I've long wondered about these <£200 carbon hardtails on eBay from China, so I bought one! Frame weight on my scales is 1240g, as with all these things it's ended up being much more bling than I intended, weighs in at 20lbs.

It's my first foray into hardtails since my S-Works Carbon in 2006 and frankly it's far nicer than that! Not only is the frame lighter, it's a much more compliant ride, which is a good result!

Whether it will fold up under me is something else altogether, considering my relatively slight build and my ability to out-mince most I suspect not…

Few more pics here

I would like to weigh myself on your scales – i would be 10 stone!!

I like the XTR chainset and X0 on a winter mud bike!

sids and avid ultimates or elixirs?

hehe yea, thats more bling than my race bike for sure, not sure what racing ralph comment supposed to mean though as theres probably nothing particularly heavy on that build, dunno what the wheels are though.

it was tongue in cheek based on the weight weenie thread from months ago re scales.

Where are these sub £200 carbon frames?

Good work. Looks great! I think it would look even better with a pair of NU flat bars on it 😉

Yeah I've got some NU Scandium bars here which could go on it, quite like the risers though. I feel dirty just saying it!

SID Teams, brakes are 'Juicy Ultimate Mag SLs' which are just Juicy Ultimate levers with Elixir calipers.

Wheels are Roval Controle SL, 1360g. I only have one pair of forks and wheels at the moment sadly, so it's not really a whole bike, or it is, but then my Fuel isn't, and vice versa!

Yep the 'winter mud' thing sort of went out the window!

its got mudx for winter so i recon it should have some exotic carbon rigid forks for mincing around in the winter on. get it sub 20lb too 🙂 maybe

Sod rigid forks, there's a line!

Where are these sub £200 carbon frames?

Go onto eBay and search for 'Carbon MTB frame' take your pick!

looks very nice how does it ride? i have never tried carbon before but for £200 a frame i might give it a go 😀

can you post a link from where the frame came from please?

Nice spokes. Did you build the wheels yourself? I did something similar with a few white spokes recently.

Lovely looking xc weapon. Will you be racing it?

Nah, they're a factory built wheelset. They're nice, but I wouldn't pay £600 or whatever they are RRP, they came on a bike.

Dunno if I'll be racing it, to be honest I've had a very expensive month, and it may be back on eBay before long!

If I keep it then I probably will race it occasionally, it's only half a pound lighter than my FS, so it would have to be a course which is really hardtail specific, but if I've still got it for the first round of the NPS at Sherwood it may get a race number hung on it!

There's loads here, take your pick! They're a bit more expensive than when I bought, guess the dollar's got stronger. There are a few different designs, and they do get sold at different prices, so have a look through all the sellers.

That is pretty impressive Nick. You really are a tart though, XTR on a winter bike 😆

I know it's terrible isn't it!?

I did get the chainset on the cheap, and I had the rings off the Epic, so sold the stock XTR ones, so it cost a fair bit less than even XT can be had for!

You could save some more weight by singlespeeding it.

Once you've ridden it come back and tell us what its like, and if its still in one piece…

How do the Elixer calipers work with a Juicy master-cylinder/lever?

Got to say that looks really nice for a £200 frame. I'm very tempted 🙂 Would really like to hear a ride review.

And I thought my winterbike was excessive! At least I have an SLX chainset to bring reduce the shine on the surrounding hand-me-down XTR.

Interested to know how the frame lasts.

The seatpost you are using there: Is that a carbon one with a step-down in size halfway down?

Looks nice! I'll keep my eyes peeled for it at Sherwood in a few weeks…

Winter bike?! Better than my summer bike!

Once you've ridden it come back and tell us what its like, and if its still in one piece…

I have ridden it, a couple of times, and it was great. Nothing I don't trust to be very durable, save the frame, which I suspect will last for years!

It's an alu seatpost with a 'step' in the middle of it Dougal:

I'm pretty sure i've also ridden one, branded Karbona. I liked it a lot. My mate actually has bought it (from our club sponsors) and he's been very happy with it, built with revelations which suprisingly it seems fine with even at 130.

Interesting to see an alloy stepped post. The reason I was asking is that the carbon version has a habit of snapping.

karbona seems to have funky dropouts and top routed cables

nick i agree it needs SSing

I was thinking about building my missus one of these for her race bike but in the end bought her an alloy merida- after taking a look at her current bike which has been abused to within an inch of its like – had it been carbon it would be dead i think ….

The dropouts are the same I think but you're right that the cables are routed differently though that could just be a later version of the same thing since they're just rivetted on iirc.

I have just bought one of these and it should be here by the end of the month. http://www.hongfu-bikes.com/Products.asp?Id=405 I built a road bike last year and the quality of these frames are superb for the cost.

How much was that foglie?

njee20 it looks just great, ive seen you full suss racer on here a few times, and given there isnt much diference in weight I am going to be interested in what you think is the fastest bike. I realise the course will have an effect on this though.

Yeah it'll be down to the course, I still plan to use the FS the vast majority of the time, if only because the shop will be PO'd to have sorted me out with an uber bling bike very cheap and then have me use an unbranded eBay hardtail!

Thetford and Sherwood I will probably race the hardtail if I still have it, and any races where it's likely to be very muddy! By the time it's got summer tyres on it should be down around 19lbs, and rather quick I suspect.

That Karbona frame is far heavier, 1510g in an 18", mine's an 18" and was 1240g.

Are you going to do any of the MSG series njee20?

http://mudsweatgears.blogspot.com/

Possible, but not very likely, they're right in the middle of the season, with the NPSs, Southern XCs and I'm doing some triathlons this year there's not too many free weekends!

That Karbona frame is far heavier, 1510g in an 18", mine's an 18" and was 1240g.

Or perhaps your scales are inaccurate?

Or perhaps your scales are inaccurate?

or you dont know nick very well – his scales are often referred to at races as the scales of truth 😉 the generally over weigh everyone elses quoted weights but his are bang on low ……

epicsteve
njee20 is that much of a weight weenie he even has carbon scales, I would think he has some that are pretty accurate… I think he even weighed is own body waste last year in an effort to gain speed. 🙂

Sounds like you at the pointier end of the racing scale than I am njee20 I just like taking the family out for a ride with a purpose avery now and then..

Mine has a claimed weight of 1250, so maybe mine are innacurate, but if it's the same manufacturer, why claim a 300g difference!?

I have indeed shattered many an illusion!

Sounds like you at the pointier end of the racing scale

I wouldn't go that far! Thetford's a good three hour drive for me, so I don't tend to go there during the summer when there's other things on, the girlfriend has a sense of humour failure after a while! She's oddly interested in coming to France for an Xterra triathlon in July, and yet she's thoroughly lukewarm about standing in a field in Yorkshire handing me bottles!

There's loads on eBay, but around £400. Or is £200 the wifeprice?

Nah there's loads, they're a bit more now, Dollar must've weakened. You have to look at international sellers.

This one is exactly like mine.

Interesting stuff – good to hear that it rides well.

I was thinking of getting a Kinesis ht for my race bike, but then came across the Dirty Jo triple butted frames for only £99, which have confused me and now I'm tempted by one of these!

According to a couple of sellers, the 16.5" has an effective TT of 556mm, which I could probably get away with, but I'm not sure what standover would be like?

Njee – how tall are you and what's your inside leg (if you don't mind me asking!) How does your 18" come up? What stem are you using?