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What do you think is the biggest chainring you could fit on the front? Because I also want to use the bike on the road and want to have some bigger gears also.

Hey Riley, thanks for sharing this! I'm in the process of building my parts list on Aliexpress. I want to build a 1x system and looking at this groupset. Based on your experience with it, how did it it run up until failure and would you recommend it? Thanks!

Hi again Riley. ¿which handlebar steering cap did you buy? I can not find any compatible. Thanks

Ali express is awesome

This is awesome! I hope it lasts you a long time

How is the wheelset holding up?

hi riley! ¿how did you get this internal cable routing parts? thanks

Interesting, I've also seen Trace Velo's video (I believe he also said the VG Sports cassettes were quite bad, not sure but I've had similar bad experience with a cheap cassette from there). I wonder what's causing it to bind up like that, if it's just poor tolerances, etc... since cleaning doesn't seem to help, which would have been my first expectation as well. I've been using some cheap ZTTO chains lately which look very similar, but no such issues yet; I'll have to keep an eye on them, hoping it's just VG Sports specifically! That said the ZTTO chains do wear a bit faster too, the selling point is that they're dirt cheap and come in colors besides silver. (currently hoping to do some rough testing and see if it's possible to make a cheap chain last longer with waxing, enough to be a viable option, but now I'll have to keep checking that the links aren't binding up along the way.)

That machine is cool!

sorry to say this is known

black & gold FTW

What was the total cost of the build

Not sure what hubs were on your original wheels, but it’s unlikely you could swap the old freehub onto the new Hunt wheels. Freehubs are often designed to be paired with the same manufacturer’s hubs. So it’s good you’re going with a new microspline cassette instead. Besides getting a 10 tooth cog, if you ordered a Shimano branded cassette, it will shift much better than your old Sunrace one.

What is the name of the wheel set you went with. Are you happy with it? I just ordered this frame appreciate your videos.

Do you happen to have a link for the fork?

Good choice to stick with M/S , means you can run a 10t sprocket now and the Hunt freehub has super fast pick up. Even if you got that HG freehub off it wouldn’t have fit :-(

The whole point in gravel riding racing is to get out away from Ai stop using it

You'll be fine - just ride more. Ride more. When you do, you'll meet people and learn and also teach others. You'll get faster if you just ride more.

Hi Riley, an interesting topic, thanks for uploading. Best of luck with your races. #Masticate

Cramps can be a sign of poor bike fit as well, but you're on-point with adjusting your eating and drinking on the bike. Timing your food and water intake can make a big difference. I also notice your training plan doesn't include any suggestion of longer rides at a slower pace (typically referred to as Zone 2). I've been using a small refillable squeeze bottle full of maple syrup as an easily digestable food source during events. Some dude from Vermont gave me the idea. Prior to that i'd make peanut butter & honey tortillas as mid-ride snacks.

Just ride. That’s about it. Once you get good at 30+ miles your muscles should stop cramping at that distance whenever you do your next race. It will be a slow but steady process, each week add about 5 to 10 miles to your regular rides. Cramping could also have been your lack of sleep. I had similar experience with 2 hours of sleep. Eat your solids on the first hour, after that it gets harder to digest and chew. Good job keep on rolling 😊

Ultimately ChatGPT and similar AIs are going to provide an "average" of all the related content in their training data. So -- if you are just starting, it'll likely provide the consensus advice, which is useful; kind of like the kind of information you might get from Wikipedia.

u too lol the sizes still suck but Everything Else is so much better , good job

hi i also have aliexpress build gravel and so happy witth it!

Классный вел

Hi Riley…just bought the same frame… Hope its gonna survive in 2-3 gravel race this year. Plan to setup intergrated dropbar as well..Still searching for one. Total weight if u dont mind 😁

Also try going bigger as well. For example, I have to grind through a wood chip area on my 45mm tires. I can look where I rode and see the mark where my my wheel plowed through in the wood chips. 48mm tires allow me to float over that pile. No evidence of me riding over it on the 48 mm tires. Feels like I am using 100 more watts to power through the junk on the 45mm tires. I've got some TPU tube ordered now can't wait to try them.

