Originally Posted by
ionstorm
I found this while cruising around thinking about upgrading my Felt TK3. and I'm very intrigued.
I did The Hour (W45-49) on a borrowed Look L96, and I never did a rigorous data analysis, I had the impression it was faster (rather embarrassing for the distance I got, but several things went wrong and I know I can do better - a story for another day), and that I got slower again when I had to give it up. I was offered the frame for CAD$3200, but really I just can't afford it. While I was very grateful to have it, it seemed fragile to me for regular use - it was the TT version with the carbon dropouts, and it had an issue with the stem/fork connection. While its seatpost/mast design uses aluminum spacers instead of a clamp to set the length and cannot slip, the saddle rail clamp had the tilting problem, which I had to solve with carbon paste (grease with grit).
But I'd like to hear more from anyone who has one of these unbranded Chinese frames, especially considering some of the broohaha out there about inferior handlebars and wheels that break, creak, whatever.
Is this a good idea for local masters race night on a budget? Obviously it won't have a UCI sticker, but are they at least UCI legal, if one were to take it to a higher level event where someone would check?
there's a common Chinabron bike out there that's rebranded as a Stradalli, Veloforma, and Planet X. It's basically a Cervelo copy- geo is the same and styling is very similar. I know somebody who got one as a pursuit bike, did a bunch of aero testing, brought his cda down, etc - and i know a lot of other people who ride one. Never heard issues about it. Seems to me if you can't afford a something like a T4, which is one of the most popular track pursuit/enduro bikes at the high level, then this chinabron is a good plan b.
I've started to see these around, which are similar but new and different.
