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My 2021 San Quentin 3 has a low Stack height. Stupidly low for a 20" frame. 604mm. The new 2023 frame is about 30mm+ higher. I think they realised what they'd done. They also dropped the seattube length which is bad for me because obtaining a long enough dropper posts is nigh on impossible where I am. I've also had to deal with limited options on high rise handlebars to make the bike fit, in both a land of small people, and through covid stock issues.
I want a bike build for exercise on mountain roads. To keep fit and not die young. And to have a bike that fits me comfortably so I can ride long enough to benefit from the riding.
Recently a cheap hardtail frame appeared locally. 666mm Stack height. 560mm fork A2C. I translated the description and it said suitable for "forest paths" whatever they are...? It's a 29er. But itl think the chainstays aren't long enough. So I'm sticking 27.5" fork and wheels in there. I can just transfer all my parts over, use a spare Enduro fork, buy some cheap colour coordinated parts (why not!)
So, I'm building it up this morning (see picture as I got it buolt up to start getting the cockpit sorted) and now I see a warning label on the toptube next to the headtube. It's under the gloss so I can't remove it. It wasn't made evident on the sales page which has a plethora of pictures.
The English is almost there, but there was one part that astonished me, and another that maybe me laugh.
"not designed for....off-road use."
"Do not ride at night."
Bad translation job? "We found a way to never pay for warranties", or thus frame is simply made from 'Chinesium'?
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[url= https://i.postimg.cc/HjYckbK0/IMG20231020135957.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/HjYckbK0/IMG20231020135957.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
The bicucling didn't worry you?
Since the 'y' key is next to the 'u' key I gave that one a pass.
It also gives the whole thing an onomatopoeia thing to go along with the laughter at the sticker.
Maybe an injoke from the copywriter 🤪
“Do not ride at night” a way of getting around the requirement to have provided adequate reflectors on the original full build?
Did you not have a frame like that with manitou xverts on it early 2000s ?
Mrdestructo buys bike frame not designed to be ridden hard. It's not looking good!
Where in the world are you?
And was this a brand new frame?
That’s brilliant!
Reminds me of the “Professional use only” stickers you used to get on things like crap badminton racquets.
😂
This is China. Where the difficulty in getting anything to fit a Caucasian build means digging deep into the depths of imitation and low, low budget.
This frame cost £95.50. Retail
Incidentally, you know those AliExpress sales pages where they write a paragraph of seemingly repetitive, ludicrous descriptions? A lad I was working with out here said he likes English because he can accurately describe things. That his language is too vague, and body language almost non-existent (and vague)
This frame is just for riding roads. And I live in a mountainous region where my average speed is as low as 10kph over 45km exercise rides with heavier tyres. I won't be going off-road with it. But there's still potholes galore to contend with so we'll see if it cracks on me.
The welds aren't Marin quality, but not too bad:
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/XG8Qrjm6/IMG20231021170244.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/XG8Qrjm6/IMG20231021170244.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/z3zx9hHz/IMG20231021170400.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/z3zx9hHz/IMG20231021170400.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/rzffcp5S/IMG20231021170437.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/rzffcp5S/IMG20231021170437.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
Except maybe on the inside of the driveside chainstay:
[url= https://i.postimg.cc/xJCbP9q2/IMG20231021170612.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/xJCbP9q2/IMG20231021170612.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
Why wouldn’t you buy a road bike or a gravel bike if it’s for the road?
Gravel has only recently become a thing here.
Because I'm in China and I'm a head taller than most riders, not to mention body parts being all sorts of weight lengths. The tall lads here play basketball. Jersey, shorts, socks and trainers, plus a ball. Probably spent £50 on their entire kit. They can't get their heads round paying more than £70 for a steel commuter bike. And they're lazy when it comes to transportation. The first guy to walk West to East, following their main river was an American, or Canadian. I forget. Ask locals and they'll say you're mad to even consider it. They don't play around with A to B journeys. E-mopeds cost about £400. You can be lazy at 45-50kph. Without a helmet, decent footwear or gloves, whilst texting on your phone.
The majority of frames here are 16/17/18". Because foreign imports are ridiculously expensive, and they usually don't import the largest frames anyhow (It's like shoe shop mentality back home: "we don't sell 12.5UK so we don't stock them." If they stocked them, they'd sell out.
And, find a bike in your size and the Stack height is like 585-604mm.
Where do you think all these combi stem/bars come from that angle downwards? They're short here!
Anyhow, just waiting on my wheels to come, in components. The ones I like to buy have stopped coming into the country. Quite a lot of items have recently. Homegrown brands are taking over. Or nationalism means they're boycotting stuff.
Stack height of a frame is just head tube angle combined with head tube length. Just pop a new set of uncut forks on the old frame and whack a load of spacers under the stem, no?
This frame has a 60mm BB drop.
Here's two frames they do, the XC and Gravel. The gravel has a 75mm BB drop and 640mm Stack. The extrem BB drop is a risk for pedal strikes? This, I believe is how they get the Stack up higher.
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[url= https://i.postimg.cc/YhdKRSxm/tb-image-share-1697941832689.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/YhdKRSxm/tb-image-share-1697941832689.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
On my Marin SQ3 I had 40mm of spacers, and 71mm riser bars.
But then I needed to fit a longer stem because the Reach has shortened, and things start getting odd on the front end. An Enduro hardtail going from a 45mm stem to 60mm, weight hanging over the front wheel, is not ideal and not who they were designed for. The 2023 model has a 30mm heightler Stack, but a shorter seattube. Getting any dropper post over 150mm here is near on impossible (short people again!)
Forgot to mention earlier. Curved spine, so I don't do road bikes (or gravel)
I'm 6'4" and don't live in China but I can absolutely buy a frame from China that would fit
Should I send you an aliexpress link?
Thanks for the offer.
Unfortunately, we have internal sales platforms we must use. We can't order from there. It's export QC/customs only. There are *cough* counterfeit goods. I can still buy old 510s made to order, old wider toebox size, for example.
There are international stores on Taobao, but only a Chinese national can buy from it. Mainly food and fashion, not MTBs.
There are also many sellers whose shops appear on Taobao and Aliexpress, but frequently they're selling different gear on the different platforms (I have browsed AliExpress occassionally and found a load of older generation gear being sold on there to you guys, with different brand names printed on it).
There also limits on certain brands being imported to China (for instance, I can't order Shimano in the UK to my parents house and have them send to me as it'll get seized at customs. I did look into it for Rockshox fork parts - air shaft, Charger damper. Ended up buying a new fork...)
Just remember not to start any of that stunting.
We're all familiar with the warning on US car mirrors "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear" when I worked in Texas there was a case going through the courts of a student who fell out of a window mooning passers by, stating that he hadn't been adequately warned of the consequence of his actions. Had he won, all opening windows would need a no mooning warning!
At $95 I'd buy 2 and strap them together - so the 2md one saves you when the 1st one breaks