March 2026 I watched a video about bike frames from China, or rather: Chinese OEM (frames). It is in German, but talks about how Chinese biking equipment brands are trying to establish themselves, rather than just producing for others. So, with a like for crafting, making, building and biking, I started the journey of building a bike around a carbon frame from a Chinese OEM.

Disclaimer

• I'm not qualified for any deeper quality insights other than the "look and feel" of things.
• While I learned a few things from maintaining my gravel bike, I'm no professional in working with bikes.
• I did not do any price comparisons ahead of time, but will try to give one at the end. Everything was paid for by myself. This is purely a fun and passion project (including the write up).
• This is about the buying/ordering of things, Part 2 will be the build

The ordering

Unable to get the video out of my head, I did more and more digging. And everything I found seemed so positiv! So much so, that I actually started the buying process of a frame. And a process it was! Where you would expect a price tag on the website and a button for adding a component to the cart, there is an email address. And I don't know if it's like that for all manufacturers, but it was for the two or three I checked. And to me, this seemed super weird! If not for all the positive experiences online, I would have stopped right there.

Start of April I sent a mail regarding a frame I liked, starting a conversation that would end with me buying a frame and a set of wheels. With the time zone difference it was mostly one mail per day, but for the next few days and weeks, all my questions got answered, we figured out what was required, what would be included and how the payment and shipping would work. All in all it was an unusual but very nice online shopping experience and I would feel confident to do it again in the same manners. I think it's always good to make sure you receive a proper invoice at the end and check whether everything you want is on there. It helps if you know something about bikes, but the sellers were always helpful and provided answers where I felt like things were unclear.

The order

I went with the LCR018-D frame from lightcarbon. For the sizing I utilized the usual guides and references. To go with the frame I ordered two bottle cages, their 44mm deep carbon wheels and a bottom bracket.

Everything else was ordered through more "traditional" online shopping: This includes a Shimano 105 groupset and all the tooling mostly, which will get it's own fun chapter.

The package

Shipping took three months or so, due to the frames popularity I was told. Also the handlebars were not in stock anymore, which was communicated nicely - I just went with some wider ones in my case (happy UCI noises), but I could also have gotten some cheaper ones + a refund. I was not in a rush, but definitely something to consider. And to be honest here: I was relieved when the package arrived! There was not a point were things felt sketchy, but it was still a lot of money to me.

Oddly enough, the frames and wheels were shipped separately. As per the seller: To prevent damage to either. This was communicated from the beginning (since you also pay for two packages, not one). When it arrived, all was well protected and without a scratch. Axles, bolts, mounts for bike computers, seatpost - everything included. As well as a torque spec. Never ordered a frame before, but from my unprofessional POV it had everything I wanted.

Good luck with the build! I've built a few bikes in my time and my best advice is make sure you get a proper headset cup install tool.

Thx mate!
Luckily I was mostly done when starting the write up, so I'm in the process of testing the bike right now.

But yeah, the build was... something

Please post pics!

Crosspost to !fahrrad@feddit.org

Will do in the second part!

Uh nice
Will do

Crosspost to !bikewrench@lemmy.world
They'll love it.

A custom bike build is something I've kinda wanted to do myself, just cant justify the cost with what my wife can get complete bikes for.

Sounds like a nice problem to have!
But yeah, it's not like building will save you crazy amounts of money. It just striked a nerve for me