Some of the web searching I did here as well as the chinese carbon frame threads helped with the decision so I figured I'd post about it. Yes, I know I only have a few posts and not recently, "It's a shill!!!" Go search MTBR under the same username, or offthelimiter if you're into exotic sports cars. I'm a long time mountain biker and forum poster getting into road riding since moving to an area where MTB is less convenient.
I got the Napoli with force components, FSA carbon crank and alu wheels. 2k on fleabay, no tax and free shipping. It showed up tuesday, I spent a couple days putting it together and finally got to ride today. My previous roadie was/is a spesh langster. I love riding SS but for greater distances and pushing a decent pace I wanted a geared carbon bike.
I didn't go with a generic chinese frame because I wanted an American address/company if there were any issues. It actually turned out to be a good thing. I typo'd the crank length when I ordered and this prompted a call from someone (I wanna say Dave but I'm horrible with names) at Stradalli who thought 170m on a L frame was fishy. He also talked me out of a compact crankset which turned out after my first ride to be a great idea. Right off the bat that tells me the folks there at least know bikes/components and care enough to call and confirm.
Initial impressions. Out of the box and at a regular distance it looks great. If you go over it with a magnifying glass you can see some small details in the carbon that don't look pretty. Don't get me wrong, everything is smooth but I figure if you're gonna have nude carbon it should accentuate the material, not expose odd looking joints, etc...
Putting it together had a few snags. The BB30 requires a headset press to put in. The headset is integrated and the bottom bearing ring took a little convincing with a hammer and board to seat. Finally the bike has internal cable routing. All is well with that (there are internal guides, no wire and flashlights needed) except the front D cable sleeve doesn't exit the frame, only the cable itself does. You need to be careful to affix the other end on the bars well so everything shifts well.
It's lighter than the SS but not insanely so. The seatpost is awfully heavy for carbon, that may get swapped in the future. Also the AL bars I'm sure keep cost down but are heavy as well.
The force shifters had next to no learning curve, after all I'm coming off an SS so I have no shifting muscle memory to overcome. It shifts nicely, no drama. I spent most of the ride in the big ring and damn does it FLY compared to the SS. I hit 37.5mph top speed according to strava.
The bike is pretty stiff. Over rougher roads I can feel it a little more than the langster with AL frame and carbon MTB bars. Some of this is probably due to switching riding positions from upright to standard roadie and the AL bars on the Napoli. I had some hand pain and this was a short 11 mile ride.
Downhill at speed it felt plenty stable, uphill it climbs nicely, I got some out of the saddle climbing at the end of the ride. Very nice to actually be able to shift down.
Overall I'm pleased with the purchase. I've done some rentals with spesh and cannondale carbon bikes and I'd say the ride feels the same. I don't see any glaring defects that would steer anyone away from one of these. Time will tell how durable it is, but initially at least I'm very pleased.
Stock ebay pic, but mine looks identical except for red bar tape.
I got the Napoli with force components, FSA carbon crank and alu wheels. 2k on fleabay, no tax and free shipping. It showed up tuesday, I spent a couple days putting it together and finally got to ride today. My previous roadie was/is a spesh langster. I love riding SS but for greater distances and pushing a decent pace I wanted a geared carbon bike.
I didn't go with a generic chinese frame because I wanted an American address/company if there were any issues. It actually turned out to be a good thing. I typo'd the crank length when I ordered and this prompted a call from someone (I wanna say Dave but I'm horrible with names) at Stradalli who thought 170m on a L frame was fishy. He also talked me out of a compact crankset which turned out after my first ride to be a great idea. Right off the bat that tells me the folks there at least know bikes/components and care enough to call and confirm.
Initial impressions. Out of the box and at a regular distance it looks great. If you go over it with a magnifying glass you can see some small details in the carbon that don't look pretty. Don't get me wrong, everything is smooth but I figure if you're gonna have nude carbon it should accentuate the material, not expose odd looking joints, etc...
Putting it together had a few snags. The BB30 requires a headset press to put in. The headset is integrated and the bottom bearing ring took a little convincing with a hammer and board to seat. Finally the bike has internal cable routing. All is well with that (there are internal guides, no wire and flashlights needed) except the front D cable sleeve doesn't exit the frame, only the cable itself does. You need to be careful to affix the other end on the bars well so everything shifts well.
It's lighter than the SS but not insanely so. The seatpost is awfully heavy for carbon, that may get swapped in the future. Also the AL bars I'm sure keep cost down but are heavy as well.
The force shifters had next to no learning curve, after all I'm coming off an SS so I have no shifting muscle memory to overcome. It shifts nicely, no drama. I spent most of the ride in the big ring and damn does it FLY compared to the SS. I hit 37.5mph top speed according to strava.
The bike is pretty stiff. Over rougher roads I can feel it a little more than the langster with AL frame and carbon MTB bars. Some of this is probably due to switching riding positions from upright to standard roadie and the AL bars on the Napoli. I had some hand pain and this was a short 11 mile ride.
Downhill at speed it felt plenty stable, uphill it climbs nicely, I got some out of the saddle climbing at the end of the ride. Very nice to actually be able to shift down.
Overall I'm pleased with the purchase. I've done some rentals with spesh and cannondale carbon bikes and I'd say the ride feels the same. I don't see any glaring defects that would steer anyone away from one of these. Time will tell how durable it is, but initially at least I'm very pleased.
Stock ebay pic, but mine looks identical except for red bar tape.