That floor looks familiar It is always surprising how much junk and chaos surrounds a bike build. Juin Tech GT (the 4 piston version) is my favorite break. It is the same as the Yokozuna. I use the Yokozuna reaction compressionless cable for them(. This combo gives me better modulation and power better than my ultegra hydraulics. The worked perfect out of the package. Enjoy that build!

The black and gold is nice

Hey ! I just finished my ali gravel build based on ltwoo GR9 and I am disappointed with this groupset and lots of its design shortcomings. If I knew, I would take a chance with sesnah hrd 1x11. And I also opted for conti terra trail and I confirm they are easy to put on. They are plyable enough that with a bit of knack you can put them on without tire levers. Sealing them was also no fuss. As for the rubbing calipers - you may have the same issue as I had with my ltwoo calipers - even if you hold the calipers clamped to jave them aligned with the rotors while tightening the bolts, they still can move a little bit to the right. To evade this I found that you either have to tighten the bolts progressively switching between one and another or you tighten the back/bottom bolt first, them you hold the caliper in position to prevent it from moving when tightening the front/upper bolt. And if there's not enough space to fit a torque wrench, then you are simply left with a long allen key with a handle grip and a ball head tip that allows for tightening the bolt at an angle.

Are the frame and forks currently ok? How far have you already traveled? Is there play in the steering column and seat tube?

Beautiful.

hit here, what brand wheels are you using and where did you buy them from? was it ali express?

May I ask what is your height and the size of the frame? Thanks.

Very cool build. Do you mind sharing how much that cost, vs what you think it might have cost if you bought similar name brand items off Western sites, or locally? A few years ago, I built a Chinese carbon frame hard tail 29er and I had no clue what I was doing. I mostly got it together right but had to get help from a shop in the end. It was a lot of fun. I'm currently "building" 2 gravel bikes. One is a Kent trouvaille and the other is some giant hybrid. They are both getting a lot of parts from aliexpress, and I'm nearly done with the giant, but the Kent's shifters seem to have been put on their slowest boat. the Kent is totally a meme bike, but it felt pretty cool when I rode it with a mocked up drop bar, so I'm giving it a shot.

Can you give an update on Senicx GR3 crankset? How does it hold so far?

Awesome DIY Build! Kudos to you. Curious about the shifting and brake performance. How are they? Thanks.

Looks really cool! Good luck with all the training

I have a SSCX bike with an Absolute oval chainring. I've done a couple gravel mountain pass climbing races with it. Good chainring!

nice upgrade🎉

What did you use the electric power saw for? 😂Nice bike, I don't think I'm convinced with fully internal cables through the handlebar and frame - might be why you had problems setting up the rear brake perhaps?

How much does it weigh?

Good looking bike. You did a better bike check than most of the popular people.

I was curious to see how your bike was holding up, especially since there's a sale for this frame right now. Glad to see it's riding well. Also have you considered immersive waxing your chain? For gravel bikes especially, it really keeps the entire drivetrain clean and you just have to re-dip the chain in wax every few hundred of miles.

Those Zeray pedals are lighter than XTR pedals. How did you find the clipping out of them? Mine are horrible, they clip out but then the cleat gets stuck sometimes in the pedal body, causing at least 1 fall.

hello! what are those headset spacers? they look neat. can you give a link for this handlebar?

Nice bike! Are these rims 45 mm depth?

Did you say the frame is M/54? May I know how tall you are? And what is the length of the stem? I want to buy a frame from BXT, but I don't know what size. I'm 184, normal length arms and legs, for the Scott Gravel Addict, which has the same geometry, the calculator on the website shows me 56, but BXT recommends 54. Based on the length of the top tube, these sizes really seem strange. I also read on Reddit that this Scott model has a longer frame and it would be better to size down. Well, 54 also looks more beautiful to me than 56 😂

I think this is definitely the most compelling gravel frameset on ali express. I saw on the chinertown forum that some people have been having problems with the headset and the correct bearings etc. I wondered if you had any issues with this. Ps. I have the same pedals and saddle on my cx bike. I actually have that ec90 saddle on all my bikes. So comfy.

looks rad, I want to try the pedals, how much slighter than the 520s? And are you still good with them?